Hoops Central: NCAA Sweet 16: No. 5 Seed Lady Vols vs. No. 1 Seed Texas

No. 5 seed and No. 20-ranked Tennessee (24-9) will meet No. 1 seed and No. 5/5-ranked Texas (33-3) in the NCAA Birmingham 3 Regional Sweet 16 on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET).

The Lady Vols and Longhorns, who are both long-time rivals and first-year SEC foes, will face off at Legacy Arena in a contest televised by ABC and carried on Lady Vol Network radio stations as well as audio-streamed on UTSports.com. 

Tennessee advanced to the round of 16 by defeating No.

12 seed South Florida in the opening round, 101-66, and then handed No. 4 seed and No. 15/13-ranked Ohio State its first home loss of the season, 82-67, on Sunday night in Columbus. During those two contests, the Big Orange averaged 91.5 points, 47.7-percent shooting, 13.0 three-pointers and 13.5 steals while forcing its two opponents into 23.5 turnovers per game. It held USF and OSU to 66.6 ppg.

The Lady Vols are led by Talaysia Cooper, a member of the John R. Wooden, Naismith and Ann Meyers Drysdale Player of the Year Watch Lists and the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Watch List. The All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Defensive Team selection puts up 16.8 ppg., 5.7 rpg., 3.2 apg. and 3.2 spg. and shoots 45 percent from the field. Cooper has 12 20+ scoring efforts in 2024-25 and averaged 19.5 ppg. over the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Also averaging double figures are fifth-year guard Jewel Spear (12.8 ppg., 77 3FGs), junior forward Zee Spearman (11.7 ppg., 6.0 rpg.), junior guard Ruby Whitehorn (11.5 ppg.) and senior point guard Samara Spencer (10.6 ppg., 4.7 apg., 65 3FGs).

Texas, meanwhile, is coming off scoring margins similar to Tennessee in its first two tourney contests, running away from William & Mary, 105-61, and taking care of Illinois, 65-48, to extend its homecourt winning streak to 24 games at the Moody Center in Austin. The Longhorns are led by SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker, who produces 16.4 ppg. and 6.8 rpg. while shooting 46.7/42.4/83.7 from the field, arc and charity stripe. Taylor Jones averages 12.3 ppg. and 6.9 rpg. while hitting 59.6 percent, and SEC All-Defensive Team member Rori Harmon (9.3 ppg., 6.0 apg., 2.3 spg.) and Kyla Oldacre (9.2 ppg., 6.1 rpg.) are right behind them.

This marks the 44th all-time meeting between these programs and the second one this season, with Tennessee leading the series, 26-17. With head coach Kim Caldwell back in Knoxville after giving birth to son Conor on Jan. 20, Jenna Burdette confidently leading the staff and with several Lady Vols valiantly battling through flu-like symptoms, the Big Orange narrowly missed upsetting of the Longhorns in a 74-70 loss in Austin on Jan. 23.

BROADCAST DETAILS

• Beth Mowins (play-by-play), Debbie Antonelli (analyst) and Angel Gray (reporter) will describe the action for ABC.
  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 Hoops Central 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.

UP NEXT

• The winner of Saturday's game between Tennessee and Texas will advance to the NCAA Elite and the Birmingham 3 Regional Final.
• The victor will meet the winner of Saturday's other Birmingham 3 Regional Sweet 16 matchup between No. 2 seed TCU (33-3) and No. 3 seed Notre Dame (28-5).
• That game will tip Monday at 6 p.m. CT (7 ET) on ESPN.
• If UT advances to that round, the game will be available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and via audio stream on UTSports.com.

BACK IN BIRMINGHAM FOR BUSINESS

• Kim Caldwell, in her first season as head coach at Tennessee, made an appearance in front of the media to talk about her team at SEC Tipoff 2025 in Birmingham back on Oct. 16. 
• She was joined by fifth-year guard Jewel Spear and senior forward Sara Puckett, as they appeared on SEC Network inside the Grand Bohemian Hotel and talked about their expectations for the year ahead.
• Little did they know that five months later they would find themselves set to meet first-year conference foe Texas in a Sweet 16 game in Birmingham.
• At stake in the Birmingham 3 Regional, an opportunity at the aptly-named Legacy Arena for a trip to the NCAA Final Four in Tampa, the site of Tennessee's last Final Four and national title in 2008.

