WBB Preview: #21/21 Lady Vols vs. Texas A&M

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 21/21 Tennessee (16-8, 8-4 SEC) continues a tough stretch of four games in eight days with a Thursday night home contest vs. Texas A&M (10-11, 3-9 SEC).

The Lady Vols and Aggies will meet in the UT’s annual Play4Kay game at Food City Center at 6:30 p.m. ET, with teams including the color pink in their uniforms to show unity in the fight against all cancers affecting women. The game, which is the Big Orange’s penultimate home contest of the regular season, will be broadcast on SECN+ and available on the Lady Vol Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Chs. 117 or 191).

Tennessee is coming off a road loss at No. 17/17 Ole Miss on Tuesday night, falling by a 94-81 count in Oxford. Texas A&M, meanwhile, has won two of its past three, defeating Auburn at home on Sunday, 81-63.

This is the 22nd meeting between these programs, with UT holding a 13-8 edge in the all-time series. The Lady Vols have won three straight and five of their last six against the Aggies.

BROADCAST DETAILS

• Zack Nelson (play-by-play), Kamera Harris (color analyst) and Sarah Detwiler (reporter) will be on the call for the SECN+ broadcast.
• All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
• The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play and Jay Lifford serving as studio host.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on the WBB Preview page or the schedule on UTSports.com.
• For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
• Air-time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• The Lady Vol Network broadcast also will be available on SiriusXM Satellite Radio channels 117 or 191.

PLAY4KAY FAN INFO.

• Giveaways: Play4Kay pink ribbons
• Ticket Offer: Pink shirts with OMD. Buy an Orange Mountain Designs pink shirt and get two free tickets to the game.

FAMILIAR FACES

• Janiah Barker played the first two seasons of her college career for head coach Joni Taylor at Texas A&M.
• Barker made the SEC All-Freshman Team there in 2022-23, averaging 12.7 ppg. and 5.9 rpg.
• UT’s Zee Spearman and A&M’s Lemyah Hylton were teammates at Miami in 2023-24.
• First-year Aggies assistant coach Alex Varlan is a Knoxville native and 2013 UT graduate.
• Varlan was a manager under Pat Summitt, a video coordinator under Holly Warlick from 2017-19 and the director of scouting and analytics for Kellie Harper from 2019-21.

A LOOK AT THE LADY VOLS

• UT is 20th in the NET, 22nd in the WAB and 21st in the AP & Coaches Polls.
• Tennessee is led by 6-0 redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper (16.0 ppg., 5.2 rpg., 3.8 apg., 2.9 spg., 49 3FGs), 6-4 senior forward Janiah Barker (13.7 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 29 3FGs), freshman guard Mia Pauldo (11.6 ppg., 53 assts./28 TOs, 40 3FGs) and senior forward Zee Spearman (10.3 ppg., 6.0 rpg., 21 3FGs).
• The Lady Vols rank No. 7 nationally in threes made per game (9.5), with 12 games of 10+ treys (6x in SEC play).
• UT is No. 12 nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.8) and No. 48 in total rebounds per contest (40.42).
• The Lady Vols are 33rd nationally in steals per game (11.0), carding 10+ steals 14 times after grabbing an SEC-high 15 vs. Missouri.
• The Big Orange is No. 32 nationally in turnover margin at 4.88.
• Tennessee is No. 39 in turnovers forced per game (20.38) and has caused 20+ turnovers 13 times this season after hurrying Missouri into 21 on Feb. 12.
• Tennessee is No. 33 in NCAA scoring offense (77.1), including 74.2 in SEC games.

TRENDING…

• Tennessee ranks No. 1 on the NCAA’s Toughest Schedule Report, facing teams with a combined winning percentage of .696 from its past and future opponents.
• Of the Lady Vols’ four remaining games, three are against ranked teams and two are vs. those in the top 10.
• Since Jan. 18, Tennessee is in a stretch of playing nine ranked teams in 13 games.
• By the time the regular season ends, UT will have played seven of the top 10 teams in this week’s AP Poll, including  the top five and all four teams from last year’s NCAA Final Four.
• Talaysia Cooper is averaging 23.3 ppg. over her last four contests and with 999 career points is one away from 1,000.
• UT has made 10+ three-pointers in five of its last six games.
• Zee Spearman stands just eight points away from scoring 1,000 for her career.
• Lauren Hurst had a breakout game at Ole Miss, notching career highs in points (16), rebounds (9), field goals (6), three-pointers (4), steals (2) and minutes (24).
• Nya Robertson had a season-high five assists vs. Ole Miss.

