No. 14 Tennessee faces No. 15 Stanford in 33rd meeting between the two teams
- No. 14/16 Tennessee (7-2) at No. 15/14 Stanford (6-2)
- Wednesday, Dec. 16, 6 p.m. PT
- Maples Pavilion, Stanford, CA
- TV/Streaming: ESPNU/ESPN3.com/WatchESPN app (Tiffany Greene and Carolyn Peck)
- Radio/Audio Stream: KZSU 90.1 (kzsu.stanford.edu), Tennessee All-Access (Mickey Dearstone)
- Series: Tennessee holds the edge, 23-9
Due to flight delays, Tennessee players and staff had to split up and take separate flights to the West Coast on Sunday, with most arriving in the Bay Area late in the early hours of Monday morning and the rest by early afternoon after departing Monday morning.
Stanford checks in at No. 15 in the Associated Press poll and No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches poll. Tennessee moved up two spots this week in the AP Poll and dropped one spot to No. 16 in the coaches poll. Wednesday’s game will be the 33rd all-time meeting between Stanford and Tennessee and the first in which at least one of the teams isn’t ranked in the top 10.
The series between the programs teams began December 1988 when the Cardinal traveled to Knoxville and lost 83-60. Stanford has won three of the last four and four of the last six meetings between the two teams. Last season the Cardinal dropped a 59-40 decision to Tennessee in Knoxville. The Lady Vols’ last win at Stanford came on Dec. 4, 2005 (74-67). Following an 11-game Tennessee win streak from 1997-2006, the two have split their last eight.
Game Notes
Tennessee
- The Lady Vols are in the middle of a three-game road trip. They went on the road for the first time this season and picked up a down-to-the-wire win at Wichita State (58-51) on Dec. 11.
- Tennessee wraps up their travel with a game at No. 7 Oregon State on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
- Tennessee has two losses this season, just as it did a year ago when it faced back-to-back games vs. Stanford and Oregon State.
- Tennessee is holding opponents to only 38 percent from the field and 35 percent from the three-point line.
- The Lady Vols have won the rebounding battle against every opponent except for Virginia Tech. The Hokies defeated Tennessee 57-43 on Dec. 6, breaking the Lady Vols’ 44-game home win streak against unranked non-conference opponents.
- In games Tennessee has won, Bashaara Graves has led the team in scoring (14.2) and rebounding (10.2) and has shot 81 percent (33-of-41) from the floor. In losses, she has averaged 5.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and shot 40 percent (4-of-10).
- Probable Starters:
- Forward Bashaara Graves 12.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg
- Redshirt sophomore Mercedes Russell 1 ppg, 9.2 rpg
- Redshirt sophomore Diamond DeShields 6 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.9 apg
- Redshirt Junior Andraya Carter 1 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.2 spg
- Junior guard Jordan Reynolds 5 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.4 apg
Stanford
- Last time out: Stanford lost on the road to No. 5 Texas on Sunday, 77-69. Lili Thompson scored 21 and Erica McCall posted her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
- Stanford’s other loss came at home to Santa Clara (61-58) on Nov. 23.
- Stanford is without a senior starter for the first time in 13 seasons. The 2002-03 campaign was the last time the Cardinal didn’t have a senior in its first five.
- Stanford’s .338 field goal percentage defense is second in the Pac-12 and is 26th nationally.
- Tennessee is Stanford’s second-most frequent non-conference opponent behind only Santa Clara.
- Probable Starters:
- Junior guard Brianna Roberson 10.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.9 apg
- Junior guard Lili Thompson 19.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5.1 apg
- Junior guard Karlie Samuelson 9.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg
- Junior forward Kailee Johnson 2.0 ppg, 2.8 rpg
- Junior forward Erica McCall 14.3 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg
