On Wednesday, the SEC revealed the home and away conference opponents for each women’s basketball team in the league.
The Lady Vols’ SEC home and away slates are below. Dates, television and tip times are to be announced.
HOME:
Arkansas
Florida
Kentucky
LSU
Missouri
South Carolina
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
AWAY:
Alabama
Auburn
Georgia
Ole Miss
Mississippi State
South Carolina
Texas A&M
Vanderbilt
Tennessee’s schedule features 16 total games against 13 total opponents, meaning the Lady Vols play two games against three teams. Vanderbilt is the only school Tennessee plays twice every year, while the other two rotate annually. This year, Tennessee is matched up with South Carolina and Texas A&M twice.
The Gamecocks and Aggies are the ultimate ying and yang of women’s basketball teams currently. South Carolina has dominated the league for the past handful of years, going undefeated in the regular season last year. Meanwhile, the Aggies are coming off their worst season since they joined the SEC.
Under first-year head coach Joni Taylor, Texas A&M finished tied for last in the league with a 2-14 SEC conference record.
An important note when looking at the home slate is that Tennessee will host defending National Champions LSU. The Lady Vols narrowly lost a 40-minute battle to the Tigers last year in Baton Rouge in the regular season before beating Kim Mulkey’s squad in the SEC Tournament.
Tennessee’s win over LSU in Greenville was and is arguably the biggest win in head coach Kellie Harper’s career.
Another notable aspect of Tennessee’s schedule is that they must travel to Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Alabama and Georgia. All four finished above .500 in SEC play last season, joining Tennessee, LSU and South Carolina as the seven SEC squads to do so.
Additionally, all four made the NCAA Tournament, where Ole Miss upset Stanford to make it to the Sweet Sixteen as an eight-seed.
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Harper is entering her fifth season as head coach of the Lady Vols. Notable returners on Tennessee are fifth-year senior forward Rickea Jackson, senior center Tamari Key and junior forward Jillian Hollingshead. Jackson made the All-SEC First Team roster last season after averaging 19.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Harper has also brought some talent from the transfer portal heading into this season, most notably Wake Forest senior guard transfer Jewel Spear. Spear was a two-time All-ACC selection during her time in Winston-Salem and figures to contribute immediately on Rocky Top.
Other transfers include sophomore wing Avery Strickland from Pitt and senior guard Destinee Wells from Belmont. Other returners include senior guard and sharpshooter Tess Darby, junior wing Sara Puckett, junior forward Karoline Stripling, fifth-year senior guard Jasmine Powell and junior guard Kaiya Wynn.
The only specific date to be announced on Tennessee’s 2023-2024 schedule is the Lady Vols date with Notre Dame in the SEC/ACC Challenge on November 29 in Thompson-Boling Arena.