BIRMINGHAM MEMORIES FOR CALDWELL

• Kim Caldwell has some special memories from her last trip to Birmingham, Ala., for basketball games.
• On March 25, 2022, her sixth team at Glenville State (W. Va.) claimed an NCAA Division II National Championship in the Magic City, defeating Western Washington, 85-72, at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
• Prior to that, GSU beat West Texas A&M on March 21, 103-56, and Grand Valley State on March 23, 77-53, in Birmingham to set up the closing act of a 35-1 season.
• Current UT assistant Angel Rizor also was an assistant coach for Caldwell at GSU, and graduate assistant Mashayla Cecil played on that team for Caldwell.

COMMON THREADS

• Tennessee's Zee Spearman and Kyla Oldacre of Texas were teammates for two seasons at Miami from 2022-23 to 2023-24 before transferring to their current schools.
• Lady Vol Jewel Spear hails from The Colony, Texas.
• UT senior Kaiya Wynn, who is redshirting this season due to injury, spent her senior year of high school in Richmond, Texas, and graduated from Foster High School.

INDIVIDUALLY SPEAKING

• FINE FIRST SEASON: Kim Caldwell's 24 wins rank second among first-year Lady Vol head coaches behind Holly Warlick's 27 in 2012-13.
• 50 DIVISION I WINS: In her second season in NCAA Division I, UT's win over Ohio State gave Kim Caldwell her 50th "W" at this level.
• EARNING ACCLAIM: Guard Talaysia Cooper was on three national player of the year watch lists and the Naismith Defensive POTY watch list, and she made the All-SEC Second Team and All-Defensive Team. 
• TAKEAWAYS: Talaysia Cooper ranks No. 9 nationally (No. 1 SEC) at 3.15 steals per game, standing No. 3 in a season by a Lady Vol and No. 2 in a career.
• THREE-POINT ACE: Jewel Spear's 77 treys tie her for fifth all-time in a season at UT.
• ROCK SOLID: Samara Spencer has 156 assists and 69 turnovers, ranking No. 28 nationally with a 2.29 assist/TO ratio. She stands two dimes shy of entering UT's season top-10 list.
• INSIDE PRESENCE: Zee Spearman tops UT's inside presence, leading in FG pct. (51.4) and rebounds (197/6.0 rpg.). She is second in blocks (22), and third in scoring (11.7 ppg.).
• STEADY SCORER: Ruby Whitehorn (11.5 ppg.) has UT's second most games of 10+ points (22).

WHAT WE DO

• FOR STARTERS...: UT has had 10 different starters and 17 unique starting fives in 2024-25.
• SUB EARLY & OFTEN: A frenetic style of play requires rested legs and lungs. Expect hockey-style substitutions early and often. 
• STRONG BENCH: Tennessee ranks No. 5 nationally in bench points per game (30.0) and is averaging 46.0 in two NCAA games.
• PRESS & HOLD 'EM FOR 10: UT's press has forced 30 10-second violations.
• FORCE TURNOVERS: Tennessee has forced 740 turnovers (most by the program since 784 in 2007-08) and is No. 8 nationally in TOs forced per game at 22.42.
• CAPITALIZE ON MISCUES: UT nets 29.4 ppg. off TOs after scoring 37 vs. Ohio State.
• LIGHT UP THE SCOREBOARD: UT is No. 1 nationally in scoring (87.5 ppg.), ranking No. 3 (at UT) and No. 5 (in the SEC) all-time.
• KNOCK DOWN THREES: UT has made an SEC single-season record 338 three-pointers (old mark: Arkansas, 312, 2019-20).
• HUNT O-BOARDS: Tennessee is No. 3 nationally with 16.8 offensive rebs. per game.
• GET PUT-BACKS: UT averages 16.2 second-chance points per game and is 20-2 (lost to S.C. & Ga.) when it wins this category.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• RECORDS SET BEYOND ARC: UT's 16 threes vs. USF set a program NCAA Tournament record, ranked second of any school all-time in the tourney and rated as the second-most in school history.
• SEVEN "100" GAMES A BEST: By scoring 101 vs. USF, UT matched the program record of seven (1987-88) for most games scoring 100 points or more in a season.
• RAINING 3s: UT has hit 10+ 3FGs a program-best 18 times in 2024-25 (prev. best: 6).  
• FIRST-EVER 50-TREY TRIO: Jewel Spear (77), Samara Spencer (65) and Tess Darby (57) give UT its first-ever trio to hit 50 or more treys each in the same season.
• COOPER NO. 7 IN UT STEALS TOP 10: With seven steals vs. OSU, Talaysia Cooper rose to No. 7 in the UT season top 10 with 104. She is tied with Alexis Hornbuckle (2007-08).
• SPEAR IN UT TOP 10s: Jewel Spear's 200 3FG atts. and 77 treys rank No. 4 and No. 5 on UT season lists. Her 146 threes rank No. 10 for a career, and her 37.9 career 3FG pct. is No. 9.
• DARBY NUMBERS: Tess Darby's next game will tie her for second (146) in games played at UT with Nicky Anosike. She is No. 5 for 3FG made (227) and No. 4 in 3FG att. (622).

