Coming off a horrendous showing in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, the Tennessee Lady Vols return to their home court desperately looking for a win. Ranked NO. 23 in the AP Poll and NO. 24 in the Coaches Poll, they’ll face their second Pac-12 opponent this year in the Colorado Buffaloes.
Kellie Harper’s team comes into this matchup after a 73-72 loss to the Gonzaga Bulldogs to close out the tournament in The Bahamas last Monday. That followed an 80-63 loss to the UCLA Bruins. Their only win in the event was a 94-54 victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights to open it up.
Colorado, meanwhile, comes into this game on the heels of a 71-63 win over the Air Force Falcons. Their only loss is by one point in overtime to the Texas Tech Red Raiders on the road in the preseason Women’s NIT. Here is all the information you need for the Tennessee Lady Vols’ Friday night matchup.
Broadcast information
- TV: SEC Network
- Live stream: WatchESPN
- Radio: Lady Vol Network (Click here for affiliates); Colorado Radio Network (Click here for affiliates)
- Listen online: UTSports; CUBuffs.com
Led by sixth-year head coach J.R. Payne, Colorado is coming off its first NCAA Tournament appearance in nine years after going 22-8 last year. They were eliminated as a No. 7 seed in the first round by the No. 10 seed Creighton Bluejays.
They lost three starters from that team but return key rotational players Jaylyn Sherrod, Frida Formann, Quay Miller, Tayanna Jones and Tameiya Sadler. Miller, Sherrod, Formann and Jones have started every game, and Miller, Sherrod and Formann are all averaging double figures.
Arizona Wildcats transfer center Aaronette Vonleh and Freshman Jada Wynn have also boosted the team, allowing them to have an eight-player rotation. Miller, though, has been the breakout star, averaging over 17 points and 10 rebounds.
On the other side, Rocky Top has had a disastrous start to the year given their preseason top five ranking. Harper has had a rough time finding the right rotation amongst the level of depth, which is a huge reason for the preseason hype behind this program, and Jordan Horston getting banged up didn’t help.
Up next for the Tennessee Lady Vols after this game will be a visit Sunday from the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Meanwhile, Colorado will visit the Chicago State Cougars that same day. It’s likely this is a game to be in the top 25 next week.