KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – For only the second time in history, University of Tennessee women’s basketball alums will face off when their teams meet in the WNBA Finals.
Mercedes Russell (2013-18) will make her second Finals appearance in three seasons, as she and the Seattle Storm play against Cierra Burdick (2011-15) and the Las Vegas Aces at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, beginning on Friday night. Game one will tip at 7 p.m. ET and be televised by ESPN2.
The top-seeded Aces advanced to their second Finals in franchise history after an epic five-game battle with the Sun. The No. 2 seed Storm advanced to their fourth Finals in franchise history after sweeping the Lynx in three games. The Aces and Storm finished the 22-game season with matching 18-4 records, with Las Vegas winning both head-to-head meetings.
This marks the 17th time in 24 seasons that UT has been represented in the WNBA Finals. The only other year two Lady Vols opposed one another was in 2008, when Alexis Hornbuckle and the Detroit Shock played Shanna Zolman and the San Antonio Silver Stars. Incidentally, that was the last and only other time the Aces’ franchise has appeared in the WNBA Finals. The franchise originated in Utah (1997-2002) and was in San Antonio (2003-17) before relocating to Las Vegas prior to the 2018 season.
Russell, who was drafted in the second round by New York in 2018 and later released, is in her third season with the Storm after being signed as a free agent. She was a rookie on the 2018 WNBA champion Storm squad.
The 6-foot-6 center has averaged 3.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 13.8 minutes per contest this year, playing in all 25 games. During the playoffs, she has upped her contributions to 5.7 ppg. and 4.3 rpg. over 16 mpg. She has hit 64 percent (7-11) of her field goal attempts and 100 percent (3-3) of her free throw tries during the postseason.
Burdick, meanwhile, is enjoying her first WNBA postseason experience after joining the Aces midseason. After being drafted and then released by Los Angeles in 2015, she spent time with Atlanta (2015-16), San Antonio (2017) and New York (2017) before playing strictly overseas until making her 2020 debut with Las Vegas on August 5.
The 6-foot-2 forward appeared in a career-high 13 regular-season games and has made one postseason appearance. In spot duty, Burdick is averaging 0.3 ppg. and 0.4 rpg. over 2.2 mpg. In her lone playoff action, she played six minutes and contributed two points and two rebounds vs. Connecticut on Sept. 20.
Burdick became the 12th different Lady Vol to advance to the WNBA Finals, with the total number of UT product appearances rising to 19. This is the sixth-straight season an LVFL’s team has played in the Finals and the third year in a row a Tennessee alum has made her Finals debut. In addition to Russell in 2018 and Burdick in 2020, Shekinna Stricklen played in the 2019 series with Connecticut.
Either Burdick or Russell will become the ninth LVFL to claim a WNBA title. It will also be the 11th overall title won by a former Tennessee player.
Following Friday night’s opener, the teams will meet again at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 4 (ABC) and at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 6 (ESPN). If necessary, games four and five will be held, respectively, at 7 p.m. ET on Oct. 8 (ESPN2) and at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 11 (ABC).
-UT Athletics
