Hoops Central: Lady Vols vs. Missouri - University of Tennessee Athletics (2024)

Tennessee (13-7, 6-2 SEC) plays at home for just the fourth time during the new year, facing the Missouri Tigers (11-10, 2-6 SEC) on Sunday afternoon.

UT and MUwill do battle at 2:02 p.m. ET inside Food City Center in a contest streamed live on SECN+.

The Lady Vols are tied for second place in the SEC standings with Ole Miss, two games back of South Carolina (7-0) and a game ahead of fourth-place LSU and Mississippi State (5-3). UT has come out on top in nine of its past 11 games and is 8-2 at home this season, winning its past five on The Summitt.

Playing their fourth road contest in the past five games, the Lady Vols scored their most points vs. an SEC foe during the Kellie Harper era in a 95-73 victory at Georgia on Thursday night. The loss was the Bulldogs' seventh in a row, and UT's point total was the highest scored this season against a team that entered allowing only 64.5 per contest.

Missouri comes to Rocky Top after being idle on Thursday, hoping to snap a three-game losing skid. Despite their SEC record, the hot-shooting Tigers have been competitive in league play with a road win over a 17-5 Vanderbilt squad and a narrow loss to 15-5 Texas A&M.

BROADCAST DETAILS

• Roger Hoover (PxP), LVFL Kamera Harris (Analyst) and Sarah Detwiler (Sideline Reporter) will serve as the announce crew for the SECN+ broadcast.
• All 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 can be heard on Lady Vol Network stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice providing play-by-play. Jay Lifford is the studio host.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on the Hoops Central page or the schedule on UTSports.com.
• For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then select the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
• Air time is 30 minutes before tip-off.

GAME PROMOTIONS

• A promotion featuring $10 kids' 12-and-under pricing will be available for this game.
• Various in-venue videos and activities will be focused on the celebration of Black History Month.
• Destinee Wells will sign postgame autographs.
• Download the Tennessee Athletics app to join the Coca-Cola GBO Zone Lightshow.
• Purchase tickets at AllVols.com or call the Tennessee Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-332-VOLS or 865-656-1200.

PARKING, TRAFFIC FLOW, ENTRY ALERTS

• Fans coming to campus looking to purchase parking will do so on-site with a credit card for all events, including men's and women's hoops.
• All tickets and Tennessee Fund parking passes are digital.
• Just like last season, fans will see walk-through metal detectors outside of all Food City Center entrances.
• The designated rideshare drop-off/pick-up area will be on Todd Helton Drive west of Food City Center.
• Campus parking is limited for large Food City Center events, but there is a free shuttle service from the Ag Campus for all fans, dropping off and picking up immediately adjacent to Food City Center.
• ADA shuttles and entry operate the same as previous years.

PHILLIP FULMER WAY CLOSUREINFO.

• Due to construction and upgrades to Neyland Stadium, fans and media members should be aware of changes to traffic patterns on Phillip Fulmer Way and Peyton Manning Pass during the 2023-24 basketball season.
• Phillip Fulmer Way from G-10 garage to Neyland Stadium Gate 21 vicinity is now closed.
• The G-10 garage will not be accessible southbound on Phillip Fulmer Way.
• Phillip Fulmer Way will be closed to southbound traffic at Middle Drive, and it will not be accessible via Peyton Manning Pass.
• For events at Food City Center, G-10 and Staff 5 parking areas will be accessible via Lake Loudoun Boulevard, but it is strongly recommended that vehicles enter G-10 via Neyland Drive.
• Additionally, G5/30 will only be accessible from Lake Loudon Blvd.

SEASON RESET

• After functioning without All-America and SEC Player of the Year candidate Rickea Jackson for eight games from Nov. 13 to Dec. 10 and posting a 4-4 record during her absence, Tennessee has been a drastically different team since she was cleared following a lower leg injury.
• The Lady Vols are 8-2 since Jackson returned to action and are in a season-best stretch where they have won nine of their past 11 games.
• Among those triumphs are top-60 NET victories over No. 29 Mississippi State, No. 42 Oklahoma, No. 53 Vanderbilt, No. 56 Florida and No. 60 Auburn. The win over Oklahoma in November was without Rickea Jackson.
• In addition to getting Jackson back, UT has been bolstered by the continued improvement of 6-foot-6 center Tamari Key. The school's all-time leading shot blocker was sidelined after eight games a year ago due to blood clots in her lungs and understandably needed time to reacclimate to the rigors of the game.
• Tennessee also has had to absorb the loss of reserve point guard Destinee Wells, who suffered a lower leg injury just prior to the Wofford game and is out for the season. Fifth-year standout Jasmine Powell has impressively picked up more of the load, and junior Kaiya Wynn has stepped up and provided a spark off the bench on both ends of the floor.
• With the players available for the past 10 contests stepping into and accepting their roles, the Lady Vols have competed cohesively as a team, with different players each game emerging to provide valuable contributions in starring and support capacities.

