University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Hoops Central: Syracuse
March 26, 2016 | Women's Basketball
March 26, 2016
WATCH LIVE (ESPN) LISTEN LIVE (LADY VOL NETWORK) NOTES TICKETS NCAA TOURNAMENT CENTRAL NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The No. 7 seed Lady Vols (22-13) will take on No. 4 seed Syracuse (28-7) in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Syracuse
- Tipoff: 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: Lady Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio,
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#7 Tennessee
Roster Schedule 2015-16 Stats Game Notes
Elite Eight: #4 Syracuse
Roster Schedule 2015-16 Stats Game Notes
Sweet 16: #7 Lady Vols 78, #3 Ohio State 62
Recap Highlights Holly Warlick Players Quotes Stats Photos Diary Game Notes
Second Round: #7 Lady Vols 75, #2 Arizona State 64
Recap Highlights Press Conference Quotes Stats Photos Diary Game Notes
First Round: #7 Lady Vols 59, #10 Green Bay 53
Recap Highlights Press Conference Quotes Stats Photos Diary Game Notes
Game Week in Review
The Lady Vols advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-62 win over Ohio State in the Regional Semifinals. ...Read more
Cooper Named SEC All-Freshman DeShields on Wade Watch List Carter, Polo Earn Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Award DeShields Named SEC All-Tournament NCAA Tournament Diary: Green Bay NCAA Tournament Diary: Arizona State NCAA Tournament Diary: Ohio State
Beth Mowins (PxP), Stephanie White (Analyst) and Maria Taylor (Reporter) will describe the action for the Tennessee-Syracuse television broadcast on ESPN2 and the live stream via WatchESPN. Mickey Dearstone will handle the call for the IMG College/Lady Vol Network radio/online broadcast. Dick Fain and Brenda VanLengen will provide play-by-play and color, respectively, for the Westwood One Sports radio broadcast.
GAME 36: TENNESSEE VS. SYRACUSE
- No. 7 seed Tennessee (22-13, 8-8 SEC) has advanced to the Elite Eight round of the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Regional of the 64-team 2016 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship.
- The Lady Vols will face No. 4 seed and #14/15-ranked Syracuse (28-7, 13-3 ACC) in the Sioux Falls Regional final game on Sunday afternoon.
- The game is set for 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 ET) Sunday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
- The winner will advance to the NCAA Final Four semifinals and play the winner of the Lexington Regional, which will be either No. 4 seed Stanford or No. 7 Washington on April 3 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- Tennessee advanced to the regional final by upsetting No. 3 seed and #9/9-ranked Ohio State, 78-62, on Friday night in the Sweet 16 at Sioux Falls.
- UT previously had wins in Tempe, Ariz., over No. 10 seed Green Bay in the first round, 59-53, and over No. 2 seed and #11/11-ranked Arizona State, 75-64, in the second round.
- Syracuse, meanwhile, advanced to the Elite Eight by taking down No. 1 seed and #3/2-ranked South Carolina, 80-72, in Sioux Falls on Friday night.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
- Beth Mowins (PxP), Stephanie White (Analyst) and Maria Taylor (Reporter) will describe the action for the Tennessee-Syracuse television broadcast on ESPN and the live stream via WatchESPN.
- Mickey Dearstone will handle the call for the IMG College/Lady Vol Network radio/online broadcast.
- Dick Fain and Brenda VanLengen will provide play-by-play and color, respectively, for the Westwood One Sports radio broadcast.
WARLICK LEADS UT BACK TO THE ELITE EIGHT
- The first four years of the Holly Warlick era continue to be filled with outstanding accomplishments, as she has guided Tennessee to its third Elite Eight berth in four seasons.
- They are the first back-to-back trips to the Elite Eight for Warlick, and they came with the Lady Vols possessing their lowest seed in school history at No. 7.
- Previous No. 7 seeds were 5-8 in Sweet 16 games until Tennessee and Washington broke through on Friday to improve that record to 7-8.
- The appearance will be Tennessee's 28th all-time, which is the most in NCAA Division I.
- Tennessee has an all-time record of 18-9 in the Elite Eight, including 11-8 at neutral site, 6-0 at home and 1-1 on the road.
- No. 7 seeds are 1-4 in regional finals through the years.
- This marks the first time since 2011 (Stetson, #25 Marquette, #18 Ohio State and #10 Notre Dame) that the Lady Vols have had to meet three ranked teams in the postseason.
TENNESSEE PLAYING IN 150TH NCAA GAME
- When Tennessee and Syracuse meet, the Lady Vols will be playing their record 150th NCAA Tournament game.
- The Lady Vols stand 123-26 all-time in tourney play in 35 years of participation, with records for wins, total games and years qualified.
- UT is 11-3 in NCAA Tournament play under the direction of Holly Warlick.