LADY VOLS IN SEC PLAY THIS SEASON

• Tennessee is in the midst of a run of three games in a span of six days, including playing at No. 17 Ole Miss on Tuesday, hosting Texas A&M on Thursday and playing at No. 11 Oklahoma on Sunday.
• The Big Orange has ranked league wins over No. 11/12 Kentucky and No. 21/21 Alabama. It beat Georgia when the Lady Bulldogs were receiving votes, but they rank No. 24/25 this week.
• The Lady Volunteers have held five SEC opponents under 60 points thus far, including Auburn (56), Arkansas (50), Alabama (59), Kentucky (58) and Missouri (53).
• They’ve also allowed two league foes over 90, including South Carolina (93) and Ole Miss (94).
• UT is No. 1 in three-point field goal percentage defense (.257) in SEC games.
• The Lady Vols are No. 4 in turnover margin (+3.08) and No. 5 in steals per game (9.17).
• Tennessee is fourth in offensive rebounds per game (14.67) vs. league foes.
• UT is No. 3 in three-point field goals per game (8.67).
• Talaysia Cooper is averaging 18.18 ppg. (6th SEC) and leads the Big Orange with 28 steals in 11 conference games to rank No. 4 in the SEC at 2.55 per contest.
• Cooper ranks sixth in SEC games in three-pointers made per game (2.55), eighth in three-point field goal percentage (.364) and 13th in overall field goal percentage (.426).
• Freshman guard Mia Pauldo is averaging 14.44 ppg. to rank No. 16 among all league players and second among freshmen.
• Pauldo also ranks No. 5 in the league in free-throw percentage (.878).
• Janiah Barker paces the team on the boards with 7.45 rpg. in SEC play to rank ninth and is third for UT in scoring at 12.6 ppg. vs. conference foes.
• Barker is seventh in defensive rebs. per game (5.36).
• Zee Spearman is 10th in league games in offensive rebounds per contest at 2.75.

A LOOK AT OUR LAST GAME

• No. 17/17 Ole Miss shot 51 percent from the field and made 29 of 36 attempts from the free-throw line to take a 94-81 victory over No. 21/21 Tennessee on Tuesday night at SJB Pavilion.
• The Lady Vols (16-8, 8-4 SEC) were led in scoring by redshirt senior guard Talaysia Cooper with 30 points. Freshman guard/forward Lauren Hurst contributed a career-high 16, while junior forward Alyssa Latham added 10.
• The Rebels (21-6, 8-4 SEC) were paced by a 39-point, 10-rebound double-double from Cotie McMahon. Christeen Iwaula and Latasha Lattimore also were in double figures with 16 and 14 points, respectively, with Lattimore also pulling down 12 boards.

NOTES FROM THE OLE MISS GAME

• COOP FINDING RHYTHM: Talaysia Cooper’s season-best 30 points led the Lady Vols and marked her second game in a row with 20 or more points. The Ole Miss contest was Cooper’s fourth time this season and 16th for her career with 20+, as well as her 20th game in double figures in 2025-26 (leads the team) and 48th in her career. It marked her second 30-point effort, joining a 33-point performance vs. Liberty last season.
• CAREER DAY FOR HURST: Lauren Hurst had the hot hand against the Rebels with 16 points, tallying her first career double-digit scoring performance. The forward’s four deep balls paced the team for the first time during her career as well. Hurst went to work on the boards, too, leading UT with a career-high nine caroms.
• HITTING FROM BEYOND THE ARC: The Lady Vols have now made 10+ threes on 12 occasions, which is the second-most occasions in school history. Tennessee has hit at least 10 in five of its past six games. The Lady Vols rank top-10 nationally in threes made per game (9.5).

