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Tennessee Lady Vols season-opener preview vs. Southern Illinois: Live stream, game time, TV and radio info

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 4: General view of the exterior of Thompson-Boling Arena prior to the football game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 4, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida defeated Tennessee 10-9. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 4: General view of the exterior of Thompson-Boling Arena prior to the football game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on October 4, 2014 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Florida defeated Tennessee 10-9. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Kellie Harper officially begins her third season Wednesday night as head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball program. One week after a 108-44 exhibition win over the Georgia College Bobcats, a Division II program entering its third year under Harper’s brother, Russ Jolly, UT will host an old Rival of Harper’s from her time in the Missouri Valley conference.

The Southern Illinois Salukis head to Rocky Top in what is the 2021-2022 season-opener for both teams. UT comes in on the heels of a 17-8 record from last year, a second-round exit from the NCAA Tournament and ranked in the top 15 of both preseason polls: No. 15 in the AP Poll and No. 12 in the Coaches Poll.

SIU, meanwhile, is entering its ninth and set to be final season under head coach Cindy Stein and is coming off a 9-16 season. This will be the third meeting between these two programs, with UT winning the previous two games and their last meeting coming in 1989. Here is all the information you need for the Tennessee Lady Vols’ start to the year.

Southern Illinois Salukis at Tennessee Lady Volunteers

When: Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Thompson-Boling Arena; Knoxville, Tenn.

TV: SEC Network

Live stream: WatchESPN

Radio: Lady Vol Network; Saluki Radio Network

Listen online: UTSports; SIUSalukis.com

Lady Vols 2021-2022 preview: Backcourt. light. Related Story

Expectations are cautiously optimistic for UT. Although they lost their leading scorer and leading rebounder, and in general their best overall player from last year in Rennia Davis, they return other key starters, most notably preseason All-American Rae Burrell. In fact, all of their other key contributors are back, including Jordan Horston, Jordan Walker and Tamari Key.

Now, there were some other losses. Kasiyahna Kushkituah graduated, and rising sophomore Marta Suárez suffered a season-ending injury. On the other hand, Keyen Green is back from a season-ending injury, transfer Alexus Dye joins the program on the heels of earning Sun Belt Player of the Year with the Troy Trojans, and four new recruits join, including three four-stars.

Simply put, there are plenty of other players combined with more experience who are behind the expectations for this team. Add in returning role players like Jessie Rennie, Emily Saunders and Tess Darby, and there’s enough for an elite, deep roster.

On the other side, SIU returns all five starters and 10 players overall from last year’s team, so a vast improvement is expected. Stein, who announced she will retire at the end of the year, coached the Missouri Tigers from 1998 to 2010, had overseen six straight seasons with SIU at or above .500 before last year.

dark. Next. Lady Vols 2021-2022 preview: Frontcourt

During her six years with the Missouri State Lady Bears, Harper faced Stein and SIU 13 times. She compiled an 11-2 record. After this game, the Tennessee Lady Vols will host the UCF Knights Friday night. SIU will visit the Kansas City Roos on Sunday.