KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Wins over Florida State and Iowa last week have propelled the Tennessee women’s basketball team into the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time this season at No. 19.
The Lady Volunteers beat the Seminoles (79-77) last Wednesday night in Knoxville and (then) the No. 17/20 Hawkeyes (78-68) on Saturday night in Brooklyn, N.Y., to improve to 7-0. This marks UT’s best start to a season since opening at 9-0 in 2021-22.
Kim Caldwell, who is 224-31 in her ninth season as a head coach and off to a remarkable start in her first year at the helm of the Lady Vol program, has Tennessee back in the AP Top 25 for the first time since Nov. 27, 2023. Since the rankings began in 1976, Tennessee has been in the AP Top 25 in 779 of 870 total weeks (89.5%).
The 7-0 beginning this season is the second best of Caldwell’s career after a 29-0 start in 2021-22. That season, she guided Glenville State (W. Va.) to an NCAA Division II National Championship at 35-1.
UT, which joins LSU as the only remaining undefeated SEC women’s teams, will be back in action at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, as NC Central visits Food City Center. The game will be streamed on SECN+ and available on Lady Vol Network radio stations statewide as well as on UTSports.com.
NEW YORK — The Boomer Esiason Foundation announced Monday that Tennessee senior Cooper Mays is a finalist for the Rimington Trophy, which annually recognizes the most outstanding center in college football.
Mays becomes the first player in Tennessee history to be named a Rimington Trophy finalist since the award’s inception in 2000. He is one of three final candidates recognized by the committee in 2024, joining Western Michigan redshirt senior Jacob Gideon and Ohio State graduate student Seth McLaughlin.
In his fourth-straight season as the starting center, the Kingston native anchored the Volunteers as UT produced a top 10 rushing offense and total offense in the country and punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff. Mays played a team-high 816 offensive snaps according to PFF and did not allow a sack or QB hit throughout the entire campaign, and he carries a current streak of 26 consecutive games without allowing a sack that dates back to the 2022 season.
Mays led an offensive line unit that paved the way for the top rushing attack in the SEC for the second year in row. Tennessee’s 232.0 rushing yards per game ranked first in the conference and ninth in the FBS, while its 462.9 yards of total offense per game were second in the league and eighth nationally. For their efforts, Tennessee’s offensive line was recognized as Joe Moore Award semifinalists for the third-straight season, joining Oregon as the only schools in the country to accomplish that feat.
While more than a dozen All-America teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses these three prestigious teams to determine a winner:
Walter Camp Foundation (WCF)
Sporting News (SN)
Football Writers Association of America (FWAA)
The center with the most first team votes will be determined the winner. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with the most second team votes will win. If there is still a tie, the winner will be determined by a majority vote from the Rimington Trophy Committee, provided with data from Pro Football Focus.
The 2024 Rimington Trophy recipient will be announced during the Home Depot College Football Awards Show on Saturday, Dec. 14, and honored at the Rococo Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Jan. 25, 2025.
2024 Tennessee Postseason Award Honors as of Dec. 9
Update: Ronnie Donald has been located, and is safe.
Original Story: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued a Silver Alert for 71-year-old Ronnie Donald who went missing while on vacation with his family in Gatlinburg.
He left the hotel they were staying at around 5 p.m. last (Sunday) night, wearing a gray and black t-shirt and dark khaki pants.
He was last seen driving a silver 2019 Kia Sorrento with South Carolina license plate QUL 353.
He has several medical conditions that may impair his ability to return safely without assistance.
We have his photo on our website, Newstalk987.com.
Anyone with information, please call 800-TBI-FIND.
Knoxville Police says a man has been arrested and charged after making a fake bomb threat at West Town Mall.
32-year-old Marshall Hazlett was arrested Friday night after he claimed to have put a bomb on a TV inside one of the stores which resulted in a significant law enforcement response but officers determined the threat was not credible before mall security evacuated the mall as part of their emergency protocol.
Hazlett was found at Target on Ray Mears Boulevard and charged with making a false report.
An alert neighbor calls the Knoxville Fire department and helps keep an apartment fire from spreading.
KFD received the call Saturday for a porch on fire at the Addison at Sutherland. The neighbor also alerted the person inside about the fire.
Thanks to the quick actions of the neighbor, the fire was quickly brought under control through the use of a portable fire extinguisher. KFD was able to completely put the fire out on their arrival.
The building’s exterior wall suffered minor damage.
Thanks to a quick-thinking neighbor, the damage was limited and likely prevented a much larger fire on this frigid December morning.
The cause of a fire, that injures two, at the Amherst Ridge Mobile Home Park is determined to have been caused by unattended cooking, which is the leading factor contributing to cooking fires and casualties according to the National Fire Protection Association.
The Knoxville Fire Department was called to Saturday’s fire in the 2600 Miss Ellie Drive and found heavy smoke with flames showing from the home’s exterior.
Crews found two people and got them out of the home. They were taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries.
