One of the best and most prominent rivalries in women’s basketball resumes Thursday night. And for the first time, Texas and Tennessee warn as conference rivals. The two ranked teams meet appropriately during the SEC’s Pat Summitt memorial initiative.
How to watch No. 17 Tennessee at No. 7 Texas
Location: Moody Center – Austin, Texas
Time: 8 pm ET Thursday
Television: ESPN
Streaming: Fubo (try it for free)
See it in person? Get tickets on StubHub.
Summitt’s Lady Vols and Jody Conradt’s Longhorns scheduled an annual reunion dating back to 1982. They made history together by setting the women’s basketball attendance record at their 1987 game, a mark since eclipsed twice for him Iowa Hawkeye in 2023. This rivalry helped elevate the sport in its early years of NCAA sponsorship. With Texas moving to the SEC, this historic rivalry gets an interesting remix.
Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns are complete. They are in the top five in both offensive and defensive ratings, with Madison Booker just a few steps away from a 50/40/90 shooting season. In Monday’s 38-point blowout of Maryland, the sophomore standout was 13 of 19 for 28 points. With his No. 35 Texas jersey and stylish three-level offense, Booker’s game is reminiscent of the great Kevin Durant. She is one of the coolest players to watch right now. The ball spins methodically around him. Texas loves to keep it moving and force defenses to stay active.
But no one in Division I scores more points than Tennessee. Kim Caldwell coaches an agile and dynamic Volunteer team that leads the country in field goal attempts and three-pointers per game. Their three losses have been by a combined four points, with back-to-back losses against No. 15. Oklahoma and not 5 L.S.U..
Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer and Tess Darby Everything can sizzle behind the goal. But Tennessee’s foothold is Talaysia Cooper. He’s given up at least 20 points in half of his outings so far and had nine steals in the Oklahoma game.
The game is part of the SEC’s “We Back Pat” week, honoring Summitt’s foundation and the national fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
This article originally appeared on The Athletic.
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