One of the greatest and most striking rivalries in women’s basketball will be reignited on Thursday night. And for the first time ever, Texas and Tennessee appear to be conference rivals. Fittingly, the two ranked teams will meet during the SEC’s Pat Summitt Memorial Initiative.
How to watch No. 17 Tennessee at No. 7 Texas
Location: Moody Center – Austin, Texas
Time: Thursday 8:00 PM ET
TV: ESPN
Streaming: Fubo (free trial)
Want to watch in person? Buy tickets on StubHub.
Summitt’s Lady Vols and Jody Conradt’s Longhorns planned an annual meeting dating back to 1982. They made history together by setting the women’s basketball attendance record during their 1987 game — a mark that has since been eclipsed two-fold by the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2023. This rivalry helped the sport in the early years of NCAA sponsorship. With Texas moving to the SEC, this historic rivalry is getting an interesting remix.
Vic Schaefer’s Longhorns are well rounded. They rank in the top five in both offensive and defensive ratings, with Madison Booker just a few ticks away from a 50/40/90 shooting season. In Monday’s 38-point outing against Maryland, the sophomore standout was 13-for-19 for 28 points. With her No. 35 Texas jersey and her elegant three-level attack, Booker’s game is reminiscent of the great Kevin Durant. She is one of the coolest players to watch right now. The ball flies methodically around her. Texas likes to keep it moving and force the defense to stay active.
But no one in Division I scores more points than Tennessee. Kim Caldwell coaches a resilient, up-tempo Volunteer team that leads the nation in both field goal attempts and three-pointers per game. Their three losses were by a combined four points, with back-to-back heartbreakers against No. 15 Oklahoma and No. 5 LSU.
Jewel Spear, Samara Spencer and Tess Darby can all sizzle from behind the arc. But Tennessee’s fulcrum is Talaysia Cooper. She has dropped at least 20 points in half of her outings so far and recorded nine steals in the Oklahoma game.
The game is part of the SEC’s “We Back Pat” week, which honors Summitt’s foundation and the national fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Tennessee Lady Volunteers, Texas Longhorns, Women’s College Basketball, Sports Betting
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