The home is a total loss and the American Red Cross is assisting.
A Knoxville man is sentenced to more than a decade behind bars after a deadly crash involving a motorcycle on Kingston Pike.
The Knox County District Attorney’s Office says 23-year-old Christian Elwood was driving down Kingston Pike at 91 mph on July 23rd in 2022 when he hit the victim, who was on a motorcycle, near Huxley Road and died the next day.
Elwood was convicted of vehicular homicide by intoxication, reckless endangerment, driving under the influence and speeding. He has been sentenced to 11 years behind bars without the possibility of parole.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Following the second 10-win regular season in three years under head coach Josh Heupel, the seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have officially punched their ticket to their first College Football Playoff.
The ninth-seeded Volunteers will travel to take on eighth-seeded Ohio State at 8 p.m. ET in the first round of the College Football Playoff on Saturday, Dec. 21 from Ohio Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPN and ABC.
The first-round winner advances to take on top-seeded Oregon, the Big Ten champion, in the Rose Bowl Game on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. The CFP quarterfinal kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Tennessee (10-2, 6-2 SEC) and Ohio State (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) will meet for just the second time. The two teams faced each other in the 1996 Citrus Bowl, as MVP Jay Graham rushed for 154 yards, and Peyton Manning completed 20-of-35 passes and a touchdown to lift the Volunteers to a 20-14 win. It will be Tennessee’s first game in the state of Ohio.
Ohio State finished fourth in the Big Ten this season with key victories over playoff participants Penn State and Indiana. The matchup will feature a battle of two of the top five total and scoring defenses in the country. The Buckeyes are first in the FBS, allowing only 10.9 points per game and 241.1 yards per contest. Meanwhile, Tennessee is fourth in the nation, issuing 13.9 points per game and fifth in the FBS allowing 278.3 yards per contest.
Ranked No. 7, Tennessee earned the No. 9 seed since Group of Five automatic bid Boise State and Big 12 champion Arizona State received the Nos. 3 and No. 4 seeds, respectively. The Vols were one of three SEC teams to earn CFP berths, joining SEC champion No. 2 seed Georgia and No. 5 seed Texas.
Tennessee leaned on the SEC’s top rushing attack, which put up 232.0 yards per game led by the spectacular play of junior running back Dylan Sampson. Sampson, USA Today Network’s SEC Player of the Year, shattered five school single-season records, rushing for 1,485 yards on 256 carries and 22 touchdowns.
The Vols held 10 of their 12 opponents under 20 points thanks to a stifling defense that limited seven of their eight Power Four opponents under their season scoring average.
The College Football Playoff berth is another significant accomplishment for Heupel’s Vols, who were 3-7 a year prior to his arrival. Four years into his tenure, Tennessee has won 37 games and 30 games since 2022, which is the fourth-most in the SEC during that span. It’s the winningest three-year stretch for the program since claiming 30 victories from 1998-2000.
Preparations for the College Football Playoff are well underway. The Volunteers will practice next week, participate in graduation on Friday and then enter game week. All CFP first-round participants will treat the first round like a normal game week schedule and depart for their destination the day before the game.
2024 College Football Playoff First Round Schedule all times Eastern Friday, Dec. 20 (10) Indiana at (7) Notre Dame, 8 p.m., ESPN and ABC
Saturday, Dec. 21 (11) SMU at (6) Penn State, noon, TNT (12) Clemson at (5) Texas, 4 p.m., TNT (9) Tennessee at (8) Ohio State, 8 p.m., ESPN and ABC
Game Recap: Women’s Basketball | December 07, 2024
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Tennessee picked up its first ranked win of the season and improved to 7-0, knocking off No. 17/20 Iowa, 78-68, at the Barclays Center in the Shark Beauty Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday night.
The Lady Vols, who only shot 39 percent for the game, rode 53.3-percent fourth-quarter shooting to victory, including three-of-five marksmanship beyond the arc, to outscore the Hawkeyes (8-1), 23-16, in the closing period and hand them their first loss on the season. UT forced UI into seven of its 30 turnovers for the game in the final stanza, generating 12 of the Lady Vols’ 42 total points off those miscues in that period.
Redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper, who played less than five minutes and had only four points in the first half due to foul trouble, made up for it after halftime. She tallied 19 of her team-high 23 points to fuel the Tennessee attack over the final 20 minutes. Junior guard Ruby Whitehorn chipped in 16 points, while senior guard Samara Spencer and fifth-year guard/forward Tess Darby added 11 each, with Darby nailing two three-pointers in as many tries during the decisive quarter. Cooper and senior forward Jillian Hollingshead grabbed six rebounds each to pace UT, and Cooper added a team-high three assists and blocked shots as well.
