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Women’s BasketballNovember 01, 2024

KNOXVILLE — RV/RV Tennessee officially tips off its 2024-25 campaign and the Kim Caldwell era on Tuesday night at Food City Center, welcoming Samford to Knoxville.

The teams will meet at 6:30 p.m. ET in a contest streamed live on SECN+. The matchup also will be available via audio broadcast on Lady Vol Radio Network stations and UTSports.com, as well as on SiriusXM satellite radio channel 374.

This will mark the first-ever meeting between the Lady Vols and the Bulldogs. UT carries a 72-20-1 all-time mark vs. current members of the Southern Conference into the contest.

MORE INFO

GAMEDAY TIMES & BROADCAST INFO

• Opponent: Samford
• Date: Tues., Nov. 5
• Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Food City Center
• Watch: SECN+
• Radio: Lady Vol Network
• Online: Live Audio, Live Stats

RELATED LINKS

Buy Tickets Walk-Through Metal Detectors In Use Clear Bag Policy Gameday Info Follow @LadyVol_Hoops
 

TENNESSEE

 Roster ScheduleGame Notes 

SAMFORD

 Roster Schedule Game Notes 

THE LATEST FROM THE LADY VOLS

 Lady Vols Soar Past Eagles In Exhibition, 135-49Spear On Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Watchlist UT Foes Revealed For West Palm Beach Classic Lady Vol Hoops Hosts 2024-25 Media Day Lady Vols Step Into Spotlight At SEC Tipoff ’25

BROADCAST DETAILS

• Will Boling (play-by-play) and Kamera Harris (analyst) will have 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.
• 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 click on the Vol Network Affiliates tab.
• Air-time generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• The contest also will be carried on satellite radio on SiriusXM channel 374.

GAME PROMOTIONS

• There are no special promotions for this game.
• Tickets are available at AllVols.com.

PARKING, TRAFFIC FLOW, ENTRY ALERTS

• Fans coming to campus looking to purchase basketball parking will do so on-site with a credit card for men’s and women’s hoops.
• Those parking in the G-10 garage are requested to enter from Neyland Drive.
• There is a free shuttle service from the Ag Campus for all fans. All shuttles are fully accessible for those with disabilities.
• The shuttle location on the Ag campus is on River Drive near the Brehm Animal Sciences Bldg. and across from the CF lot. 
• Shuttles begin two hours prior to tip-off. Return shuttles run until two hours postgame or until the Food City Center is cleared. 
• Accessible shuttle loading and unloading for those with disabilities is located next to Arena Din-ing. 
• For regular shuttles, the unloading and loading areas near Food City Center will be as follows: Prior to the game, regular shuttles will unload at Chamique Holdsclaw and Lake Loudoun Blvd. After the game, regular shuttles will load at Lake Loudoun Blvd and Phillip Fulmer Way.
• All tickets and Tennessee Fund parking passes are digital.
• Fans will again see walk-through metal detectors outside of all Food City Center entrances.  

KIM CALDWELL ERA BEGINS

• SHE’S A WINNER: The Kim Caldwell era begins at Tennessee with a coach who has won an astounding 87.5 percent of her games. Caldwell is 217-31 in eight seasons as a head coach, including 149-13 (.920) in conference play.
• HER TEAMS HOIST TROPHIES: Kim Caldwell‘s teams have won seven regular-season conference championships and five tournament titles in her eight seasons as a head coach, including a sweep of Sun Belt Conference trophies last season while at Marshall. Her 2021-22 team at Glenville State claimed the top prize, winning an NCAA Division II national championship.
• FAST & FURIOUS: In her eight seasons as a head coach, Kim Caldwell‘s squads have played full-throttle basketball, pushing tempo and playing downhill on offense and employing aggressive, full-court defense. The result has been a fun style of play to watch, with her high-scoring teams forcing many turnovers, scoring in transition, shooting and making lots of threes, and crashing the glass and excelling in offensive rebounding while keeping players fresh with frequent substitutions.

