On the strength of an impressive 8-0 start, the finest in Kellie Harper‘s 18 years as a collegiate head coach, the Tennessee women’s basketball program has cracked the AP top 10 this week as the No. 9 team in the nation.
The Lady Vols, who already have three wins this season vs. teams who are in the top 25 or receiving votes, picked up their latest triumph on Sunday with a 64-58 win at RV/RV Virginia Tech. That effort, which snapped Tech’s 63-game home court win streak vs. non-conference foes, helped propel UT into the AP’s top 10 for the first time since the Dec. 31 poll in 2018 and to its highest ranking since standing at No. 9 that season in the Dec. 17 poll.
Despite losing returning starter Marta Suárez to injury before the season even began and another in All-America candidate Rae Burrell in the year’s first contest, Harper has molded her squad into a gritty unit that seems to play its best when under pressure. UT used a 16-3 closing run to come from seven-down with 6:01 to play on Sunday vs. the Hokies, carding its fourth final-quarter rally of the season.
Also, this season, UT overcame a final-frame deficit of 11 to beat No. 12/21 Texas, flipped a six-point margin vs. No. 23/22 South Florida and trailed Southern Illinois by five before bouncing back from that challenge and the loss of Burrell in the season-opening contest.
Since taking over in 2019-20, Harper has put her own touches on the program and built a foundation for success by recruiting with exacting standards in mind. Those intentional efforts and the staff’s tutelage of players who embrace being coached, are paying off with UT earning one win over a ranked program (Notre Dame) in her first season and four a year ago, including a victory over a No. 2/3-ranked South Carolina squad. She already has guided Tennessee to triumphs over two ranked foes in 2021-22.
Tennessee begins a five-game home stand on Sunday, as Georgia State comes to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 2 p.m. contest (SECN+). Defending NCAA champion Stanford, ranked No. 4 in this week’s AP Poll, travels to Knoxville for a 5:15 p.m. showdown on The Summitt on Dec. 18 (ESPN2). Tickets are available at AllVols.com.
-UT Athletics
