It’s finally time for Lady Vols basketball to play Ole Miss. With the initial game set for Jan. 26, the matchup was rescheduled due to inclement weather in Oxford. Now, the teams are meeting on Tuesday night with a short turnaround on both sides.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the matchup.
More From RTI: Lady Vols Basketball Update Status of Mia Pauldo, Nya Robertson Ahead of Ole Miss Game
How to Watch — No. 21 Lady Vols (16-7, 8-3 SEC) vs. No. 17 Ole Miss (20-6, 7-4 SEC)
- Start Time: 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT
- Location: Sandy & John Black Pavilion (Oxford, Miss.)
- Watch: ESPNU | PxP: Tiffany Greene, Analyst: Meghan McKeown
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
- Vol Network radio crew: PxP: Brian Rice, Studio Host: Jay Lifford
Betting Odds
FanDuel: Ole Miss -1.5
ESPN Matchup Predictor
Lady Vols – 47.1%
Ole Miss – 52.9%
What Kim Caldwell Said
On the loaded slate in a short time next week
“Yeah, we need to be mad. We need to be mad about it. We don’t need to be sad, we don’t need to be pouty, we don’t need to listen to anything other than, ‘Hey, we’re mad, and this is what we need to fix. We need to take our anger out in our next game.’ I think Ole Miss lost today, too, so it’s a really tough situation to have this game right now. But that’s what this league is about. So we’re trying to build toughness right now, so we got to go play it and hopefully bounce back on the road.”
On approaching this upcoming stretch
“We’re not going to be able to do much tomorrow. I mean, they played hard today. We had people play a lot of minutes, especially for how we play. And so they’re going to be sore. We’re going to have to get the basics in, get what we need in, the scout-specific things, and then get on the road, and they’re going to be tired, too.”
Last Five Games
Lady Vols:
- vs. Texas, 65-63 L
- vs. Missouri, 98-53 W
- at South Carolina, 93-50 L
- at Georgia, 82-77 W (OT)
- at UConn, 96-66 L
Ole Miss:
- at Kentucky, 74-57 L
- vs. Arkansas, 80-57 W
- at Alabama, 64-63 L
- vs. Auburn, 71-45 W
- vs. Vanderbilt, 83-75 W
Where They Land In Rankings
Lady Vols:
AP Poll – No. 21
Coaches Poll – No. 22 (Feb. 10)
Bart Torvik – No. 13
Ole Miss:
AP Poll – No. 17
Coaches Poll – No. 16 (Feb. 10)
Bart Torvik – No. 23
Stat Leaders
Lady Vols:
- Points: Talaysia Cooper – 15.3
- Rebounds: Janiah Barker – 6.7
- Assists: Talaysia Cooper – 3.9
Ole Miss:
- Points: Cotie McMahon – 19.8
- Rebounds: Christeen Iwuala – 8.8
- Assists: Cotie McMahon – 2.7
Prediction
This is a massive game for both sides. The victor gets a quality win over an opponent that will likely have a similar resume and be jockeying for a similar seed in the NCAA Tournament. The loser takes another loss in SEC play as the regular season begins to wind down.
It’s also slotted in a strange time frame. Both teams are coming off Sunday games and will play this upcoming Thursday. With the initial game rescheduled due to inclement weather, it’ll create a battle of attrition and cardio.
That begs an interesting question. Will the Lady Vols be better off in their system since they’re used to running and potentially in the best cardio shape of any team in the SEC, or will all the running from the system catch up to them and leave them exhausted?
Either way, Tennessee is going to need to get another fantastic performance from Talaysia Cooper to pull off the road win. That’s already the case with Mia Pauldo ruled out and even more so if Nya Robertson, who is questionable, can’t go, either.
Lady Vols 72, Ole Miss 70
