University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL HOOPS CENTRAL: UT vs. CNU
November 08, 2015 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2015
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Lady Vols open the 2015-16 season with their lone exhibition contest against Carson-Newman on Monday at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live online through SEC Network +.
MORE INFO
Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Carson-Newman
- Tipoff: 7 p.m. ET
- TV: SEC Network + (Online)
- Radio: Lady Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio,
Related Links
Gameday Info. Buy Tickets Follow @LadyVol_Hoops SEC Network Information
Tennessee
Roster Schedule 2014-15 Stats Game Notes
Carson-Newman
Roster Schedule 2014-15 Stats Game Notes
Game Week in Review
Tennessee is ready for its return to Thompson-Boling Arena and tip-off vs. Carson-Newman ...Read more
Lady Vol Hoops Report 11.6.15 DeShields at ESPN Lady Vols Ranked Fourth Photo Day Media Day SEC Tipoff '16
SEC Network + is the live streaming, digital component of the SEC Network that can be accessed through any computer, tablet, or mobile device. To access Monday night's game, visit WatchESPN.com or download the WatchESPN app and log in using your cable or satellite account information.
Darren Headrick and LVFL Ariel Massengale will handle play-by-play and color analysis for Monday's exhibition contest, with Maddy Glab reporting on the sideline. Fans can also listen live on their local Lady Vol Network affiliate with Mickey Dearstone calling the action.
Tickets for the game can be purchased online via UTTIX.com.
Let's Get It Started
- The Lady Vols open the 2015-16 campaign with a home exhibition contest vs. Carson-Newman on Monday night and then proceed to play their first eight regular-season games at home.
- Tennessee won't leave Knoxville until December, when it faces Wichita State (Dec. 11), #16/14 Stanford (Dec. 16) and #10/9 Oregon State (Dec. 19) in consecutive road tilts.
- UT is ranked No. 4 in both the AP and USA TODAY preseason polls.
- Tennessee is predicted to finish second in the 2016 SEC race by an SEC and national media voting panel.
- The Lady Vols are coming off a season in which they were 30-6 overall and 15-1 in the SEC, sharing the regular season league title with South Carolina.
- Tennessee has notched records of 27-8, 29-6 and 30-6 in Holly Warlick's first three seasons and boasts nine returning letterwinners and three starters from a year ago.
- Combine that with Diamond DeShields hitting the court after redshirting last season and the addition of highly-regarded freshmen Te'a Cooper and Meme Jackson, and most analysts are expecting big things from Tennessee.
The Series With Carson-Newman
- Monday night's match-up between the Lady Vols and Lady Eagles will be the 26th meeting between the programs.
- Tennessee and Carson-Newman have met during the regular season on 16 occasions, with the Lady Vols owning a 14-2 advantage in the all-time series.
- The Lady Vols and Lady Eagles have met on the hardwood in 11 exhibition contests, with UT prevailing in all 11 of them.
- This will mark the 12th-straight season these teams have met in an exhibition game.
- Nia Moore scored 29 points and dominated the first half and Bashaara Graves posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards to lead Tennessee to a 90-57 win over Carson-Newman in a Nov. 9, 2014, exhibition game at Thompson-Boling Arena the last time these teams squared off.
- Tennessee is 44-4 in exhibition games, losing only to the USA National Team (2007, 1995), Athletes In Action (1992) and the Soviet National Team (1979).
Warlick On Point
- Following a legend is a nearly-impossible task, but yet Holly Warlick appears to be doing just fine as Pat Summitt's hand-picked successor.
- In three seasons as Tennessee's head coach, Warlick has produced an 86-20 overall record and a 42-6 mark in SEC contests.
- That 86-20 mark translates to an .811 winning percentage, which ranks Warlick fifth among all active NCAA Division I women's basketball coaches after only three full seasons as a head coach.
- Entering 2015-16, the only NCAA Division I coaches ranking ahead of Warlick are Geno Auriemma of UConn (.873, 30 yrs.), Kim Mulkey of Baylor (.829, 15 yrs.), Tara VanDerveer of Stanford (.815, 36 yrs.) and Karl Smesko of Florida Gulf Coast (.812, 16 yrs.).
- In her first three seasons, Warlick is 48-8 vs. SEC schools, including 42-6 vs. league foes during the regular season.
- The 42-6 mark in league play equals a winning percentage of .875, which is No. 1 among active SEC coaches.
- She has led the Lady Vols to a pair of SEC regular season championships (2013, 2015) and an SEC Tournament title (2014), winning at least one league trophy in each of her first three seasons.
