Lady Vols basketball is back in action after its over-week break since going to California. The trip out west resulted in a blowout loss at UCLA and a rebound win at Stanford. Now, Tennessee will host Winthrop, coached by LVFL Semeka Randall Lay, at home on Sunday afternoon.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup, from broadcast details to a prediction.
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How to Watch — No. 18 Lady Vols (6-2, 0-0 SEC) vs. Winthrop (7-4, 0-0 Big South)
- Start Time: 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
- Location: Food City Center (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Watch: SECN+ | PxP: Myan Patel, Analyst: Kamera Harris, Reporter: Madison Insolia
- 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
No odds currently listed
ESPN Matchup Predictor
Lady Vols: 99.0%
Winthrop: 1.0%
What Kim Caldwell Said About Winthrop
“They’re off to the best start that they’ve ever been. I think we need to focus on us. We have one more day where we focus on us and then we’ll get into our scout. That’s been the really nice part about the break, we’ve had a lot of time of hey, we’re going to look at this, we’re going to look at this, we’re going to add this. Giving people some encouragement and building them up and then the next two days will be pretty scout heavy and then that’s kind of the routine we’ll be in of two days prep, day off, two days prep, then we’re in the thick of it.”
Last Five Games
Lady Vols:
- at Stanford, 65-62 W
- at UCLA, 99-77 L
- vs. Coppin State, 88-35 W
- at MTSU, 85-41 W
- vs. Belmont, 68-58 W
Winthrop:
- vs. UNCW, 78-68 W
- vs. JWNC, 105-41 W
- at SC State, 66-45 W
- vs. SMU, 84-61 L
- vs. SIU, 75-61 W
Where They Land In Rankings
Lady Vols:
- AP Poll – No. 18
- Coaches Poll – No. 18
- Bart Torvik – No. 15
Winthrop:
- AP Poll – Unranked
- Coaches Poll – Unranked
- Bart Torvik – No. 260
Stat Leaders
Lady Vols:
- Points: Talaysia Cooper – 15.9
- Rebounds: Zee Spearman – 7.3
- Assists: Talaysia Cooper – 4.8
Winthrop:
- Points: Mya Pierfax – 14.5
- Rebounds: Tocarra Johnson – 7.0
- Assists: Cori Lard – 3.6
Prediction
With well over a week to prepare, I don’t think the Lady Vols will have much of an issue in this one. Tennessee got valuable film in the trip to California, but still salvaged it by leaving Stanford with a win. Now, there’s a push from Kim Caldwell and company to go undefeated in December. To build momentum, I think the team will have the appropriate focus despite the level of opponent.
Winthrop isn’t awful, but it’s not good. It already holds blowout losses to Marquette, South Carolina and SMU, along with a narrow loss at Chicago State. The Eagles seem to be playing better now than to start the year, but the talent gap should still be way too much to overcome.
I’ll take a comfortable win behind a decently strong start for the Lady Vols. I expect Talaysia Cooper to be a menace in the press, leading to easy baskets for her and her teammates off turnovers. I’m also looking for Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman to get to the rim and use their height and athleticism to punish the defense, instead of letting the offense settle for too many threes.
Lady Vols 92, Winthrop 60
