Lady Vols basketball may be without one of its few contributing returners from a year ago for the second-straight game. Alyssa Latham, a junior in her second season at Tennessee, is in attendance but not warming up for Thursday night’s game at MTSU after missing the win over Belmont, as well.
After the win over Belmont, Kim Caldwell said Latham is out for personal reasons and there is no timetable for a return. Ahead of the game against MTSU, Caldwell said she had no update.
Latham had played in all opening three of the Lady Vols’ games. In that stretch, she has averaged 2.7 points and 3.0 rebounds per game on 50% shooting from the field. She was playing an average of 13.7 minutes per game, as well.
Last season, Latham produced 3.9 points per game on 47.8% shooting from the field and 31.3% on 3-pointers. She also contributed 3.7 rebounds per match in 34 games played and five starts. She was on the floor for an average of 14.2 minutes per game that year.
Latham transferred in after spending her freshman season at Syracuse. With the Orange, she posted 8.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 32 appearances and 26 starts. This made her one of the most sought-after players in the portal once she entered.
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This would be the second time this season that the Lady Vols are without one of their players for a game after Latham also missed the last outing. However, just prior to the start of the regular season, Kim Caldwell dismissed star guard Ruby Whitehorn amidst legal issues.
To open the year, Tennessee dropped a top-10 clash in Greensboro to NC State. In the home opener against ETSU, the Lady Vols demolished the Buccaneers by 50 points, but Caldwell wasn’t happy with the performance.
The team seemingly didn’t get her message for game three, a road trip to play at UT Martin. The Lady Vols won by just 11 due to a lot of similar issues from the start of the season. Then, they won by 11 over Belmont without Latham.
This dropped Tennessee to No. 15 in the AP Poll. Now, it’ll face MTSU at 7:30 p.m. ET with the game airing on ESPN+.
