University of Tennessee Athletics
No. 2 UT To Meet Missouri/Georgia Winner Friday
March 01, 2015 | Women's Basketball
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- No. 2 seed Tennessee (25-5/15-1) will open SEC Tournament action vs. the winner of #7 Missouri and #10 Georgia on Friday at 6 p.m. CT/7 ET in Little Rock, Arkansas. The SEC Network will televise the quarterfinal round game from Verizon Arena.
The sixth-ranked Lady Vols rolled past Vanderbilt, 79-49, on Sunday afternoon in Knoxville, while South Carolina lost at Kentucky, 67-56. That development means UT and USC tied as regular-season champions at 15-1 in league play, giving the Big Orange women a share of their 18th SEC title. Since the Gamecocks won the head-to-head meeting with Tennessee on Feb. 23, USC earned the No. 1 seed for the SEC Tournament.
The Lady Vols will take aim at their 18th SEC Tournament crown, and they'll do so as the defending SEC tourney champions. Holly Warlick now has guided UT to a pair of regular-season trophies and a tourney crown in her third season as head coach. Her overall record stands at 81-18.
Missouri (17-12/7-9) earned the No. 7 seed by taking down Arkansas on Sunday afternoon in Columbia, 57-41. UT defeated the Tigers in their first SEC contest of the season on Jan. 2 in Knoxville, 63-53.
Georgia (18-11/6-10) grabbed the No. 10 seed by breaking an eight-game losing skid with a 52-45 road win at Florida on Sunday. The Lady Vols played Georgia twice this season, edging the Lady Bulldogs, 59-51, in Knoxville on Jan. 25 and taking care of UGA in Athens on Feb. 26, 70-59.
The winner of the Friday contest would advance to Saturday's semifinal round and play at approximately 6:30 CT/7:30 ET on ESPNU. Sunday's championship game is slated for 2:30 CT/3:30 ET on ESPN.
Tennessee is 73-18 all-time in SEC Tournament play, winning 17 championships through the years, including four of the last five.