NOTING THE LADY VOLS

• With 95 points at Georgia, the Lady Vols tallied their second most points of the season, their highest total vs. an SEC opponent during the Harper era and their most vs. a league foe since ringing up 97 on Ole Miss (97-68) on Feb. 10, 2013.
• Jewel Spear (25) and Rickea Jackson (21) combined for 46 points vs. UGA, marking the third time in 2023-24 that UT had two 20-point scorers in the same contest. The other games were vs. Kentucky (Jackson-27, Spear-21) and Florida (Spear-20, Puckett-20).
• With her fifth 20+ game of the season, Jackson now has 21 such efforts as a Lady Vol and is tied for sixth at UT with Diamond DeShields (2015-17).
• Jewel Spear's 55 combined points the past two games were the most since Rickea Jackson had 60 in back-to-back 2023 SEC Tournament games.
• Tennessee dished out a season-best 24 assists vs. Georgia, led by Jasmine Powell's nine dimes that brought her total to 30 over the past four games (7.5 apg.)
• Tamari Key is shooting 63.5 pct. in all games and 70.0 pct. in SEC play.
• Tennessee stands at No. 49 in the NCAA NET rankings through games of Feb. 1.
• Tennessee's schedule thus far ranks 10th out of 360 Division I women's basketball teams in the NCAA Toughest Schedule Report through Feb. 1. Based on cumulative opposition, which includes all the foes teams played already and those they are slated to play this season, Tennessee projects to have the No. 1 toughest schedule
• Kellie Harper is 64-13 overall, including 29-5 in SEC play, in games played on The Summitt through the Vanderbilt contest.
• UT ranks No. 7 nationally in attendance through the Vanderbilt game, averaging 8,133 fans through 10 regular season home dates.

MILESTONE WATCH

• Rickea Jackson is 18 points shy of 2,000 for her career and 103 away from tallying 1,000 as a Lady Vol.
• Jackson has scored 1,982 in 114 career games, including 897 in 47 contests as a Lady Vol.
• Tamari Key has 960 points and is just 40 away from reaching the 1,000-point plateau.
• Jackson and Key can become the 49th and 50th players to accumulate 1,000 points in a Lady Vol uniform.
• With a blocked shot vs. MTSU on Dec. 6, Tamari Key reached 300 for her career and became the ninth player in SEC history to hit that mark.
• Key now has 322 blocks through the Georgia game and has surpassed Sylvia Fowles (LSU, 321, 2004-08) to move into eighth on the SEC's all-time career list. Just ahead of her on that list in seventh is Martha Alwal (Miss. State, 328, 2011-15).
• Against Liberty, Tess Darby hit six three-pointers and surpassed Taber Spani (143) and Shannon Bobbitt (147) to move into eighth on UT's career three-pointers list. She now has 154 through the Ole Miss game.
• Darby, who appeared in her 100th game on Feb. 1 vs. Georgia, is pursuing Brittany Jackson (161, 2001-05), Shekinna Stricklen (163, 2008-12) and Ariel Massengale (164, 2011-15), who are in seventh, sixth and fifth, respectively.
• The senior currently ranks No. 8 in career three-pointers attempted at 413, standing behind No. 7 Brittany Jackson (443, 2001-05).
• Kellie Harper won her 100th game as head coach of the Lady Vols when UT defeated Vanderbilt on Jan. 21.
• Harper is now 14 shy of 400 for her career in 20 years.
• The LVFL's next win will be her 50th vs. an SEC foe in her fifth season at her alma mater.

RECAPPING THE LAST GAME

• The Lady Vols took a decisive road win on Thursday night, defeating Georgia in Stegeman Coliseum, 95-73, and maintaining second place in the SEC standings.
• The 95 points marked the highest point total scored by a Tennessee team in SEC play during the Kellie Harper era.
• Senior Jewel Spear had the hot hand for UT (13-7, 6-2 SEC), racking up 25 points on 57.1 percent shooting and five made threes. Fifth-year senior Rickea Jackson stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, five assists and six rebounds, and fellow fifth-year Tamari Key tied her season high of 10 points and pulled down a game-high and season-best eight rebounds.
• Georgia (10-11, 1-7 SEC) was led by De'Mauri Flournoy with 18 points. Asia Avinger was also in double figures with 15, and Javyn Nicholson and Jordan Cole posted 13 and 11, respectively.

