KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — #RV/RV Tennessee (1-0) is back at Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday night, hosting in-state rival ETSU (1-0) at 7 p.m. ET.

Both teams are coming off season-opening victories on Saturday, as the Lady Vols took care of Western Kentucky, 87-47, in Knoxville and the Buccaneers edged Longwood in Farmville, Va., 62-56.

The head coaches in this game, Tennessee’s Kellie (Jolly) Harper and ETSU’s Brittney Ezell matched up against one another on the hardwood during their college days at Tennessee and Alabama, respectively. Both played high school ball in the Volunteer State as well, as UT’s skipper starred at White County High School (Sparta) and the Bucs’ leader was a standout at Franklin High School.

This is expected to be UT’s last appearance on The Summitt until Dec. 20, when Jackson State comes to town for a noon match-up. That game will be televised by the SEC Network.

UT next faces back-to-back road games, traveling to West Virginia for an SEC/Big 12 Challenge tilt at 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+/Big 12 Now) on Saturday and playing at Texas on Dec. 13. Tip for that game has not been announced.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Tuesday night’s game will be live streamed by SECN+ with Roger Hoover (PxP) and LVFL Andraya Carter (Analyst) on the call.
• The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network radio stations and by audio stream, with Brian Rice sitting in temporarily for Mickey Dearstone. Now calling the action for his 22nd season, Dearstone (and Rice) are joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
• For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on Vol Network Affiliates in the black bar at the top of the page.
• Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.
• SECN+ games are online broadcasts and are available only on WatchESPN via computers, smartphones and tablets.
• All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and the SEC Network will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.

LAST TIME WE PLAYED

• The Lady Vols opened the 2020-21 season with an impressive 87-47 win over Western Kentucky in Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday afternoon.
• Junior guard/forward Rae Burrell led Tennessee with 18 points and a career-high seven assists. Four other Lady Vols found their way into double digits with redshirt junior guard Jordan Walker adding 13, freshman guard/forward Marta Suárez scoring 11, and senior forward Rennia Davis and freshman guard Destiny Salary each pitching in 10. Davis also tallied 11 rebounds to record her 30th career double-double.
• WKU was paced by Ally Collett who finished the day with 16 points and three rebounds. Meral Abdelgawad was the second-leading scorer with 13 points and nine rebounds.

NEW FACES IN THE STARTING FIVE

• Three Tennessee newcomers earned starting spots in their debuts – freshman Marta Suárez and graduate transfers Jordan Walker and Keyen Green. Prior to that, only two transfers had started in a season opener (Shannon Bobbitt and Jaiden McCoy) in the NCAA era. Suárez became the 23rd freshman to start in her first game as a Lady Vol.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DEBUTS

• Redshirt junior Jordan Walker and freshmen Marta Suárez and Destiny Salary found their way into double digits, scoring 13, 11 and 10, respectively. They are three of just 45 Lady Vols all-time to score 10 or more points in their debut.

BALANCED ATTACK

• Of the 12 players active for the Lady Vols against WKU, 11 contributed points to Tennessee’s win and five were in double figures.

ABOUT TENNESSEE

• Tennessee returns five of its top six scorers and rebounders from 2019-20, including the top four in each category.
• Kellie Harper welcomes back 80.8 percent of her scoring, 76.4 percent of rebounds, 78.6 percent of blocks, 71.0 percent of steals and 64.8 percent of assists from a year ago.
• Tennessee returns four players who were in the starting lineup during the 2019-20 season. That group includes 6-2 senior Rennia Davis, 6-1 junior Rae Burrell and 6-5 sophomore Tamari Key. Sophomore Jordan Horston, a 6-2 guard, earned 22 starts before giving way to Burrell in the final nine contests.
• UT welcomes a pair of highly-productive graduate transfers in 6-foot-1 Keyen Green from Liberty and 5-8 Jordan Walker from Western Michigan. Green is a three-time all-conference performer, while Walker earned All-MAC honors last season.
• The three-member rookie class includes 6-0 guard Destiny Salary (four-star prospect, #57 by espnW HoopGurlz), 6-1 guard/forward Tess Darby (#86 by Blue Star Media, four-star prospect by ProspectsNation.com, three-star prospect by espnW HoopGurlz) and 6-2 guard/forward Marta Suárez (a four-star prospect by Blue Star Europe).