IN SEARCH OF A FINAL FOUR
- Tennessee is seeking its first NCAA Final Four berth since 2008, when the Lady Vols won the eighth of their collection of NCAA titles.
- After reaching three Elite Eights now, Holly Warlick will be pursuing her first Final Four as a head coach.
- UT has been to the NCAA Final Four 18 times, sporting a 21-10 record.
- The Lady Vols won titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2007 and 2008.
- The Big Orange women were runners-up in 1984, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2004.
LOOKING BACK AT THE SWEET 16
- Tennessee made its NCAA-record 34th appearance in the Sweet 16 and improved its record in that round to 28-6 with the win over OSU.
- The 16-point win over the Buckeyes was UT's largest margin of victory in the Sweet 16 since beating Marist by 19 in Dayton, Ohio, on March 25, 2007.
- UT is now 22-6 in Sweet 16 games at neutral sites and 6-0 at home.
- To get to the Sweet 16, Tennessee had to knock off No. 2 seed Arizona State on its home floor in the second round, marking the highest seeded team the Lady Vols had beaten since defeating No. 2 seed LSU in the 2008 Final Four semifinals.
- The only season the Lady Vols did not make it to the round of 16 was in 2009, when No. 5 seed UT was upset by No. 11 seed Ball State in the first round in Bowling Green, Ky.
- Since the 2000 season, Tennessee is 13-3 in Sweet 16 contests, with the only losses coming in 2001 (Xavier in Birmingham), 2010 (Baylor in Memphis) and 2014 (Maryland in Louisville).
- Head coach Holly Warlick has guided Tennessee to the Sweet 16 in each of her four seasons, advancing to the Elite Eight before falling to Louisville in Oklahoma City in 2013, losing to Maryland in the regional semifinal in Louisville, Ky., in 2014 and again falling to Maryland, this time in the Elite Eight in Spokane, Wash., in 2015, before returning to the Elite Eight in 2016 in Sioux Falls, S.D.
UT VS. THE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
- Tennessee has played 21 games vs. 18 different teams in this year's NCAA Tournament field.
- The Lady Vols are 12-9 vs. those opponents.
- UT faced non-conference foes Notre Dame, Oregon State, Texas, Stanford, Syracuse, Chattanooga, Albany, Central Arkansas, Green Bay, Arizona State and Ohio State, going 8-3.
- The Big Orange women also played South Carolina, Kentucky, Mississippi State (twice), Texas A&M (twice), Florida, Missouri, Georgia and Auburn, finishing 4-6 vs. those schools.
- Eight teams Tennessee played this season were still dancing in the Sweet 16, including South Carolina, Notre Dame, Texas, Oregon State, Stanford, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Syracuse, with Syracuse and Stanford already punching tickets to the Elite Eight and potentially others to come.
- UT is 2-7 vs. those teams, including 1-0 vs. Syracuse and 0-1 vs. South Carolina, two teams assigned to the Sioux Falls Regional.
- The SEC placed the most schools in the tournament of any league with nine.
- That total by the SEC is the most ever and ties with the BIG EAST (9 in 2011) for the most of any league in NCAA women's tourney history.
- The SEC still had four teams playing in the Sweet 16, including Tennessee and South Carolina in the Sioux Falls Regional, Kentucky in the Lexington Regional and Mississippi State in the Bridgeport, Regional. That tied with the Pac-12 (Oregon State, UCLA, Stanford, Washington) for having the most teams left in the tourney.
- Tennessee won on Friday night, but South Carolina and Kentucky fell, leaving Mississippi State as the only other league program active in the NCAA Tournament as of Saturday morning.
UT'S NCAA EXPERIENCE
- All 11 of Tennessee's 11 active players possess NCAA Tournament experience, led by Bashaara Graves with 14 games and Nia Moore with 13.
- UT has a 11-3 record in NCAA tourney play over the last three seasons, making the Elite Eight in 2013, 2015 and 2016 (still playing), and falling in the Sweet 16 in 2014.
- Diamond DeShields averaged 17.8 points over four games for North Carolina in 2013-14 and is hitting 16.0 ppg. thus far in 2015-16, bringing her career NCAA average to 17.0 over seven contests.
- Bashaara Graves has averaged 9.4 points and 8.0 rebounds during her career and posted 14.5 and 8.3 averages a year ago.
- DeShields has hit double figures in all seven games of tournament play, tallying a double-double of 24 points and 12 rebounds vs. Michigan State in 2014.
- Graves registered double-doubles in 2013 (11/10 vs. Louisville) and 2015 (21/14 vs. Pitt) and had a high of 24 points vs. Boise State last season.
- Mercedes Russell had a monster game vs. Ohio State, posting career highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds vs. the Buckeyes.
- Te'a Cooper's NCAA debut turned out well, with the rookie leading UT with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting vs. Green Bay. She then came off the bench to hit 16 points vs. Ohio State on 6-of-10 shooting.