WHO’S BACK

• SPEAR, PUCKETT RETURN: Guard Jewel Spear (13.1 ppg., 69 3FGs) and forward Sara Puckett (9.9 ppg., 4.9 rpg., 38 3FGs) return as the only Lady Vols to start all 33 games a year ago.
• ARC ACE DARBY BACK: Returning for her fifth season is guard/forward Tess Darby (5.2 ppg., 3.4 rpg., 44 3FGs), whose 170 career treys rank No. 5 in program history. She has started 73 games and played in 113 for UT entering 2024-25.
• EXPERIENCED DEPTH: Four other experienced players return, led by 6-5 forward Jillian Hollingshead (4.6 ppg., 4.5 rpg.), who earned eight starts in 2023-24. She is joined by guard Destinee Wells (6.8 ppg., 3.5 apg.), who is returning from a season-ending injury, and guards Edie Darby (1.1 ppg.) and Avery Strickland (0.9 ppg.), who seem to fit Caldwell’s style of play.
• WYNN OUT FOR THE YEAR: Kim Caldwell announced on Oct. 22 that senior guard Kaiya Wynn was lost for the season due to a torn Achilles in her right leg. Wynn, who averaged 4.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 33 games as a reserve last season, has expressed her desire to return next season.

WHO’S NEW

• IMPACT TRANSFERS: Caldwell added five transfers via the portal, filling needs in the areas of scoring, rebounding, defense, size, athleticism, experience and depth.
• ADDING STARTING EXPERIENCE: Guard Samara Spencer (13.9 ppg., 3.5 apg., 40 3FGs), guard Ruby Whitehorn (12.3 ppg., 5.6 rpg., 25 3FGs) and forward Alyssa Latham (8.6 ppg., 7.0 rpg., ACC All-Freshman) were productive starters at Arkansas, Clemson and Syracuse, respectively.
• TWO MORE VETERANS: Zee Spearman (6.3 ppg., 6.0 rpg.) and Favor Ayodele (4.7 ppg., 6.2 rpg.) were part-time starters at Miami and Pitt, respectively. Ayodele grabbed 10 boards nine times and previously was a two-time JUCO All-American.
• A PAIR OF HIDDEN GEMS: While not new to the team, lightning-quick guards Talaysia Cooper and Kaniya Boyd will make their debuts on the court after redshirting in 2023-24. Cooper, a transfer from South Carolina, was the No. 18 recruit in the 2022 class. Boyd, meanwhile, was rated No. 35 in the 2024 class and enrolled early at UT in January 2024 after suffering an injury prior to her senior year of high school.

LADY VOLS IN OPENERS

• During the modern era (1974-present), the Lady Vols are 45-5 all-time in season openers over the past 50 years, including 29-3 at home, 8-2 on the road and 8-0 at neutral sites.
• Tennessee possesses a 47-3 all-time record in its first home contest of the year through 2023-24.
• The Lady Vols have won 24 straight times in their first appearance at Thompson-Boling Arena and have been victorious in that case in 41 of their past 42 campaigns.
• The Big Orange women are 40-10 in their first road game of the season after falling at Florida State, 92-91, on Nov. 9, 2023. 
• The Lady Vols are 11-5 in those games when facing a ranked team after last year’s FSU contest.

KIM CALDWELL IN OPENERS

• Kim Caldwell is 7-1 in season-opening games, including 0-0 at home, 2-1 on the road and 5-0 at neutral sites.
• This will mark the first time one of her teams has ever opened a regular season on its home court.
• Caldwell was 0-1 in season openers at Marshall and 7-0 at Glenville State. 
• She is 7-1 in the first home game of a season all-time, including 1-0 at Marshall and 6-1 at Glenville State.
• Caldwell is 6-2 in her squads’ first road contest, including 0-1 at Marshall and 6-1 at Glenville State.

LOOKING BACK TO OUR EXHIBITION

• The Lady Vols forced 43 turnovers on 30 steals, hit 19 three-pointers and eclipsed 30 points in every quarter en route to a 135-49 exhibition win over Carson-Newman in Kim Caldwell‘s debut as Tennessee’s head coach.  
• With an announced crowd of 9,613 looking on at Food City Center, the Big Orange tied for the second-highest exhibition game point total in program history. Standing first on the list is a 144-52 win over Dynamo Kiev on Nov. 5, 2000, and tonight’s output matched a 135-55 UT triumph over Carson-Newman on Nov 6, 2008. The only better production from Tennessee women’s basketball all-time came via a 136-26 regular-season blowout of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez on Nov. 29, 2002.
• Junior guard Ruby Whitehorn was sensational in leading six Big Orange players in double figures, firing in 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting. 
• Fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and junior forward Zee Spearman contributed 17 each, while redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper, junior forward Sara Puckett and redshirt freshman Kaniya Boyd chipped in 16, 14 and 13, respectively. Spear finished five of 11 beyond the arc, while Whitehorn was four of six from deep.
• Cooper also led Tennessee with eight steals, while Boyd was tops in rebounds with seven, and senior guard Samara Spencer dished out eight assists with no turnovers in her debut. UT finished with 26 assists on 49 buckets, committing only nine turnovers on the night.
• Carson-Newman, picked to win NCAA Division II’s South Atlantic Conference, was led by Jennifer Sullivan with 15 points. 

