KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Sugar Bears will face their second Top 15 opponent of the season on Thursday when they meet up with one of the nation's most storied women's basketball programs in the 8-time national champion Tennessee Lady Vols, who enter the game ranked 12th in the Associated Press poll and 13th in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.
The Sugar Bears (3-1) come in off a 106-23 win over NAIA Division II Crowley's Ridge on Tuesday while the Lady Vols (6-0) return stateside after picking up three wins in three days at the Cancun Challenge, defeating Marquette, Oklahoma State and South Dakota on Nov. 23-25.
It will be the second meeting between the programs, as No. 4/4 Tennessee defeated the Sugar Bears 102-47 in 2015. For the Sugar Bears, only Taylor Baudoin, Tierney Paylor and Angel Williams remain from that game. Baudoin had 13 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes in that game. For the Lady Vols, seniors Kortney Dunbar and Mercedes Russell are the lone holdovers from that meeting, a game in which Dunbar scored 24 and Russell 20 with each grabbing 13 rebounds.
While Dunbar is averaging just 4.3 points in 15.3 minutes per game this season, the 6-foot-6 Russell is one of the Lady Vols' biggest threats – averaging 17.2 points and 8.7 rebounds with a pair of double-doubles on the season. Jaime Nared, a 6-2 senior who – like Russell – is a Preseason All-SEC first team and Wooden Award Preseason Top 30 selection, leads the Lady Vols at 17.5 points and 10.8 rebounds per game and has recorded three double-doubles in Tennessee's six games.
The Sugar Bears are led by Kamry Orr's 16 points per game, with Baudoin averaging 13.3 and Kierra Jordan 12.5 and both tied for the team lead in rebounding at 6.5 per game. Senior guard Angel Williams leads the Sugar Bears in assists at 4.5 per game.
The Lady Vols represent the second ranked foe for the Sugar Bears so far this season, with No. 3 Baylor dealing the Sugar Bears an 86-55 setback on Nov. 14.
After Thursday's game, the Sugar Bears return to the Farris Center for their final two non-conference home games, hosting Williams Baptist on Monday, Dec. 4 and Central Baptist on Thursday, Dec. 7.
FOLLOW
• Thursday's game can be seen on
SEC Network Plus (online only) on WatchESPN/ESPN App beginning at 6:00 CST
• Radio broadcast with Steve Owens on The Bear 91.3 &
streaming online, with pregame beginning at 5:40
• Live stats available via
UTSports.com
• Follow
@ucasports,
@ucascoreboard and
@ucawbb on Twitter
GAME NOTES
• Thursday's game will be the 7th against SEC competition for the Sugar Bears, who are 2-4 with wins over Alabama (2011) and Ole Miss (2013). Three of the four losses came to Top 25 teams – No. 4 Tennessee in 2015; No. 23 Texas A&M in 2016; and No. 24 Ole Miss in 2006
• The Sugar Bears will be meeting a Top 25 opponent for the 10th time since moving to Division I in 2006. The Sugar Bears are 0-9 in those games, with an average margin of loss of 43.8 points, with the last four – to Baylor this season, Texas and Texas A&M last season and Louisville in 2016 – have been by 27.8 per game
• Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Sugar Bears are 28-7 (.800) in games away from the Farris Center
• The Sugar Bears enter the game ranked 2nd in the nation in scoring defense (45.8) and 3rd in scoring margin (+33.0), and are 8th in field goal percentage (50.4)
