#21 Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Hits the Road to Face #11 Oklahoma

Norman, Okla. — The No. 21 Tennessee Lady Vols (16-9, 8-5 SEC) step into Lloyd Noble Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT for a nationally-televised showdown with No. 11 Oklahoma (20-6, 8-5 SEC) that could shape the league’s final standings and each team’s NCAA Tournament résumé.

ESPN’s cameras will capture the only regular-season meeting between the programs since Oklahoma edged Tennessee 87-86 in Knoxville last January, a heart-breaker in which the Lady Vols erased a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit and missed a last-second triple that would have flipped the outcome.

Tennessee arrives in Norman smarting from Thursday’s 82-84 home loss to Texas A&M, a game in which senior forward Janiah Barker posted a career-high 29 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt-junior guard Talaysia Cooper and senior forward Zee Spearman also reached double figures—11 and 14 respectively—while simultaneously punching entry into the 1,000-career-point club. The Big Orange now owns four active 1,000-point scorers for the first time this season.

Cooper, who averages a team-best 15.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a league-leading 2.8 steals, paces an offense that ranks seventh nationally in three-pointers made per game (9.6) and 33rd in scoring (77.0). Tennessee has drilled 10 or more treys in six of its last seven contests and owns the country’s toughest schedule according to the NCAA’s metrics, having already faced six of the current AP top-10 and all four 2025 Final Four participants.

Oklahoma, meanwhile, survived its own Thursday thriller, escaping Athens with a 71-67 win at No. 24 Georgia behind Aaliyah Chavez’s 27 points and perfect 8-for-8 free-throw shooting. The Sooners boast the nation’s No. 4 offense at 86.7 points per game and lead the country in defensive rebounds (35.4) while ranking third in total boards (48.2). All five starters average double figures, paced by Chavez (18.4), forward Raegan Beers (15.8) and guards Sahara Williams (12.1), Payton Verhulst (11.9) and Zya Vann (10.5).

Series history tilts toward the Lady Vols, who hold a 6-2 edge and have captured three of the last four meetings, though Oklahoma’s one-point win in Knoxville last winter remains fresh. Sunday marks Tennessee’s second women’s basketball trip to Norman; the first ended in a 71-55 victory on Dec. 21, 2003.

Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. ET on ESPN with Tiffany Greene and Carolyn Peck on the call. Fans can also listen on the Lady Vol Radio Network or SiriusXM Channel 81, with Brian Rice handling play-by-play and Jay Lifford in the studio. Pregame coverage begins 30 minutes before tip.

Tennessee closes its road schedule next Thursday at No. 7 LSU before returning to Knoxville for a regular-season finale against yet another ranked foe, ensuring the gauntlet continues right up to Selection Monday.