ABOUT ETSU

• ETSU returns four active players from its 2019-20 squad, plus transfers Jasmine Sanders (Troy) and Mykia Dowdell (MTSU/Oak Ridge H.S.).
• The Buccaneers, who gave UT a scare in the 2019-20 opener, lost leading scorer Erica Haynes-Overton (22.8 ppg./41 points vs. UT) in game four a year ago and finished with a 9-21 record.
• Eighth-year head coach Brittney Ezell welcomes seven new players, including graduate transfer Kelly Post (Mount Olive) and JUCO transfer Ashawntae Brown (Weatherford College).
• E’Lease Stafford (10.7 ppg.) is ETSU’s leading returning scorer, while Shynia Jackson (5.4 rpg.) is the Bucs’ leading returning rebounder.

RECAPPING THE BUCS’ LAST GAME

• With seven newcomers and a total of nine debuts in a blue and gold uniform, the ETSU women’s basketball team opened its campaign with a 62-56 win at Longwood on Saturday.
• Freshman Jakhyia Davis provided a huge spark off the bench, scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting while recording five rebounds in her first collegiate action. Mykia Dowdell, sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations, opened her account with 12 points and four boards, while providing a spark on the defensive side of the ball. Jasmine Sanders added a seven-point effort.
• Kaia Upton continued where she left off the year prior, playing a part in all facets of the game. The junior guard led the team in rebounds, grabbing a career-best eight boards along with her eight points and three assists, while also pestering the Lancer offense with five steals.

THE LAST TIME UT AND ETSU MET

• The Lady Vols staved off a tenacious ETSU squad on Nov. 5, 2019, opening the Kellie Harper era with a gritty, 72-68 win in front of a crowd of 5,881 at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.
• Tennessee (1-0) was paced by junior Rennia Davis and freshman Tamari Key who each notched double-doubles. Davis ended the evening with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Key recorded 11 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Zaay Green led UT in scoring with 17 points.
• ETSU (0-1) was led by Erica Haynes-Overton, who poured in a commanding 41 points while pulling down 10 boards and snagging seven steals. E’Lease Stafford was also in double figures for the Bucs with 13.

UT/ETSU SERIES HISTORY

• Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Buccaneers, 23-2-1.
• UT’s records include games played in 1924 (ETSU, 22-16 in Knoxville), 1925 (25-all in Johnson City) and 1926 (UT, 50-16 in Knoxville), when the orange-clad players were called Volettes.
• Since losing 62-56 in Johnson City on Feb. 12, 1971, the Lady Vols have won 21 in a row in the series
• Tennessee holds a 16-1 home record vs. ETSU, with the lone Buc victory coming in the first meeting at Knoxville in 1924.
• The Lady Vols have a 7-1-1 record when playing at ETSU, winning their past seven games there.
• These teams last met on Nov. 5, 2019, with #RV/RV Tennessee escaping with a 72-68 victory in Johnson City in Kellie Harper‘s debut as the Lady Vols’ head coach.
• Freshman Tamari Key came off the bench in that game to card 11 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks and three assists in her college debut.
• The Lady Vols have reached the 100-point plateau three times vs. ETSU, doing so in 2010 (102) and twice in 1977 (100, 102).
• The Lady Vols are 64-20-1 all-time vs. schools from the Southern Conference.
• Bucs coach Brittney Ezell, a native of Franklin, Tenn., played her college ball (basketball and softball) at Alabama, graduating in 1999. She and Kellie (Jolly) Harper met on the hardwood when UT’s head coach was starring as a point guard for Pat Summitt from 1995-99.

-UT Athletics