Lady Vols basketball vs. Vanderbilt: Live updates from SEC Tournament
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Lady Vols basketball looks to continue its SEC Tournament momentum as it takes on Vanderbilt.
The No. 9 seed Lady Vols (22-8, 8-8 SEC) lost out on the tiebreaker with the No. 8 seed Commodores (21-9, 8-8) due to a 71-70 loss in Nashville. That result meant Vanderbilt got the last bye in the tournament.
Tennessee began the SEC Tournament with a dominant 77-37 win over No. 16 seed Texas A&M. Talaysia Cooper returned from injury and scored a team-leading 19 points.
Follow along with live updates from Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
4:24 2Q: Tennessee leads Vanderbilt, 32-31. A layup from Samara Spencer gives the Lady Vols their first lead of the game.
8:33 2Q: Vanderbilt leads Tennessee, 29-26. A 6-0 scoring run from the Lady Vols caused a timeout from Shea Ralph.
END 1Q: Vanderbilt leads Tennessee, 27-20. After a bad start, the Lady Vols get back within seven. Talaysia Cooper and Iyana Moore each have eight points, but Moore is on the bench with two fouls.
7:24 1Q: Vanderbilt leads Tennessee, 10-2. Kim Caldwell calls timeout after a great start from the Commodores.
9:52 1Q: Vanderbilt wins the tip, and Khamil Pierre makes a basket eight seconds in.
Starters
Tennessee: Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer, Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman, Alyssa Latham
Vanderbilt: Mikayla Blakes, Jordyn Oliver, Iyana Moore, Jane Nwaba, Khamil Pierre
How to watch Lady Vols basketball vs. Texas A&M at SEC Tournament
Thursday’s game between Lady Vols basketball and Vanderbilt tips off at 11 a.m. on SEC Network. Sam Gore and former Tennessee player and assistant coach Nikki Fargas are on the call.
Thursday’s game will be the fifth straight Tennessee game to air on SEC Network and the fourth straight Tennessee game with Gore handling play-by-play duties.
As always, the game can be heard on the Lady Vol Network, including AM 990 in Knoxville.
News from SEC availability report
Kaiya Wynn is the only inactive player for the Lady Vols. Wynn hasn’t played at all this season after suffering a preseason injury.
For Vanderbilt, Sacha Washington, who is out for the season, is the only player listed on the report.
Vanderbilt’s award recipients
Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes was named the SEC’s freshman of the year Tuesday in a vote of the league’s coaches. She averaged 23.3 points per game this season, including two 50-point performances. Blakes scored 53 points in a win at Florida before scoring 55 at Auburn.
Blakes was also named to the All-SEC first team. Khamil Pierre, who averaged 20.8 points, 9.6 rebounds and three steals per game, which tied for the conference lead, was not given any recognition by the conference. This prompted Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph to release a statement on behalf of Pierre.
“My staff and I are extremely disappointed that Khamil didn’t receive any All-SEC honors,” Ralph said in her statement. “She is having an All-SEC type season and is putting up numbers that are among the best in the nation.”
What happened last time Lady Vols basketball played Vanderbilt
In Tennessee’s only matchup with Vanderbilt, two free throws from Pierre gave Vanderbilt a one-point lead with 31 seconds to go. Ruby Whitehorn took the lead with a layup with four seconds to go, but enough time was left for Blakes to make a game-winning basket following an offensive rebound.
Vanderbilt’s win snapped an eight-game Tennessee winning streak against its in-state rival. The last Vanderbilt win over Tennessee prior to this season was when the Stephanie White-coached Commodores defeated the Holly Warlick-led Lady Vols in 2019.
While Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell is thankful to play Vanderbilt again, she realizes the challenge of Thursday’s game.
“It’s a really hard team to play with zero prep,” Caldwell said. “They run a lot of sets, are very disciplined. They definitely had our number. We didn’t play very well against them when we had two days’ prep. Having to do it on none, it’s going to be a tall task for our players.”