NOTABLES FROM THE LAST GAME

• Exhibition History: UT is now 53-5 all-time in preseason exhibition games, with the only losses coming to the Soviet National Team (1979), Athletes in Action (1992) and the USA National Team (1995, 2007, 2023). In the post-Pat Summitt era, UT is 13-1 in preseason exhibition games, defeating Carson-Newman 11 times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024) and both Georgia College (2021) and Coker (2012) on one occasion each. The only loss was to the USA Women’s National Team in 2023.
• First-Time In Orange & White: Transfers Ruby Whitehorn, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Favor Ayodele and Alyssa Latham, and redshirt freshman Kaniya Boyd made their Lady Vol debuts during the exhibition contest. The six new faces combined for 84 points, 30 rebounds, 17 assists and 22 steals during Tennessee’s triumph.
• Ruby On A Roll: Junior Ruby Whitehorn impressed during her opening performance as a Lady Vol, totaling 29 points. The 6-foot guard fired in 13 points in the first quarter, nine in the second frame, two in the third and five in the fourth. The Detroit, Michigan, native showed great touch from the arc, knocking down four out of six three-point attempts.
• Dropping Thirties: Throughout the game with C-N, the red-hot Lady Vols posted 30 points or more in every quarter of play. The Big Orange tallied a total of 31 points in the first quarter, 33 in the second quarter, 41 in the third quarter and 30 in the fourth to finish the game. The Lady Vols also surpassed 100 points for the 15th time in 19 exhibition games vs. the Lady Eagles.

UT/SU SERIES NOTES

• Tuesday’s contest will mark the first-ever meeting between Tennessee and Samford in women’s basketball.
• The Lady Volunteers have forged a 72-20-1 all-time mark vs. current members of the Southern Conference.
• The Bulldogs join Western Carolina among SoCon programs UT is set to meet during the 2024-24 campaign.
• Samford is one of three teams the Lady Vols face from the state of Alabama this season. The others are Auburn (Feb. 13) and Alabama (Feb. 20), which Tennessee is scheduled to play at home this season.

A LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS

• The Samford women’s basketball team has been picked to tie for third in the 2024-25 Southern Conference preseason poll. The Bulldogs finished 14-16 overall, including 6-8 in league play to finish in sixth place.
• Sophomore guard Kennedy Langham was named to the 11-member 2024-25 Preseason All-SoCon Team.
• Langham produced an outstanding freshman season in 2023-24, earning a spot on the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after playing in all 30 games and starting 13.
• She averaged 8.2 points and 2.9 rebounds per game, scoring in double figures 10 times and tallying 20 or more points on two occasions.
• Langham is among three starters and six total returning letterwinners for Samford.
• Guard Sadie Stetson started 30 games in 2023-24, averaging 8.7 ppg. to rank as the team’s second-leading scorer.
• Emily Bowman, a 6-foot-5 center earned 28 starts a year ago and put up 7.9 ppg. and 8.5 rpg. while blocking 74 shots.

ABOUT SAMFORD’S HEAD COACH

• Carley Kuhns is in her sixth season at Samford, forging a 72-75 record there. 
• She is 138-104 in nine years as a head coach, beginning her career at Valdosta State, where she was 64-29 in three seasons at the helm. 
• Kuhns is a three-time conference coach of the Year, earning distinction at Valdosta State in 2017 and picking up accolades in 2020 (co-coach of the year honors from the media) and in 2021 (unanimous).
• In her first season as Samford’s head coach in 2019-20, Kuhns engineered a dramatic turnaround. After winning just 10 games the season before, the Bulldogs went 18-14 in Kuhns’ debut campaign.
• Despite being picked seventh in the Southern Conference’s preseason poll in 2019-20, the Bulldogs won a share of the SoCon regular-season title, the first in the history of the program. 
• Samford then won the SoCon Tournament in 2020 for just the third time in program history. With that triumph, the Bulldogs earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, but the tourney was eventually canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UP NEXT

• Tennessee is back at home on Thursday, as UT Martin travels to Knoxville.
• Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m., with the game available for streaming on SECN+.
• The Lady Vol Radio Network broadcast may be heard on stations statewide and via the web on UTSports.com.
• Please purchase tickets at AllVols.com or by calling the Tennessee Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-332-VOLS or 865-656-1200.