TENNESSEE - THE ONLY SCHOOL IN ALL 43

• The Lady Vols are making their 43rd consecutive NCAA Tournament, continuing as the only school to appear in every Division I women's tourney.
• UT kept its record of playing in every NCAA Tournament perfect under Kim Caldwell, who is in her first season leading the program and is the fourth coach to guide the Lady Vols into the tourney. The breakdown of appearances as the Big Orange's head coach includes Pat Summitt (30), Holly Warlick (7), Kellie Harper (5) and Kim Caldwell (1).
• Tennessee is an at-large qualifier for the 2025 NCAA Tournament, finishing in a tie for eighth in the SEC regular season and falling in the SEC Tournament second round.
• The Lady Vols are 133-34 in NCAA Tournament play through the Ohio State game, and they rank first in games played (167) and second in victories (133) in NCAA tourney history. 
• Tennessee (.796) also is third behind UConn and Florida Gulf Coast in winning percentage in tourney play.
• UT earned a No. 5 NCAA seed for the third time and drew higher than a four seed for the sixth time in its tournament history.
• UT is 7-5 when seeded higher than fourth, including 3-2 at No. 5 (2009, 2017, 2025), 1-1 at No. 6 (2024), 3-1 at No. 7 (2016) and 0-1 at No. 11 (2019) through the second round.
• Tennessee and Texas will meet for the first time in postseason competition, with the Longhorns becoming the 95th different foe UT has faced during the NCAA Tournament.
• UT is 15-2 all-time during the NCAA Tournament vs. schools representing the Southeastern Conference, most recently facing LSU in the 2008 Final Four semifinals in Tampa and defeating the Tigers, 47-46, on a put-back by Alexis Hornbuckle with 0.7 on the clock. 

NCAA-BEST 37TH APPEARANCE IN SWEET 16 

• Tennessee has advanced to the NCAA Regional round on an NCAA-best 37 occasions, owning a 28-8 mark in the Sweet 16. 
• UT is 6-0 at home in the Sweet 16, 0-0 on the road and 22-8 at neutral sites.
• The only seasons UT did not make the regional level were in 2009, from 2017 to 2021 and in 2024. 
• This marks the third time in the past four seasons Tennessee has made the Sweet 16.
• The Big Orange last went in 2023, competing in Seattle Regional 3, where the No. 4 seed Lady Vols fell to No. 1 seed Virginia Tech, 73-64, at Climate Pledge Arena.
• UT also went in 2022, competing in the Wichita Regional, where the No. 4 seed Lady Vols fell, 76-64, to No. 1 seed Louisville at INTRUST Bank Arena.
• This will mark Tennessee's second overall NCAA visit and Sweet 16 appearance in Birmingham, with the program suffering an 80-65 setback to No. 12/11-ranked Xavier in the Mideast Regional on March 24, 2001.

