2024–25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

2024–25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
2024–25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 18
Record	9–0 (0–0 SEC)
Head coach	Kim Caldwell (1st season);
Assistant coaches	Roman Tubner; Gabe Lazo; Jenna Burdette;
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 LSU	0	–	0	–	13	–	0	1.000
No. 18 Tennessee	0	–	0	–	9	–	0	1.000
Mississippi State	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
No. 6 Texas	0	–	0	–	11	–	1	.917
Alabama	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
No. 10 Oklahoma	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
No. 2 South Carolina	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
Vanderbilt	0	–	0	–	10	–	1	.909
No. 16 Kentucky	0	–	0	–	9	–	1	.900
Auburn	0	–	0	–	8	–	3	.727
Missouri	0	–	0	–	10	–	4	.714
No. 25 Ole Miss	0	–	0	–	7	–	3	.700
Florida	0	–	0	–	7	–	5	.583
Georgia	0	–	0	–	6	–	5	.545
Texas A&M	0	–	0	–	6	–	5	.545
Arkansas	0	–	0	–	6	–	7	.462

† 2025 SEC tournament winner As of December 18, 2024 Rankings from AP poll

The 2024–25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represents the University of Tennessee in the 2024–24 college basketball season. Led by head coach Kim Caldwell in her first year,^[1] the team plays their games at Thompson–Boling Arena and are members of the Southeastern Conference.

On December 14, the 19th-ranked Lady Vols set an NCAA record for the most three-point field goals made in a game. The team was 30-for-63 in three-pointers, becoming the first NCAA team, men's or women's, to reach that mark. The Lady Vols won the game against North Carolina Central University, 139–59.^[2]

Previous season

The 2023–24 team finished the season with a 20–13 overall record, 10–6 in the conference. They received a bye in the SEC tournament and advanced to the semifinals, where they lost by one point to South Carolina.^[3] The Lady Vols earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, advancing to the second round before losing to North Carolina State.^[4] In April 2024, head coach Kellie Harper was fired after five seasons.^[5]

Roster

2024–25 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	0	Jewel Spear	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Wake Forest University	The Colony, TX
G/F	1	Sara Puckett	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	Muscle Shoals HS	Muscle Shoals, AL
G	2	Ruby Whitehorn	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Jr	Clemson University	Detroit, MI
G	4	Kaniya Boyd	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Fr	Centennial HS	Las Vegas, NV
G	5	Kaiya Wynn	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Sr	Foster HS	Richmond, TX
G	7	Samara Spencer	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr	University of Arkansas	Fort Lauderdale, FL
G	10	Destinee Wells	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	RS Sr	Belmont University	Lakeland, TN
F	11	Zee Spearman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr	University of Miami	Dacula, GA
G	12	Edie Darby	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr	Greenfield HS	Greenfield, TN
G/F	13	Avery Strickland	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr	University of Pittsburgh	Knoxville, TN
F	15	Fayor Ayodele	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	University of Pittsburgh	Móstoles, Spain
G/F	21	Tess Darby	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Sr	Greenfield HS	Greenfield, TN
F	33	Alyssa Latham	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	Syracuse University	Glenwood, IL
F	53	Jillian Hollingshead	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Sr	University of Georgia	Gainesville, GA
G	55	Talaysia Cooper	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS So	University of South Carolina	Turbeville, SC

Head coach

Kim Caldwell (Glenville State)

Assistant coach(es)

