Tennessee released its women’s basketball schedule Wednesday. The Lady Vols’ 28-game schedule includes 16 conference opponents and 12 non conference foes.
The Lady Vols’ non conference schedule is loaded, including five matchups with power five opponents and seven against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams. Tennessee will play three Final Four teams from last season including UConn and Stanford in out of conference play.
Kellie Harper’s third season will tip-off on Nov. 10 against Southern Illinois. The Lady Vols will then travel to Orlando to take on a UCF team that was a No. 10 seed in last season’s NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Vols return to Thompson-Boling Arena to play reigning American Athletic Conference champions USF on Nov. 15.
The gauntlet continues for Tennessee following the matchups with the directional Florida schools. The Lady Vols host a strong Texas team on Nov. 21 before heading to Las Vegas to play Oklahoma State and Kansas on Thanksgiving weekend.
Tennessee opens the month of December at home against Tennessee Tech before traveling to Blacksburg for a road test at Virginia Tech. After 12-days off around finals, Tennessee hosts reigning national champions Stanford on Dec. 18 and ETSU on Dec. 20.
After Christmas, the Lady Vols host Chattanooga on Dec. 23 for their final test before beginning SEC play against Alabama on Dec. 30.
Harper’s team will play one more non-conference opponent in the middle of SEC play, traveling to Connecticut on Feb. 6 to face the longtime rival Huskies.
“One of our staff’s objectives was to continue finding ways to improve our strength of schedule, and I believe we’ve done that,” Harper said. “We have a challenging and exciting slate of games, and our players will have an opportunity to compete against several experienced and talented lineups. Our desire is that with this schedule, we can develop into the best team we can possibly be.”
Tennessee’s SEC opponents were released back in July and include matchups with five teams that finished last season in the AP Top 25.
The Lady Vols took a step forward in Harper’s second season last winter, posting a 17-8 (9-4 SEC) record including an upset win over South Carolina. Tennessee earned a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament before being upset by Michigan in the Round of 32.
Tennessee lost multiple year All-American Rennia Davis to graduation but returns four of its top minute leaders from last season in Rae Burrell, Jordan Horston, Jordan Walker and Tamari Key.
Burrell was the Lady Vols’ breakout star last season, averaging 16.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.
You can view the Lady Vols’ full 2021-22 schedule here.