SEEKING 29TH NCAA ELITE EIGHT

• UT is tied with UConn for the most all-time Elite Eight appearances with 28, posting an 18-10 record in that round.
• The Lady Vols have seen their season ended in the regional championship game five times in the past 12 years (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016).
• The Big Orange last advanced to the Elite Eight in 2016, beating Green Bay and Arizona State in the first two rounds and Ohio State in the Sweet 16 to get there before falling to Syracuse.
• That appearance was during a run of five Elite Eight showings in six years from 2011 to 2016, with 2014 standing as the only year the Lady Vols didn't move along to that round.
• From the regional round, UT has advanced to 18 NCAA Final Fours, winning eight of them (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007, 2008) and ranking second to UConn (11).
• Tennessee has finished second in the nation five times and third on five more occasions.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LAST GAME

• No. 20 Tennessee, seeded No. 5 in the Birmingham 3 Regional, punched its ticket to the program's 37th NCAA Sweet 16 in the 43 years of the women's tournament with an 82-67 victory over No. 4 seed and No. 15/13-ranked Ohio State on March 23 at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. 
• The Lady Vols (24-9), who fell behind by 11 over the opening six minutes, hit reset after a first-quarter media timeout and outscored the Buckeyes 77-51 the rest of the way. UT improved to 4-0 vs. OSU during the postseason and 11-3 all-time and handed the home team its first loss of the year in its own venue in 17 games.
• Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper led her team in scoring for the 13th time this season, firing in 19 points and adding team highs with eight rebounds and seven steals along with five assists and a blocked shot. Also in double figures were junior Zee Spearman, junior Ruby Whitehorn and senior Samara Spencer, who contributed 17, 14 and 10 points, respectively.
• The Buckeyes (26-7), who tied for third in the Big Ten this season, were paced by Jaloni Cambridge, who scored 19 points. Cotie McMahon added 17.

NOTES FROM THE OHIO STATE GAME

• DANCING OUR WAY THROUGH ROUND TWO: Tennessee made its 43rd straight appearance in the NCAA First/Second Rounds, and it now owns a 66-6 record during games played in those rounds. The Lady Vols improved to 31-4 in second round contests, including 5-2 on the road, and pushed their NCAA Tournament record to 133-34.
• TREYS ON TREYS: The Lady Vols drained 10 three-pointers versus Ohio State. It marked a school-best 18th time that UT has made 10 or more treys in a single game this season. The previous record was six in 2023-24.
• PRESS CAUSES STRESS: The Lady Vols forced the Buckeyes to turn the ball over 23 times, making them the 21st team this season to commit at least 20 miscues. UT used that to build a 37-15 points-off-turnovers differential vs. OSU.
• DARBY CLIMBS GAMES PLAYED LIST: Tess Darby rose to third place on the Lady Vol career list of games played, seeing action in a total of 145 contests throughout her time at Tennessee. Darby bumped Shanna Zolman's (2002-06) 144 career games played into fourth place.
• 100+ STEALS, UT TOP-10 LIST FOR COOP: Talaysia Cooper's seven takeaways versus Ohio State moved her into a tie for seventh place for total steals in a single season at Tennessee. Cooper's 104 steals knot her with Alexis Hornbuckle (2007-08) and propelled her past Tamika Catchings (100, 1997-98), Michelle Marciniak (101, 1995-96) and Semeka Randall (102, 1997-98).  
• SAM SHARING THE ROCK: Samara Spencer's six assists against Ohio State ran her season total to 156 in 2024-25, leaving two shy of the UT single-season top 10. That sum is the most she has dished in a season during her career, topping the 154 she recorded at Arkansas during her sophomore season in 2022-23.

