After a strong win in overtime at Georgia on the road, Lady Vols basketball fell apart in Columbia, losing 93-50 to South Carolina on Sunday. Now, on Monday, the AP Poll has been released to reflect the last week of games.
In the updated ranking, Tennessee sits at No. 22 in the country. This is a three-spot drop, after going into this past week as the No. 19 team in the poll. That was a four-spot drop from its previous mark after losing to UConn.
This is good for the eighth-highest ranking in the SEC in the poll. The Lady Vols trail No. 3 South Carolina, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 6 LSU, No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 14 Ole Miss and No. 18 Kentucky in the conference. Other teams on UT’s schedule this year that are ranked include No. 1 UConn, No. 2 UCLA, No. 9 Louisville and No. 23 Alabama. Tennessee lost to each of those out-of-conference foes.
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The Lady Vols weren’t expected to beat South Carolina this past Sunday, but the margin of defeat was concerning. Tennessee lost by 43 points, the biggest margin in program history. This also marked the fourth loss of the season by 20+ points.
“We just had a lot of quit in us tonight and that’s been something that’s been consistent with our team is we’re not comfortable and things don’t go our way and I have a team that’ll just quit on you and you can’t do that in big games,” Lady Vols head coach Kim Caldwell said after the game. “You can’t do that anytime in the SEC, but you certainly can’t do that at a program like this.”
Next, the Lady Vols will return home after three games away from Knoxville. On Thursday, Feb. 12, Tennessee hosts Kellie Harper’s Missouri squad. This will be Harper’s first return as a coach to Knoxville since she was fired as the Lady Vols’ head coach. She was also a multi-time national champion player under Pat Summitt.
The game against the Tigers is set for 6:30 p.m. ET. It will air on SECN+.