- All three of the squads she has directed have made the NCAA Tournament, with the 2013 and 2015 teams advancing to the Elite Eight and the 2014 edition making it to the Sweet 16.
- Since becoming head coach, five of her players have been taken in the WNBA Draft. Three, including a first-rounder, were taken in 2015.
- Warlick has a 24-16 record vs. ranked teams, including 9-5 in 2014-15.
Nine Returnees
- While 1,000-point scorers Isabelle Harrison, Cierra Burdick and Ariel Massengale graduated and were taken in the 2015 WNBA Draft, fourth-year head coach Holly Warlick and her staff welcome back nine letterwinners, including three starters from last season's squad that finished 30-6 overall, 15-1 in the SEC, and tied for the regular season league title.
- UT made it to the 2015 NCAA Elite Eight despite losing key inside players Harrison, Mercedes Russell and Jasmine Jones to injury for all or large parts of last season.
- Back are 6-foot-2 senior forward Bashaara Graves (10.6 ppg., 7.0 rpg., 1,000-point scorer), 5-9 redshirt junior Andraya Carter (7.7 ppg., 3.1 rpg., 2.3 spg., 2015 SEC steals leader) and 5-11 junior guard Jordan Reynolds (7.3 ppg., 3.6 rpg., 1.5 apg.), who combined for 100 starts last season and have 190 for their careers.
- Mercedes Russell (surgery on both feet), a 6-6 redshirt sophomore center, and Jasmine Jones (head injury), a 6-2 redshirt junior forward, return in full health after injury-induced redshirt seasons and will play key roles in UT's lineup in 2015-16.
- Jones, who started six times in seven games last season as a junior, was averaging 9.4 points and 4.6 rebounds and had earned the role of UT's stopper on defense before her departure a year ago due to injury. Her athleticism and experience should allow her to pick up right where she left off.
- As a freshman in 2013-14, Russell averaged 6.3 points and 5.0 rebounds and shot 60 percent from the field before taking a year off to return to health. She is pain-free, and her improved mobility is quite apparent.
- Sophomore Jaime Nared, a 6-2 forward, leads a group of four additional returnees who saw extensive playing time a year ago. Nared averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, hitting double figures nine times as a rookie.
- Nia Moore, a 6-3 senior center, got nine starts last year, averaging 4.7 points and 2.9 rebounds with three 20-point games along the way.
- Alexa Middleton, a 5-9 sophomore guard (3.8 ppg., 1.4 apg.), and Kortney Dunbar, a 6-2 sophomore forward (3.1 ppg., 1.4 rpg.), gained valuable experience last year and should be two of the team's prime three-point threats.
Three Newcomers
- Tennessee will welcome three new players and a whole lot of athleticism at the guard position this season.
- Holly Warlick is looking forward to redshirt sophomore Diamond DeShields and freshmen Te'a Cooper and Meme Jackson hitting the floor for the Big Orange.
- DeShields, a 6-1 dynamic redshirt sophomore guard, arrived as UT prior to the 2014-15 season after transferring from North Carolina. DeShields earned consensus 2014 national freshman of the year honors at UNC with averages of 18.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
- Ranked the No. 3 player in the country coming out of high school, she joins (in Mercedes Russell) the No. 1-ranked prep player in 2013 to give Tennessee a highly-regarded inside-outside duo.
- DeShields had expressed interest in Tennessee but opted for UNC on signing day.
- She earned honorable mention All-America honors from AP and Full Court and was both All-ACC First Team and All-Freshman at North Carolina.
- DeShields set four ACC freshman marks, including points (648), field goals (248), field goals attempted (582) and double-figure scoring games (32).
- In terms of true freshmen, McDonald's All-American Game Co-MVP Te'a Cooper, a 5-7 point guard, brings exciting playmaking and three-point shooting to the program.
- Cooper was a four-year prep starter who led McEachern High School to Georgia 6A state titles in 2012 (33-0), 2014 (29-2) and 2015 (24-6).
- She averaged 27.3 points, 7.3 apg., 3.9 rpg. and 3.5 spg. as a senior.
- Meanwhile, 5-11 guard Meme Jackson adds great athleticism, defensive tenacity and better-than-advertised shooting abilities.
- Jackson averaged 9.3 ppg., 5.3 rpg., 4.3 apg. and 1.5 spg. as a senior but 14.2 ppg. over her last six games as Blackman won its second-straight state title.
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