With Janiah Barker unable to play in the Lady Vols’ 60-58 win over Kentucky, Tennessee was looking to rely on a couple of players to pick up the slack. One of whom was Talaysia Cooper, the team’s leading scorer heading into the game. However, Cooper finished with just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting from the field after going into the final quarter with just two points.
Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell doesn’t blame Cooper for the inefficient night, though. Instead, she wants any criticism directed at herself and the game plan.
Caldwell had spots she wanted Cooper to get to in the game. Cooper got there, and the looks weren’t as clean as Caldwell expected. The result was a frustrating night for Cooper.
“I think I’ve over-coached it and I think she went in there and tried to do exactly what I asked, and it didn’t work,” Caldwell said. “I wanted her to take more shots and I think she did that. They weren’t the right shots, but again, that was the shots I told her to take or the spots I told her to get to. She wasn’t getting all the way to the spot, she was shooting a little bit short. And so, I know she was frustrated, but again, I’ll take that one. That one’s on me.”
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Despite the rough start, Cooper was critical in the win. Along with her critical five fourth-quarter points, she produced five rebounds, three assists and five steals. The biggest play was a steal in the final moments as Kentucky looked to inbound the ball down two with just seconds on the clock.
Cooper was guarding the inbounder, Tonie Morgan, and took away any passing windows. With a five-second violation looming, Morgan attempted to throw it off of Cooper’s leg, but Cooper was able to corral it and run off the final seconds on the clock to secure the win.
Amidst the frustration, Cooper still answered that final call from Caldwell. With the game on the line and Tennessee needing a stop, Cooper responded.
& that was all she wrote. #LadyVols pic.twitter.com/e74iQydxxY
— Casey Kay (@caseykaytv) January 23, 2026
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“I was really proud of her,” Caldwell said. “She was frustrated tonight. She was really frustrated and I’ll take every single bit of her frustration. Probably overcoached her, probably put her in positions that made her not have a good night offensively, yanked her out at the end of the game, she wasn’t happy about it. All of that was on me and so I look at her and tell her to give us a stop. Give us a stop and she goes out there and she wins the game for us and that’s the most Talaysia Cooper thing ever. That sums up our relationship. I’ll trust her, I’ll always trust her, and she’ll continue to get better.”
Next, Caldwell is going to be tasked with putting Cooper in better spots for another ranked matchup. The Lady Vols, who will likely jump up from their No. 17 ranking before the game, will play No. 18 Ole Miss, who defeated Missouri by 21 points on Thursday.
The game in Oxford, Miss., is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 26, at 7 p.m. ET. It will air on ESPNU.