A LOOK AT THE LADY VOLS
- Tennessee enters Sunday afternoon's contest having won three in a row and six of its last seven games to boost its record to 22-13.
- UT now is tied for the fourth most wins in the SEC this season.
- This is UT's best stretch since a season-opening five-game winning streak.
- This marks the 40th-straight season UT has posted 20 or more wins.
- Tennessee has scored 75 and 78 in back-to-back games vs. No. 2 seed Arizona State and No. 3 seed Ohio State, the most it has scored away from Knoxville all season long.
- The team has averaged 70.7 in NCAA games, compared to 65.6 over 35 total contests.
- The Big Orange women have shot 50 percent or better from the field in consecutive games (51.8% vs. ASU, 50% vs. OSU) for the first time since doing so three games in a row from Jan. 23 to Jan. 30, 2014, vs. Florida (50.8%), Texas A&M (54.1%) and Arkansas (53.8%).
- Tennessee held Ohio State to 62 points, which was the Buckeyes' second-lowest total of the year behind 56 vs. UConn. OSU came in averaging 86.8 ppg.
- UT has elevated its shooting percentage to 46.8% in NCAA action, compared to 40.8% for the entire season.
- Diamond DeShields scored in double figures for the seventh straight game with 10 vs. Ohio State.
- Mercedes Russell turned in the game of her life vs. Ohio State, scoring a career-high 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting and pulling down a career-best-tying 15 rebounds.
- Russell helped Tennessee generate a 50-22 advantage in paint points vs. the Buckeyes, with that total by UT ranking as its third-highest total all year.
- A total of 18 turnovers vs. Ohio State ended a seven-game streak of posting 13 or fewer miscues.
- Diamond DeShields leads Tennessee in scoring, averaging 14.1 per contest, but she has fired in 16.0 ppg. during the NCAA Tournament.
- DeShields has scored 20 or more points in four of her past seven games and has done so nine times this season and 23 times in her career.
- With 11 assists and four turnovers, DeShields leads the way for Tennessee in postseason play, dishing out a career-high-tying seven assists vs. OSU. Jordan Reynolds stands at eight assists and two turnovers.
- Bashaara Graves also scores in double figures at 10.3 per game and averages 8.4 rebounds.
- Reserve point guard Te'a Cooper was named to the Coaches SEC All-Freshman Team, while DeShields and Graves were selected to the Associated Press All-SEC Second Team.
- Cooper has scored in double figures in two of three NCAA games, including 15 vs. Green Bay and 16 vs. Ohio State. She is UT's third-leading scorer in NCAA play at 10.3 per contest.
- Tennessee started its 13th different lineup of the season vs. Green Bay, going with Jaime Nared, Bashaara Graves, Mercedes Russell, Jordan Reynolds and Diamond DeShields. Warlick repeated with that quintet vs. Arizona State and Ohio State. That group is 3-0.
- UT has been credited with having the No. 1-ranked strength of schedule in the NCAA this year.
- At 22-13, the Lady Vols are No. 28 in the RPI and stand 10-9 vs. teams with a top-50 RPI.
- Holly Warlick is in her fourth season as Tennessee's head coach, and she possesses a 108-33 record during that time. Her victory total is the seventh most recorded by an NCAA Division I women's hoops coach in her or his initial four years.
A LOOK AT SYRACUSE
- Syracuse enters Sunday's game on a three-game winning streak, having won 14 of its last 15 games.
- The Orange advanced to the first Elite Eight in program history and raised the school record for wins in a season to 28 (28-7 overall, 13-3 ACC).
- Alexis Peterson scored a season-high 26 points to pace SU past No. 1 seed and #3/2-ranked South Carolina on Friday night, 80-72.
- Syracuse forced 18 turnovers and outscored USC in the fourth quarter, 30-16, to card the upset.
- Peterson leads the Orange in scoring at 15.7 per game, followed by Brianna Butler at 13.4 and Briana Day and Brittney Sykes at 10.1.
- Syracuse is not an accurate shooting team at only 37.1%, but the Orange have hit 306 three-pointers and have attempted 1,050.
- By comparison, UT is only 125-of-494 on threes this season.
- Head coach Quentin Hillsman is 217-115 in his 10th season, all at Syracuse.
THE SERIES VS. SU
- Tennessee and Syracuse will meet for only the second time in history, and the first occasion occurred on Nov. 20 of this season.
- Ranked #4/5 at the time, the Lady Vols edged the visiting #25/RV Orange, 57-55, at UT's Thompson-Boling Arena.
- Tennessee freshman men's basketball player Kyle Alexander is the brother of Syracuse women's basketball's all-time leading scorer Kayla Alexander (2009-13). She now plays for the WNBA's San Antonio Stars.
- UT is 108-24 all-time vs. teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
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