Iowa was led by Lucy Olsen with 23 points, while Addison O’Grady produced a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Tennessee exploded to an 8-0 start, getting pairs of buckets by Cooper off Iowa turnovers. An Alyssa Latham steal and score for UT’s fifth made field goal in as many attempts boosted the lead to 10-2 with 7:23 to go, before the Hawkeyes reeled off eight straight to tie it up at 10-all by the 4:17 media timeout. The Lady Vols pushed back ahead four times the rest of the opening stanza, taking an 18-15 edge with 2:02 left on a Darby layup before UI put together a 7-0 run to close out the first frame.
Iowa extended its run to 10-0 and its lead to 25-18 after the quarter break, but Whitehorn stemmed the tide and cut the gap to 25-21 by nailing a trey with 9:15 to go. A layup and three by Spencer pulled the Lady Vols to within one, 27-26, with 7:50 remaining. A 7-2 Iowa burst, though, propelled the Hawkeyes into the 3:27 media timeout with a 34-28 advantage. Out of that break, Latham hit one of two free throws, and then Whitehorn put together a 6-0 personal run on a jumper and pair of layups to increase her point total to 13 and help her team forge a 35-all tie at the intermission.
Spencer hit a pair of free throws to put her team on the board first in the second half, 37-35, before Iowa equaled it at 37. A 5-0 Hawkeyes burst put them in front, 42-37, with 7:06 to go in the period, but the Lady Vols used threes by Sara Puckett and Darby to fight back to within one, 44-43, by the 4:59 media break. Cooper instigated a 12-8 burst by the Big Orange to close out the third, finishing with nine points in the frame. She gave the Lady Vols a 47-44 lead at the 3:56 mark on a layup and another three-point edge, 55-52, with 25 seconds left to close out the third with an old-fashioned three-point play.
After Iowa had taken a one-point lead in the final frame, a Darby three put Tennessee back on top, 58-56, with 8:29 remaining. Iowa moved ahead 62-59 on a 6-1 surge, though, forcing a UT timeout with 5:52 to go. After Whitehorn tied it up, the Hawkeyes moved in front, 66-62, with 4:38 left on a Kylie Feuerbach layup, but two Cooper jumpers sandwiching a layup by her pushed the Lady Vols in front, 68-67, with 3:04 on the clock. UT closed out the contest on a 10-1 blitz, getting a Darby three to make it 71-67 with 2:25 to go and a pair of Cooper scores to make it 75-68 with 39 ticks on the clock. A free throw by Spencer and two more by Zee Spearman in the final seconds accounted for the final result.
UP NEXT: Tennessee will be back in action at Food City Center next Saturday, as North Carolina Central pays a visit. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. ET, with the contest being broadcast on SECN+ and the Lady Vol Network via radio stations statewide and via live stream at UTSports.com.
SEVEN STRAIGHT WITH A NEW FIVE: Tennessee has started the season 7-0 with seven different starting lineups and eight different players appearing in the first five. Ruby Whitehorn, Samara Spencer, Zee Spearman, Alyssa Latham and Talaysia Cooper opened the contest on Saturday night against the Hawkeyes. The trio of Cooper, Spencer and Whitehorn lead the squad with six starts a piece. Latham earned her first start of the season, while Spearman tallied her third of the season.
SUCCESS AGAINST THE HAWKEYES: Tennessee improves its all-time series record to 3-1 against the Hawkeyes, boasting a 1-0 stint at a neutral site, including a 1-0 record at home and 1-1 on the road. Before Saturday’s 78-68 showdown, in the three previous games in this series, the winning team needed no more than 74 points to claim victory. The programs had not met since 1993. Tennessee is 110-29 all-time vs. programs who are currently members of the Big Ten Conference.
CAPITALIZING IN ALL AREAS: The Lady Vols forced Iowa to turn the ball over 30 times during Saturday’s win, posting a 42-4 advantage on points off turnovers. Five of Tennessee’s foes thus far have committed at least 20 miscues: Samford (37), Western Carolina (37), UT Martin (31), Liberty (25) and Iowa (30). Tennessee also collected 44 points from the paint, outscoring the Hawkeyes by ten points during Saturday’s victory. Additionally, the Lady Vols notched 17 points from fast breaks and 11 points from second-chance opportunities.
FIRST TOP-25 WIN FOR CALDWELL: Head coach Kim Caldwell earned her first NCAA Division I victory over a top-25 opponent in No. 17 Iowa. The Lady Vols moved to 496-244 when facing top-25 foes. Previously, Caldwell’s only encounter against a ranked DI team was in 2024, against No. 13/12 Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, ending in a 92-49 setback. The first-year head coach also has her second-best career start with a 7-0 record. Top honors go to her 2021-22 GSU squad that started 29-0 on its way to 35-1 and an NCAA DII national title.
FOUR STRAIGHT 20+ GAMES FOR COOP: Redshirt sophomore Talaysia Cooper eclipsed her sixth double-digit season performance, including her fifth consecutive, tallying 23 points versus Iowa. The Turbeville, South Carolina, native’s other double-digit games came against MTSU (18), Samford (19), Western Carolina (20), Liberty (33) and Florida State (22), now giving her four consecutive games of 20+ scoring.
