Hoops Preview: Lady Vols vs. Furman

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee (2-1) is back in action at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday, playing its third home game of the 2020-21 campaign, as Furman (1-2) comes to town for a 7 p.m. ET contest.

The Lady Vols needed a game to fill a void, and Furman found itself in the same position after Stetson had to cancel its contest this week vs. the Paladins.

UT is coming off a hard-fought, 79-73 overtime loss at West Virginia on Sunday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and will face its second Big 12 foe in three games when it plays Texas in Austin on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET (4 CT) on ESPN. The Lady Vols have home victories under their belts vs. Western Kentucky (87-47) and ETSU (67-50) and are next slated to appear at T-BA on Dec. 20, as Jackson State provides UT its final foe before the holiday break.

Furman, which has not yet played a game on its campus in 2020-21, is coming off a 78-59 setback in Atlanta vs. Georgia State on Sunday. The Paladins opened the season with an 83-43 loss at Clemson on Nov. 25 and claimed their lone victory at Georgia Southern on Dec. 3, 73-58. With its next scheduled contest set for Dec. 13 at Elon, Furman isn’t expected to make its home debut until a Dec. 16 meeting with Converse.

Single game tickets are on sale, starting at just $5. Go to AllVols.com to purchase.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

• Thursday’s game will be live streamed by SECN+ with Bob Kesling (PxP) and Andraya Carter (analyst) on the call.
• SECN+ games are online broadcasts and are available only on WatchESPN via computers, smartphones and tablets. All of the games included in the ESPN package (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU) and the SEC Network will be available through WatchESPN, accessible online at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app, and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 or Xbox One to fans who receive their video subscription from an affiliated provider.
• The contest also can be heard on Lady Vol Network radio stations and by audio stream, with Mickey Dearstone behind the microphone. Now calling the action for his 22nd season, Dearstone is joined by studio host Bobby Rader.
• A link to the live audio stream can be found on each game’s Hoops Central page or the Lady Vol schedule on UTSports.com.
• For a list of Lady Vol Network affiliates, please click on the Fans tab at the top of UTSports.com, select Vol Network and then click on Vol Network Affiliates in the black bar at the top of the page.
• Air time for games on the Lady Vol Radio Network generally occurs 30 minutes prior to tip-off.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE LADY VOLS

• UT is led in scoring by junior guard/forward Rae Burrell, who is putting up 18.7 ppg. and shooting 46 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free throw line. She averaged 10.5 ppg. and shot 60 at the line a year ago.
• Senior Rennia Davis, who is on all of the preseason watch lists and a projected All-SEC First Team pick by the coaches and players, is second in scoring (11.0 ppg.) and ties for the team lead in boards at 6.7 rpg.
• Sophomore Jordan Horston, an SEC All-Freshman performer a year ago, has come on during the past two games and is third in scoring at 9.7 ppg. and leads UT in assists average (3.7) and steals average (3.0) as a reserve.
• Tennessee enters game four with 10 players averaging better than 11 minutes of duty per game and eight averaging at least 5.0 points per contest.
• Kellie Harper has deployed the same starting five for all three games thus far: Keyen Green, Marta Suárez, Rennia Davis, Rae Burrell and Jordan Walker.
• Green (grad. transfer), Suárez (freshman) and Walker (grad transfer) are in their first season at Tennessee.
• Green (7.7 ppg.), Suárez (7.0 ppg.) and Walker (5.7 ppg.) are UT’s fourth, fifth and sixth-leading scorers.
• Suárez is tied for second in rebound average (6.7), while Walker is second in assist average (3.0).

RECAPPING UT’S LAST GAME

• Junior Rae Burrell and sophomore Jordan Horston combined for 17 fourth-quarter points, but it wasn’t enough to give UT the win as the Lady Vols suffered their first loss of the season, falling to WVU on the road in overtime, 79-73.
• Burrell was Tennessee’s (2-1) high scorer with 18 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter and included a 7-of-8 effort at the free-throw line. Horston and Keyen Green were also in double figures, notching 13 and 12, respectively.
• West Virginia (4-0) was led by Kysre Gondrezick with 27 points and five assists. Madisen Smith also had a good outing, tallying 16 points and six assists.

ABOUT FURMAN

• Furman is led by 5-foot-9 redshirt senior wing Tierra Hodges, who is averaging a double-double of 16.0 ppg. and 14.3 rpg.
• Also scoring in double figures for the Paladins are  5-9 freshman guard Tate Walters (14.0 ppg.) and 6-0 freshman wing Sydney James (11.3 ppg.)
• With a scoring average of 58.3 ppg., Furman is shooting only 34 percent from the field and 31 percent on threes.
• The Paladins average 21.3 turnovers per game.
• Furman returned nine letterwinners and two starters from last season’s 19-12/8-6 squad that tied for fourth in the Southern Conference.
• Leading the Paladins is 11th-year head coach Jackie Carson, a Furman alum who is 164-152 during her tenure at Greenville, S.C., school.

RECAPPING FURMAN’S LAST GAME

• Georgia State used a strong first half and solid 3-point shooting to pave the way to a 78-59 victory over visiting Furman on Sunday.
• The Panthers (2-1) outscored the Paladins (1-2) 26-9 in the second quarter to take a 42-19 lead into intermission and were never threatened over the game’s final 20 minutes.
• Furman got a game-high 23 points and 14 rebounds from senior small forward Tierra Hodges, who registered her third double-double in the Paladins’ three games this season.  Freshman Tate Walters followed up her 25-point performance in Thursday’s win at Georgia Southern with a 15-point effort.
• The Paladins shot just 32.3 percent, making good on 20-of-63 attempts, and committed 18 turnovers.

THE LAST TIME UT AND FURMAN MET

• Semeka Randall led four Lady Vols in double figures, as second-ranked Tennessee rolled past Furman, 90-38, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville on March 18, 2000.
• Randall fired in 17 points, while Tamika Catchings contributed a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double to propel UT to a 50-14 halftime lead and victory number 29 on the season.
• Gwen Jackson tossed in 14 points, while Kara Lawson added 10 to round out Big Orange scorers in double digits.
• UT held the Paladins to 20.3 shooting from the field, then an NCAA tourney record for lowest field goal percentage in a game.

UT/FURMAN SERIES HISTORY

• Tennessee leads the all-time series with the Paladins, 4-0.
• The Lady Vols are 1-0 vs. Furman in games played in Knoxville.
• UT is 3-0 vs. the Paladins in neutral-site games, which all happened to take place at the Winthrop Invitational in 1973, 1974 and 1976.
• UT and Furman last met on March 18, 2000, in the NCAA First Round at Thompson-Boling Arena, with the second-ranked Lady Vols cruising to a 90-38 victory.
• Paladins coach Jackie (Smith) Carson played for Furman in that 2000 contest on The Summitt, tallying five points, eight rebounds and a blocked shot in 28 minutes of action.
• This marks the second game this season vs. a team from the Southern Conference. UT defeated ETSU on Dec. 1 in the second contest of the year, 67-50.
• The Lady Vols are 65-20-1 all-time vs. schools from the Southern Conference through that game with the Buccaneers.

-UT Athletics