2023-11-09 03:40:59
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — No. 11/12 Tennessee plays its first road contest of the 2023-24 campaign on Thursday, clashing with No. 18/22 Florida State at 6:02 p.m. ET at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee.
The Lady Vols are in the final stage of a three-game run over a period of only five days. UT hosted the USA Women’s National Team on Sunday (L, 95-59) and Florida A&M (W, 93-64) on Tuesday before flying to the Sunshine State on Wednesday evening.
Interestingly enough, Tennessee is facing its second straight Florida school to open the campaign, and both Florida A&M and FSU are located in the city of Tallahassee.
UT’s Kellie (Jolly) Harper (1995-99) and FSU’s Brooke Wyckoff (1997-2001) are each leading programs where they played basketball. As a point guard, Harper guided the Lady Vols to an NCAA title three-peat in 1996, 1997 and 1998, including a 39-0 season in ’97-98.
This will mark the first meeting between these schools in women’s basketball since a Knoxville match-up on Jan. 26, 1986. The teams had played the year before in Tallahassee on Feb. 8, 1985. The Lady Vols won both of those contests.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
No. 11/12 Tennessee plays its first road contest of the 2023-24 campaign on Thursday, clashing with No. 18/22 Florida State at 6:02 p.m. ET at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee.
The Lady Vols are in the final stage of a three-game run over a period of only five days. UT hosted the USA Women’s National Team on Sunday (L, 95-59) and Florida A&M (W, 93-64) on Tuesday before flying to the Sunshine State on Wednesday evening.
Interestingly enough, Tennessee is facing its second straight Florida school to open the campaign, and both Florida A&M and FSU are located in the city of Tallahassee.
UT’s Kellie (Jolly) Harper (1995-99) and FSU’s Brooke Wyckoff (1997-2001) are each leading programs where they played basketball. As a point guard, Harper guided the Lady Vols to an NCAA title three-peat in 1996, 1997 and 1998, including a 39-0 season in ’97-98.
This will mark the first meeting between these schools in women’s basketball since a Knoxville match-up on Jan. 26, 1986. The teams had played the year before in Tallahassee on Feb. 8, 1985. The Lady Vols won both of those contests.
LADY VOLS IN OPENERS (HOME AND AWAY)
The Big Orange women are 40-9 in their first road game of the season through 2022-23.
The Lady Vols are 11-4 in those games when facing a ranked team.
Tennessee possesses a 47-3 all-time record in its first home contest of the year through 2023-24.
The Lady Vols have won 24 straight times in their first appearance at Thompson-Boling Arena and in 41 of their past 42 campaigns.
The Lady Vols are 45-5 all-time in season openers over the past 50 years, including 29-3 at home, 8-2 on the road and 8-0 at neutral sites.
UT had won its last nine season openers and 21 of its last 22 until the setback at Ohio State last year.
INSIDE THE UT/FSU SERIES
Tennessee possesses a 2-0 series record vs. the Seminoles, but the schools haven’t met in women’s basketball since the mid 1980s.
The Lady Vols are 112-32 all-time vs. schools from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Third-year Lady Vol assistant Joy McCorvey was an assistant along with Brooke Wyckoff at FSU from 2018-21 on Sue Semrau’s staff.
Two transfers who joined Tennessee this season came from ACC schools, with Jewel Spear moving over from Wake Forest and Avery Strickland returning home from Pitt to play for her hometown Lady Vols.
A pair of Averys from Knoxville, Tenn., will battle it out in the Sunshine State. The Lady Vols’ Avery Strickland starred at Farragut H.S., while FSU’s Avery Treadwell paced the program at Bearden H.S.
A LOOK AT FLORIDA STATE
Florida State was ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the USA Sports Network/WBCA Coaches Poll during the preseason.
The Seminoles were picked to finish fifth in the ACC this season, sitting behind Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, North Carolina and Louisville.
FSU’s Ta’Niya Latson and Makayla Timpson were each named to the Blue Ribbon Panel Preseason All-ACC Team.
Like Tennessee, Florida State has appeared in each of the last 10 NCAA Tournaments. The Lady Vols have all 41 NCAA events, while Florida State has made 21 all-time appearances.
ABOUT THE SEMINOLE COACHING STAFF
Following the retirement of legendary head coach Sue Semrau, Brooke Wyckoff was officially named the head coach of Florida State Women’s Basketball on March 29, 2022.
FSU made the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament for the 10th consecutive season with a 23-10 overall record in 2022-23.
The Seminoles went 12-6 in the ACC and tied for fourth in the regular season. It was FSU’s most conference wins since the 2017-18 season.
Wyckoff played at FSU from 1997-2001, served as an assistant there from 2011-21, including a role as interim head coach in 2021-22.
FSU’S MOST RECENT GAME
No. 18 Florida State tipped off their 52nd season the right way with a 99-63 win against Charleston Southern on Monday night at the Tucker Center.
O’Mariah Gordon led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the floor. It marked the second time Gordon had scored 20+ points in a game in her career, with the last coming from a 108-51 FSU win vs. Texas Southern in 2022 where Gordon scored a career-best 23.
Florida State had five players reach double-figure scoring, including 18 by Makayla Timpson, 15 from Amaya Bonner, 14 from Alexis Tucker and 10 by Sara Bejedi.
RECAPPING UT’S LAST GAME
Jewel Spear’s five three-pointers spearheaded No. 11/12 Tennessee’s offensive attack in a 93-64 season-opening victory over Florida A&M on Tuesday night at Food City Center.
Junior forward Karoline Striplin had a stat-stuffing night, tallying a career-high 18 points on 7-of-8 shooting, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Fifth-year forward Rickea Jackson recorded 13 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals, while junior guard Kaiya Wynn collected a career-high-tying 12 points and a steal, and Sara Puckett added 11 points.
Tennessee (1-0) dominated on the glass, recording 42 points from the paint while out-rebounding the Rattlers, 47-25. Junior forward Jillian Hollingshead led the way on the glass with 12 boards, tying her career high.
The Lady Vols dished out an impressive 22 assists, including Destinee Wells’ game-high six dimes in her Tennessee debut.
Florida A&M (0-1), coached by LVFL Bridgette Gordon, was hot from beyond the arc, generating 27 points from three-pointers. Guard Ahriahna Grizzle led the Rattlers with 16 points, followed by Hailee Brennan with 13 and Ivet Subirats with 12.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Tennessee returns home from Tallahassee to host back-to-back games vs. Memphis and Troy on Nov. 13 and 19 at Food City Center.
The Lady Vols and Tigers will meet at 6:30 p.m. ET, while UT and the Trojans will battle at 2 p.m.
LVFL Alex (Fuller) Simmons is a first-year head coach at Memphis.
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