Game Thread: vs. Louisville 12/20 11am EST on Fox Sports Network

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BruisedOrange

BruisedOrange

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No. 17/18 Tennessee (7-2) will meet No. 16/17 Louisville (11-3) on Saturday morning in the Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Lady Vols and Cardinals will tip off at 11 a.m. ET in a contest televised nationally, with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Sarah Kustok (color analyst) calling the game for FOX, and carried on the Lady Vol Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (Channels 106 or 190).

UT takes a two-game winning streak into the match-up and is coming off its most complete performance of the season last Sunday, a 112-40 triumph over Winthrop in Knoxville.

After defeating Eastern Kentucky on Wednesday night, 76-51, Louisville enters with a four-game win streak and has triumphed in seven of its past eight just like the Lady Vols.

The Cards lead Tennessee, 3-2, in the all-time series and have won the past three meetings. The programs last met in Wichita, Kansas, on March 26, 2022, during the NCAA Sweet 16. The Cardinals prevailed, 76-64, getting 23 points from Hailey Van Lith.

A LOOK AT THE LADY VOLS
  • UT is coming off its best effort of the year, with highs for pts. in a game (112), pts. in a qtr. (39/2Q), pts. in a half (66/1H), FGs (42), FGsA (77), FG% (54.5%), 3FGs (16), 3FGsA (42), 3FG% (38.1%), rebs. (54) and assts. (28) vs. Winthrop and holding a foe to season lows in FG% (25%), 3FG% (11.8%) FT% (50%) and second lowest in pts. (40) and assts. (5).
  • UT is led by a trio of national player of the year candidates in 6-0 redshirt junior guard Talaysia Cooper (15.4 ppg., 6.7 rpg., 4.7 apg., 3.8 spg., 16 3FGs) and 6-4 senior forwards Janiah Barker (16.2 ppg., 6.1 rpg., 1.4 spg., 14 3FGs) and Zee Spearman (10.4 ppg., 7.0 rpg., 8 3FGs).
  • Senior guard Nya Robertson joins that trio in double figures (10.8 ppg.) and leads UT with 21 three-pointers.
  • Freshman guard Mia Pauldo (8.9 ppg., 23 assts./7 TOs, 16 3FGs), named USBWA and SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Tuesday, is coming off an 18-point, 10-assist double-double vs. Winthrop.
  • Freshman guards Jaida Civil (6.2 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) and Deniya Prawl (4.0 ppg., 3.1 rpg.) also have made early impacts.
TRENDING...
  • UT has won seven of its past eight games.
  • Janiah Barker and Talaysia Cooper have scored in double figures in every game this season, with Barker notching three games of 20+ and Cooper two.
  • Cooper's 3.78 steals per game rank No. 10 nationally, bolstered by 10 vs. Stanford.
  • Tennessee has hit 10 or more three-pointers in three of its past four games, including a total of 16 vs. Winthrop on Sunday that ranks No. 2 in program history.
  • The Lady Vols rank No. 6 nationally in offensive rebs. per game (17.6) and 12th in rebs. per game (45.11) after pulling down a Caldwell-era high of 54 vs. Winthrop.
  • UT is first nationally in 3FGA per game (34.0) after firing 42 vs. Winthrop (No. 2 in UT history).
  • With 13 steals in its last game, UT has reached 10+ seven times and ranks No. 16 nationally at 13.6 swipes per contest.
  • After forcing 24 turnovers vs. Winthrop, UT has caused 20+ in seven contests and ranks 16th in the NCAA (23.11 per game).
  • The past six games, rookie Mia Pauldo has tallied 18 assists vs. only three turnovers.
  • Freshman Jaida Civil has pulled down six or more rebounds in the past three games.
TEAM & INDIVIDUAL STATS LINK:
herhoopstats.com

Tennessee Volunteers - 2026 NCAA

Traditional and Advanced Statistics, Schedule, Rosters, Game Logs, Team Comparisons, and more from Her Hoop Stats
herhoopstats.com herhoopstats.com
 
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#2
#2
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gocards.com

Women's Basketball Roster - University of Louisville Athletic

The official Women's Basketball Roster for the University of Louisville Cardinals
gocards.com gocards.com

A LOOK AT THE CARDINALS
  • Louisville is led by double-figure scorers Tajianna Roberts (13.0 ppg.) and Laura Ziegler (11.6 ppg.).
  • That duo has hit 25 and 21 of the Cardinals' 113 three-pointers on the season, respectively.
  • UL averages 81.9 points per game and allows a stingy 57.8 to opponents.
  • Seven other players average more than 5.0 points per game.
ABOUT THE HEAD COACH
  • Jeff Walz is 497-149 in his 19th year as a head coach, all at Louisville.
  • Walz has guided the Cardinals to 12 trips to the NCAA Sweet 16, eight trips to the Elite Eight, four trips to the NCAA Final Four and two trips to the national title game.
  • Walz is one of four active head coaches to reach at least four Final Fours.
THE CARDINALS' LAST GAME
  • After trailing 19-14 after the first quarter, Louisville outscored Eastern Kentucky, 62-32, the rest of the way to claim a 76-51 home victory on Wednesday night.
  • Tajianna Roberts led the Cardinals with 12 points, while Laura Ziegler contributed 11 and Skylar Jones and Yevheniia Putra chipped in 10 each.
  • EKU shot 50 percent from the field in the first period, connecting on four of seven attempts from deep and was down by only three at the half, 30-27.
  • UL held the Colonels below 27 percent from the field during the middle two quarters to take control of the game and used a 60-32 rebounding advantage to prevent second chances by the visitors.
  • Reserve Grace Mbugua was a big part of the dominance on the glass for Louisville, pulling down 10 boards in 12 minutes of action.
  • The Cards also had a 44-22 advantage in the paint and scored 23 points off 21 EKU turnovers.
SENIOR LEADERSHIP: Ziegler named ACC Co-Player of the Week

Senior forward Laura Ziegler was named ACC Co-Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday afternoon. Ziegler led the Cards in a 2-0 week with wins over Ball State and No. 12/11 North Carolina.

Ziegler averaged a team-best 16.0 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game in the two Louisville victories. She shot 10-for-21 (47.6%) from the floor, 4-for-7 (57.1%) from three and 8-for-8 (100%) from the line. The Cards were the only team in the ACC this past week with two wins over opponents with eight or more wins on the season.

In the win on Sunday over No. 12/11 North Carolina, Ziegler led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds and was 3-for-4 from behind the arc. Ziegler recorded two assists and zero turnovers over 42 minutes of game action. Ziegler went 2-for-2 from the line in the overtime period to clinch the ranked road win for the Cards.

In the win over Ball State on Wednesday, Ziegler tallied 15 points and had five rebounds. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and is 28-for-30 (93.3%) from the charity stripe for the season. Ziegler has scored in double figures eight times this season and has tallied five rebounds or more in 10 games this year.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL STATS LINK: Louisville Cardinals - 2026 NCAA
 
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#5
#5
I figured I'd throw the kitchen sink at it, so that future Game Thread starters could make their own decisions about which features/info they found useful and which ones were...
1766095644041.png...just so much fluff.

FYI: Almost everything there is copy & paste from the UTsports website or the Louisville women's basketball website.
It's not hard at all. Everyone should give it their own shot!
 
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#7
#7
Well, time for some predictions. Louisville's last two big games have been a two-point loss at home to South Carolina, and a 10 point overtime victory on the road against North Carolina. They have also played more games than we have, and I'm not completely sure we've settled down yet. That said,

Lady Vols 75 -- Louisville 71.
 
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