POSTGAME NOTES VS. GEORGIA

• KEY START FOR UT:Tamari Key appeared in the starting lineup for the initial time this season and for the first occasion since reporting to the jump circle on The Summitt vs. Virginia Tech on Dec. 4, 2022. Key missed the rest of the 2022-23 season due to blood clots in her lungs, but she had appeared in 18 of 19 contests this year before re-entering the starting five vs. Georgia. Key promptly made the game's first bucket on a layup and ignited an 8-0 game-opening run for the Lady Vols. She wound up tallying season highs of 10 points (on 5-of-8 shooting) and eight rebounds.
• DYNAMIC DUO:Tennessee's top two scorers this season delivered again against Georgia, with Rickea Jackson and Jewel Spear each hitting for 20+ points vs. UGA and notching their fifth individual games of 20 or more in 2023-24. Spear knocked down five of nine attempts from three-point range to tally a game-high 25 and post 55 over her past two games after dropping 30 on Ole Miss on Sunday. Jackson, meanwhile, went eight of 17 from the field, including 3-of-4 accuracy beyond the arc, to card 21 of her own on the night.
• SCORCHING THE NETS FROM LONG RANGE:Tennessee finished the night 12 of 29 from three-point range vs. Georgia, with Jewel Spear going five for nine, Rickea Jackson three of four and Tess Darby three of nine to lead the way. The 12 treys tied as a season best with the dozen they dropped on Liberty and marked the fifth time they have had 10 or more in a contest in 2023-24, tying a program best for most in a season with the 2010-11, 2007-08 and 2002-03 squads.
• MORE DIMES FOR JP:For the sixth time in the past 10 games, Jasmine Powell dished six or more assists, finishing with nine vs. Georgia. It marked her fourth straight game with six or more, tallying 30 total assists and averaging 7.5 dimes during that stretch. She now has a team-high 82 for the season and 47 in SEC play, averaging 4.1 and 5.9 in 20 and eight games, respectively.
• TURNING OVER THE DOGS:Tennessee forced Georgia into 14 miscues and generated a season-best 22 points off turnovers for the game, including 12 and 20 in the first half. Tennessee's best points-off-turnovers total for a game during 2023-24 campaign previously had been 21 at Liberty on Dec. 31 and vs. EKU on Dec. 10. Its best in SEC play thus far had been 20 vs. Florida on Jan. 11.
• PUTTING UP 20 IN A QUARTER:Tennessee has scored 20 or more points in 39 of the 80 quarters it has played this season. The Big Orange women tallied 20 points or more in three of four quarters played in their first three SEC contests and had two such stanzas vs. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt before tallying 20 or more in three periods vs. Georgia. The Lady Vols tallied a final-frame season-high-tying 29 points vs. UGA.

UT-MU SERIES NOTES

• The Lady Vols hold a 14-3 all-time record vs. Missouri, standing 6-1 in games played in Knoxville, 6-2 in Columbia and 2-0 at neutral sites.
• The Big Orange carry a series-best six-game winning streak into Sunday's match-up.
• UT owns an 11-3 mark against Mizzou since the Tigers joined the SEC. Robin Pingeton has been the head coach in Columbia that entire time, and this is Kellie Harper's fifth season leading the Lady Vols.
• Harper has a 5-0 mark vs. Mizzou as Tennessee's head coach.
• Harper is 7-4 vs. Missouri all-time, with the first two wins coming while leading Missouri State (2-4 vs. MU) from 2013-19.
• Harper is 3-2 in home games, 2-2 away and 2-0 at neutral sites vs. the Tigers.

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS

• Hayley Frank leads three Tigers scoring in double figures, putting up 17.5 points per game. She also paces MU with 6.7 rebounds per contest.
• Ashton Judd and Grace Slaughter chip in 13.5 and 11.4 ppg., respectively.
• Missouri shoots the ball well in all phases, hitting 45.3 from the field, 36.7 on threes and 76.4 from the charity stripe.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

• Robin Pingeton is in her 14th season at Missouri and 28th year overall, sporting records of 236-191 and 571-348, respectively.
• Pingeton has led her teams to six NCAA Tournament berths and 20 postseason appearances, including four NCAA bids and 10 total postseason trips while at Mizzou.

MISSOURI'S MOST RECENT GAME

• Despite a 22-point effort from sophom*ore guard Ashton Judd, Missouri fell, 67-58, to Arkansas last Sunday afternoon at Mizzou Arena.
• Judd was an efficient eight of 12 (66.7%) from the floor and added six rebounds to round out her stat line. The West Plains, Missouri, native has scored 20+ points on five occasions in her career.
• Senior forward Hayley Frank tallied 13 points and five rebounds.

LAST TIME IN KNOXVILLE

• No. 13/10 Tennessee raced to a 58-33 lead after the first three quarters and coasted to victory over Missouri, 76-62, on Feb. 10, 2022.
• The Lady Vols (20-4/9-2 SEC) grabbed their 20th win of the season, the 44th time in 48 years that the program had reached that total. Missouri fell to 16-8, 5-6 in league play.
• Junior Jordan Horston led the Big Orange attack with 21 points and 13 rebounds, followed by sophom*ore Tess Darby with 12 points and graduate Alexus Dye and senior Rae Burrell adding 11 each.

UP NEXT

• Tennessee is back on the road for a midweek contest at Alabama on Thursday. The Lady Vols and Crimson Tide will meet in Coleman Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET (6 CT) in a contest streamed live on SECN+.
• After that trip, UT will close the regular season with four of its final six games in the friendly confines of Food City Center, including a pair of 7 p.m. ET games vs. Arkansas on Feb. 12 and South Carolina on Feb. 15.