UT/TEXAS A&M SERIES NOTES

• In the series vs. Texas A&M, UT is 5-2 in Knoxville, 3-5 in College Station and 5-1 at neutral sites.
• The Big Orange have won three straight and five of the past six match-ups against the Aggies.
• At the SEC Tournament last season, Kim Caldwell improved to 2-0 vs. A&M, and UT held the school to its lowest offensive output in the series (37).
• UT is 11-8 vs. TAMU since the Aggies joined the SEC, including 3-1 in SEC Tournament play.
• A&M is 2-0 in overtime games vs. the Big Orange, with both of those taking place in College Station.
• On Feb. 28, 2013, Tennessee defeated Texas A&M, 82-72, on Senior Day to give UT an SEC regular-season title on the Lady Vols’ home court.

A LOOK AT TEXAS A&M

• The Aggies are in scoring by Ny’Ceara Pryor (15.6) and Fatmata Janneh (11.5).
• Texas A&M is averaging 59.3 ppg. in SEC play and allowing 76.25.
• TAMU averages 19.8 turnovers in SEC games.
• After dropping eight straight, the Aggies have won two of their past three, including a “W” over Alabama.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

• Joni Taylor is 48-63 in her fourth season with Texas A&M and 188-138 overall in 11 years after previously leading the program at Georgia.
• Taylor was an assistant coach on the U.S. Women’s National Team last summer at the 2024 Paris Olympics, helping guide the team to gold.

THE AGGIES’ LAST GAME

• Texas A&M shot 56.9 percent from the field for the game and outscored Auburn, 45-21, during the middle two quarters to claim an 81-63 home victory on Sunday.
• Fatmata Janneh led four players in double figures with 16 points while pulling down 12 rebounds as well.
• Ny’Ceara Pryor also had a double-double, scoring 13 points and dishing out 11 assists.

LAST TIME WE PLAYED TEXAS A&M

• No. 18/17 Tennessee overcame a slow start and outscored Texas A&M by 42 points over the final three quarters to claim a 77-37 opening-round victory over the Aggies on March 5 in the 2025 Southeastern Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament in Greenville, S.C.
• Talaysia Cooper, who left UT’s regular-season finale with a lower body injury, returned to action, coming off the bench to lead all scorers with 19 points while adding team highs of eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Jewel Spear and Zee Spearman added 11 points each, while Samara Spencer chipped in 10 for the No. 9-seeded Lady Vols (22-8).
• The Aggies (10-19) were paced by Sahara Jones, who produced a 16-point, 13-rebound double-double.

LAST TIME WE MET IN KNOXVILLE

• Five seniors were recognized in Senior Night festivities prior to the Feb. 29, 2024 contest, and all five contributed significantly as Tennessee won its final regular season home game, 75-66, over Texas A&M.
• The Lady Vols (17-10, 10-5 SEC), who had fallen to the Aggies, 71-56, in College Station on Jan. 14, earned some closure over that setback and secured another solid NET win in the process over A&M (18-10, 6-9 SEC).
• Rickea Jackson led the Lady Vols with a game-high 27 points. Jewel Spear enjoyed a 6-of-10 evening from the field, including 2-of-5 from long range, to net 16 points. Tamari Key chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, eclipsing 1,000 career points in the process, Tess Darby tallied seven points and six rebounds and Jasmine Powell dished out a game-high six assists.
• Texas A&M was paced by Solé Williams, who tossed in 20 points. Janiah Barker and Sahara Jones also were in double figures with 12 and 10, respectively.

NEXT UP

• UT will conclude its arduous stretch of four games in eight days by playing the last one at No. 11/9 Oklahoma at 1 p.m. CT (2 ET) on Sunday (ESPN).
• The Lady Vols and Sooners will meet at the Lloyd Noble Center at 1 p.m. CT (2 p.m. ET).
• The contest will be televised nationally on ESPN and also carried on Lady Vol Radio Network stations with audio streaming available on UTSports.com.