Tennessee women’s basketball announced its non conference schedule Friday afternoon including five games against power five competition.
The Lady Vols open their season on Nov. 7 against Florida A&M at Thompson-Boling Arena before facing their first true test two days later on Nov. 9 at Florida State.
Other marquee games for Tennessee include matchups against Indiana and Oklahoma in Fort Myers, Florida at Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off, a home matchup against Notre Dame in the ACC/SEC Challenge and a home matchup against Ohio State.
Indiana and Ohio State were both on Tennessee’s schedule last season with the Lady Vols falling to both during the pre conference slate. Both Big 10 school has been consistently strong programs in recent years.
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While Tennessee’s schedule includes a number of difficult non conference games it is easier than it’s been recent years. Perennial national title contenders UConn and Stanford are off the Lady Vols’ schedule after being on it in recent years.
Tennessee also plays a pair of instate matchups in its non conference slate. The Lady Vols host Memphis at Thompson-Boling Arena on Nov. 13 and also travel to Huntsville to take on Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 6.
Harper is entering her fifth season as Tennessee’s head coach and the Lady Vols have shown growth returning to the Sweet 16 for each of the last two seasons. Tennessee is one of just seven programs that can make that claim.
However, the Lady Vols have been unable to knock down the door and make a deep-deep run in the NCAA Tournament, losing relatively uncompetitively in each Sweet 16 game. Tennessee returns star Rickea Jackson and gets Tamari Key back from a medical issue that sidelined her for nearly the entirety of the 2022-23 season.
