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Tennessee Lady Vols at No. 16 Notre Dame: Live stream, time, TV, radio

By Caleb Calhoun

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 28: Tennessee Volunteers fans reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - MARCH 28: Tennessee Volunteers fans reacts against the Purdue Boilermakers during overtime of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at the KFC YUM! Center on March 28, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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Kellie Harper has her first test as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols. Here is our preview for the women’s basketball Volunteers at the Fighting Irish.

After surviving in their opener at the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and then dominating Central Arkansas Sugar Bears in their home opener, the Tennessee Lady Vols are back on the road. And they have a tough early test this Saturday in Kellie Harper’s first game against a top 25 program as the school’s head coach.

UT heads to South Bend, Ind. to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, the program that won the national title in 2018 and was the runner-up this past year, knocking off the UConn Huskies both times. They are still in the top 25 this year with a 2-0 record, but a rebuilding year is still expected, which is why they are not in the top 10.

Both teams have a lot to find out about their program, making this for a great early-season women’s basketball matchup. Here is all you need to know about the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Monday night road trip.

Tennessee Lady Volunteers at No. 16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

When: Monday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Purcell Pavilion; South Bend, Ind.

TV: ESPN2

Live stream: WatchESPN

Radio: Lady Vol Network

Listen online: UTSports

Despite Notre Dame being much more proven as a program in recent years under 32nd-year head coach Muffet McGraw, they actually enter this game with similar questions to the Tennessee Lady Vols. Both teams survived their openers on the road, with UT escaping the ETSU Bucs 72-68 and Notre Dame escaping the Fordham Rams 60-55.

Then they both came home and dominated their openers, with Harper’s team beating Central Arkansas 63-36 and Notre Dame beating the Loyola (Maryland) Greyhounds 84-60. Monday will be a matchup between two young teams who have lots of talent, and it’ll be a great test for Harper going forward.

At the moment, Notre Dame is ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll but No. 14 in the Coaches Poll. The Tennessee Lady Vols are now receiving votes in both polls after their 2-0 start, but this would be a great way for them to get into the top 25.

Harper’s focus will be on dominating defensively, using her depth and going inside, as she now goes 10-deep and uses true forwards and centers, unlike in previous years. However, Notre Dame will want to turn up the pace in McGraw’s system. Their problem, though, is that three-point shooting has been an issue this year, and that messes with their tempo.

If the Lady Vols lose this game, it won’t be the end of the world. However, even if they win, we haven’t seen enough from Notre Dame’s new-look program to know if it’s a quality win or not. So this is a solid early test, but we’ll still have much to learn about this team going forward.