FOUR WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS IN 2024-25

• Tennessee picked up its fourth ranked win of the season in the NCAA Second Round vs. #15/13 Ohio State, 82-67.
• UT also beat No. 5 UConn in Knoxville, 80-76, on Feb. 6, took care of No. 17/20 Iowa, 78-68, on Dec. 7 and defeated No. 18/19 Alabama, 88-80, on Feb. 20.
• The win over Ohio State was UT's first win over a ranked team on the road since the Lady Vols beat No. 13/13 Georgia in Athens, 63-55, on Jan. 23, 2022.
• The victory over the No. 15/13 Buckeyes was only the third road win ever for the Lady Vols during the NCAA Tournament, following a 1996 Mideast Regional Elite Eight triumph at Virginia, 52-46, and a 2016 NCAA Second Round victory at Arizona State, 75-64.

UT/TEXAS SERIES NOTES

• Tennessee leads the series with Texas, 26-17, and has a 13-7 edge in Knoxville, an 11-9 record in Austin and a 2-1 mark at neutral sites.
• The Lady Vols have won eight of the last 13 in the series and three of the past five meetings.
• Despite their history, these programs have never met during the postseason.
• After playing for the first time in 1978-79, these programs scheduled each other at least once a year from 1982-83 until 2021-22, with the only interruption in the 40-year series coming in 2020 due to COVID.
• This will mark the first meeting between Kim Caldwell and Vic Schaefer, as she missed the contest on Jan. 23, 2025, after giving birth to son Conor on Jan. 20.

LOOK AT THE LONGHORNS

• The Longhorns are led by sophomore forward Madison Booker (16.4 ppg., 6.8 rpg.), senior forward Taylor Jones (12.3 ppg., 6.9), senior guard Rori Harmon (9.3 ppg.) and junior center Kyla Oldacre (9.2 ppg., 6.1 rpg.). 
• Texas allows 55.83 ppg. and out-rebounds foes 40.0-30.5.
• The Longhorns' only losses are at No. 3/3 Notre Dame on Dec. 5 (80-70), at No. 2/2 South Carolina on Jan. 12 (67-50) and to No. 2/2 South Carolina in the SEC Tournament title game on March 9 (64-45).
• The Horns record 10.4 steals per game and force foes into 20.9 turnovers per contest.

ABOUT THE HEAD COACH

• Head coach Vic Schaefer is 142-35 in his fifth season at Texas and is 443-207 in his 20th year overall.
•  Schaefer has guided programs at Sam Houston State, Mississippi State and now Texas, earning national coach of the year on two occasions (2018 & 2019 at MSU), and was an assistant at Texas A&M and Arkansas as well.
• Vic Schaefer was named the 2024-25 SEC Coach of the Year after tying with South Carolina for the title.
• Schaefer has guided Texas to the NCAA Sweet 16 in four of his five seasons in Austin.

THE LONGHORNS' LAST GAME

• Madison Booker and Taylor Jones combined for 32 points, while Ndjakalenga Mwenentanda recorded a career-high 19 points and Rori Harmon dished out seven assists in Texas' 65-48 victory over Illinois on Monday, sending the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 with a 65-48 win over the Fighting Illini. 
• Texas used an 18-6 second-quarter margin to propel it to a 34-18 lead at the half.
• Texas forced 20 turnovers and scored 23 points off them, improving to 28-3 when forcing 15 or more.
• The Longhorns out-rebounded their opponent, 33-27, and outscored Illinois in the paint, 36-18.

LAST TIME WE FACED TEXAS

• No. 17/17 Tennessee gave No. 7/7 Texas all it could handle at the Moody Center on Jan. 23, but the Longhorns scored the game's last four points and escaped with an 80-76 victory in SEC play.
• The Lady Vols were directed by assistant Jenna Burdette, who served as acting head coach with Kim Caldwell not making the trip after giving birth to a son Conor just three days earlier  
• Ruby Whitehorn's runner helped the Big Orange (15-4, 3-4 SEC) tie the game at 76 with 44 seconds to go, but Texas (19-2, 5-1 SEC) grabbed the lead on a Madison Booker jumper with 27 seconds left and clinched the contest with a pair of free throws by Rori Harmon with three ticks on the clock.
• Tennessee was led by Whitehorn, who fired in a season-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Junior forward Zee Spearman chipped in 14. 
• Booker and Taylor Jones scored 26 and 21 points, respectively, while Aaliyah Moore and Jordan Lee chipped in 11 and 10 each.