Tennessee Lady Vols basketball quickly returns to Food City Center Thursday evening after defeating New Haven 83-40 Tuesday night. The Lady Vols are 3-0 and will host an in-state foe in Middle Tennessee State University. This will be the 26th meeting all-time between the two programs. Tennessee leads the series 24-1.
The Blue Raiders (1-1) are led by first-year head coach Matt Insell. MTSU lost 47-38 to Memphis Friday, Nov. 6, its first loss to the Tigers since 1999. Blair Baugus led the Blue Raiders with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and seven rebounds. Baugus averages 19.0 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. Also scoring in double figures is guard Mya Kone at 14.5 points per game.
Tennessee comes in with Kaylene Smikle leading the way with 19.7 points per game. Gabby Minus and Aaliyah Moore average double figures as well, with 12.7 and 12 points per game, respectively. Minus also does a little bit of everything. She leads the team with nine steals through three games and has grabbed 25 rebounds.
“The biggest thing that we’ve been talking about lately is just staying true to ourselves,” Minus said Tuesday. “Knowing when things are not going our way, we have to adjust and keep a positive mindset, because not everything is going to come out as a good outcome for us at the beginning, but we have to fix it and we have to adjust.”
The Lady Vols got off to a couple of slow starts in their last two wins. Head coach Kim Caldwell tried some different rotations Tuesday night and allowed the team to play through some things to gauge where this team was mentally in different situations.
“We’re learning a lot in games with 15 new players, and you guys saw that tonight,” Caldwell said. “We threw a lot at them. We had switched up our groups and our rotations for this game on a one-day prep. We intentionally had them call their own sets and didn’t call a lot of plays for them, for them to try to work their way through it.
“I think that was part of the result of the slow start. But those are things we need, because we are going to get in high-pressure situations very quickly where five players on the floor have to figure it out together.”
Rylie Makalusky is a player to watch off the bench. She’s made the most of her minutes. Makalusky averages 6.7 points in 10.3 minutes per game. She’s also 5-for-7 from beyond the arc.
“She’s been incredibly efficient for us, and her minutes just continue to grow, and I think they will continue to grow,” Caldwell told me on Tuesday. “I trust her on offense. I trust her to take good 3s, good shots and hit them. I think the more she gets on the floor, her rebounding will increase and her on-ball defense will continue to get better with confidence too. She’s done nothing but produce when she’s gotten her minutes.”
How to watch
- Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
- Place: Food City Center
- TV/Streaming: SECN+
- On the call: Andy Brock (play-by-play), LVFL Niya Butts (analyst) and Sarah Detwiler (reporter)
- Radio: Lady Vol Network stations with Brian Rice (play-by-play) and Jay Liford (analyst)
- Satellite Radio: SiriusXM channel 262 and SXM App channel 972
The Lady Vols are No. 1 nationally in three-pointers made per game (15.0) and No. 1 in threes attempted per contest (40.3) after a 15-for-40 showing (37.5%) against New Haven. Tennessee also ranks No. 10 in the nation in scoring offense with 96.7 points per game. It is No. 19 in scoring margin at 42.7.
The game also doubles as a Salute to Service night, presented by Standard Nuclear. Current military members, veterans and first responders can get free admission for themselves and their immediate family (limit of four to six, based on availability) by showing a military ID, DD 214, license certification, state-issued ID, badge or other employer-issued identification at ticket locations outside Food City Center.
Free parking and shuttle service from UT’s Ag Campus are also available for Vol and Lady Vol basketball games.
Send your questions, comments, and hot takes to our email tennesseeonsi@gmail.com for the chance to be featured in an article!
Follow Our Social Media Accounts
• Follow Vols on SI on X (Click HERE)
• Follow Vols on SI on Facebook (Click HERE)
• Follow Vols on SI on Instagram (Click HERE)
• Subscribe to Vols on SI on YouTube (Click HERE)
Sign up for our newsletter to have articles sent straight to your email daily HERE.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
