by Jay King
KNOXVILLE, Tenn – The Lady Vols start off the season, and the Kim Caldwell era 4-0 with a victory over the Liberty Flames, 109-93 at the Food City Center on Saturday afternoon.
This marks the fourth time ever the Lady Vols and Flames have faced off, where Tennessee leads the series 4-0 and swept the home-and-home series between the two in 2023 and 2024.
What won the Lady Vols the game was pure offense, as they scored 100 points in a game for the second time this season. Talaysia Cooper led the team in scoring with 33 points and in rebounds with 9.
The defense has a lot of room for improvement though, especially in the second half. Firstly, on a positive note, Tennessee led the game in steals 17-5, but other than that, they were shaky. Liberty actually ended up outscoring the Lady Vols in the second, 50-45, compared to 43-64 in the first half. It seemed as if Liberty had adjusted to the Lady Vols’ press defense.
After the game, Head Coach Kim Caldwell said “We have a defense in that doesn’t look like anything you guys have seen. So this is not what we practice. So we just need to do what we practice.”
The Lady Vols have a 10-day break until their next game, and Caldwell said, “it’s gonna be difficult for them [in practice]… It’s gonna be hard, and they’re gonna get frustrated… towards day 7, 8, 9, but I think they know that they need it, and we even talked about it pre-game. You guys have 10 days of practice after this, so let’s make it where we leave on a high note.”
The Lady Vols’ next game will be on Tuesday, November 26, vs the Western Carolina Catamounts at the Food City Center at 7:00 pm.