After defeating Florida State and No. 17/20 Iowa in back-to-back games to run its season record to 7-0, the Tennessee women’s basketball team has been named one of two United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Teams of the Week, the organization announced on Tuesday.
With Kim Caldwell in her first season at the helm in Knoxville, the Lady Volunteers outlasted a Seminoles squad receiving votes in the polls, 79-77, at Food City Center on Dec. 4. They then knocked off a Hawkeyes program that has been to the last two NCAA Final Fours, 78-68, in the Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Dec. 7.
Those victories kept the Big Orange undefeated and vaulted UT into the AP Top 25 at No. 19 this week. It marked the program’s first return to that poll since November 2023, with Tennessee among 10 teams nationally still operating without a loss this season.
Caldwell, in her ninth year overall as a head coach, has guided a very entertaining team that ranks No. 3 in the NCAA in scoring offense (92.6); No. 2 in steals per game (16.6), turnovers forced per game (28.29) and turnover margin (13.71); No. 1 in offensive rebounds per contest (22.0) and No. 5 in three pointers made per game (10.6).
Tennessee returns to action with a weekend matinee, as North Carolina Central comes to town for a 2 p.m. ET contest on Saturday. The game will be streamed on SECN+ and broadcast on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide and worldwide via UTSports.com.