Roman Tubner (Centenary)
Gabe Lazo (Barry)
Jenna Burdette (Dayton)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 31, 2024* 6:30 p.m., SECN+		Carson-Newman	W 135–49		29 – Whitehorn	7 – Boyd	8 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,613) Knoxville, Tennessee
Regular season
November 5, 2024* 6:30 p.m., SECN+		Samford	W 101–53	1–0	25 – Spearman	6 – Tied	5 – Tied	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,515) Knoxville, Tennessee
November 7, 2024* 6:30 p.m., SECN+		UT Martin	W 90–50	2–0	18 – Whitehorn	14 – Whitehorn	5 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,788) Knoxville, Tennessee
November 12, 2024* 6:30 p.m., SECN+		Middle Tennessee	W 89–75	3–0	18 – Cooper	10 – Cooper	5 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,697) Knoxville, Tennessee
November 16, 2024* 12:00 p.m., SECN+		Liberty	W 109–93	4–0	33 – Cooper	9 – Cooper	6 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,109) Knoxville, Tennessee
November 26, 2024* 7:00 p.m., SECN		Western Carolina	W 102–50	5–0	20 – Cooper	7 – Whitehorn	5 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,086) Knoxville, Tennessee
December 4, 2024* 7:15 p.m., SECN		Florida State ACC-SEC Challenge	W 79–77	6–0	22 – Cooper	7 – Cooper	4 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,529) Knoxville, Tennessee
December 7, 2024* 7:00 p.m., FOX		vs. No. 17 Iowa Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic	W 78–68	7–0	23 – Cooper	6 – Tied	3 – Cooper	Barclays Center (9,114) Brooklyn, New York
December 14, 2024* 2:00 p.m., SECN+	No. 19	North Carolina Central	W 139–59	8–0	33 – Spencer	6 – Cooper	10 – Spencer	Thompson-Boling Arena (9,305) Knoxville, Tennessee
December 18, 2024* 8:30 p.m., ESPN+	No. 18	at Memphis	W 90–75	9–0	18 – Tied	12 – Spearman	6 – Tied	FedEx Forum (3,019) Memphis, Tennessee
December 20, 2024* 2:15 p.m., BallerTV	No. 18	vs. Richmond West Palm Beach Classic						Massimino Court West Palm Beach, Florida
December 21, 2024* 11:00 a.m., BallerTV	No. 18	vs. Tulsa West Palm Beach Classic						Massimino Court West Palm Beach, Florida
December 29, 2024* 2:00 p.m., SECN+		Winthrop						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
January 2, 2025 8:00 p.m., SECN+		at Texas A&M						Reed Arena College Station, Texas
January 5, 2025 3:00 p.m., ESPN		Oklahoma						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
January 9, 2025 6:30 p.m., SECN+		LSU						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
January 12, 2025 1:00 p.m., SECN		at Arkansas						Bud Walton Arena Fayetteville, Arkansas
January 16, 2025 7:00 p.m., SECN		Mississippi State						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
January 19, 2025 3:00 p.m., SECN+		at Vanderbilt Rivalry						Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
January 23, 2025 9:00 p.m., SECN		at Texas						Moody Center Austin, Texas
January 27, 2025 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		South Carolina						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
February 2, 2025 3:00 p.m., SECN+		at Missouri						Mizzou Arena Columbia, Missouri
February 6, 2025* 6:30 p.m., ESPN		UConn Rivalry						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
February 9, 2025 4:00 p.m., ESPN		at LSU						Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
February 13, 2025 6:30 p.m., SECN+		Auburn						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
February 20, 2025 6:30 p.m., SECN+		Alabama						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
February 23, 2025 1:00 p.m., SECN		at Florida						O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida
February 27, 2025 7:00 p.m., SECN		at Kentucky Rivalry						Memorial Coliseum Lexington, Kentucky
March 2, 2025 12:00 p.m., SECN		Georgia Senior Day						Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
March 5–9, 2025		vs. TBD SEC Tournament						Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, South Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. 2024-25 Schedule

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	19	18
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	18	16

References

^ Trainer, Eric (April 7, 2024). "Tennessee Selects Caldwell To Lead Storied Lady Vol Basketball Program". UTSports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
^ Wilson, Mike (December 14, 2024). "Lady Vols basketball sets NCAA 3-point record by hitting 30 in win over NC Central". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
^ Iacobelli, Pete (March 9, 2024). "Cardoso's first-ever 3 rescues No. 1 South Carolina at SEC Tournament with 74-73 win over Lady Vols". Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
^ Lady Vols’ comeback against NC State comes up short Lady Vols basketball can't complete comeback against No. 1 seed Virginia Tech in Sweet 16
^ "Tennessee Athletics Announces Change Of Leadership In Women's Basketball". Tennessee Volunteers Athletics. April 1, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

[1] Trainer, Eric (April 7, 2024). "Tennessee Selects Caldwell To Lead Storied Lady Vol Basketball Program". UTSports.com. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

[2] Wilson, Mike (December 14, 2024). "Lady Vols basketball sets NCAA 3-point record by hitting 30 in win over NC Central". Knoxville News-Sentinel. Retrieved December 14, 2024.

[3] Iacobelli, Pete (March 9, 2024). "Cardoso's first-ever 3 rescues No. 1 South Carolina at SEC Tournament with 74-73 win over Lady Vols". Associated Press. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

[4] Lady Vols’ comeback against NC State comes up short Lady Vols basketball can't complete comeback against No. 1 seed Virginia Tech in Sweet 16

[5] "Tennessee Athletics Announces Change Of Leadership In Women's Basketball". Tennessee Volunteers Athletics. April 1, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.

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v t e Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
Venues	Stokely Athletic Center (1974–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Stanford UConn Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	History Smokey "Rocky Top"
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics