Kim Caldwell, Lady Vols basketball suffer ugly road loss at Ole Miss

OXFORD, MS – Two days after going down to the wire with the No. 4 team in the country, Lady Vols basketball had an ugly loss on the road.

No. 22 Tennessee (16-8, 8-4 SEC) trailed by as many as 26 points in the 94-81 loss to No. 16 Ole Miss (21-6, 8-4) at SJB Pavilion on Feb. 17. The Lady Vols were down 11 at halftime and never cut the lead to single digits the rest of the game.

Talaysia Cooper led the Lady Vols with 30 points on 12-for-26 shooting with two rebounds, two assists and a steal. Alyssa Latham added 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting and three steals.

Freshman Lauren Hurst had the best game of her career, scoring 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hurst was automatic from behind the arc, going 4-for-5 on 3-pointers.

The Lady Vols’ defense left much to be desired. They allowed Ole Miss to shoot 54% from the field, gave up 31 points in the third quarter and got outscored in the paint 42-34. They couldn’t slow down Cotie McMahon, who scored 39 points on 12-for-22 shooting.

Tennessee’s forwards made very little impact in the game. Some of it was due to foul trouble early, but Janiah Barker and Zee Spearman combined for 11 points on 4-for-19 shooting, and six of Barker’s points were after the game was out of hand late in the fourth.

The road game was played on a Tuesday night after being originally scheduled for Jan. 26 before an ice storm postponed it. With no gaps in the schedule for Tennessee, the game had to be played on a Tuesday between the typical Sunday and Thursday matchups in conference play.

Watch Lady Vols basketball vs. Ole Miss

Lady Vols basketball vs. Ole Miss: Live score updates

The Lady Vols gave up 31 points in the third quarter while only scoring 20, and Ole Miss extended its lead to 75-53 going into the fourth quarter.

Things didn’t get much better for Tennessee to open the third quarter. The Lady Vols got outscored 18-10 as Ole Miss extended its lead to 62-43 with 4:35 left in the third.

Tennessee got outscored 26-21 in the second quarter and trailed 44-33 at halftime. The Lady Vols’ defense and rebounding left much to be desired, especially in transition.

Ole Miss led by as many as 14 points in the second quarter and shot 53% from the field. Tennessee shot 37% and got outrebounded 23-18. Talaysia Cooper led the team with nine points, two assists, one rebound and one steal.

Tennessee still trailed Ole Miss 29-21 at the media timeout with 4:55 left in the second quarter. The Lady Vols got outscored 11-9 to open the quarter.

Tennessee struggled to grab offensive rebounds against Ole Miss, and its turnovers started to pile up to seven. The Lady Vols also haven’t found a way to slow down Cotie McMahon and Christeen Iwuala, who combined for 19 points early.

Things got ugly after the media timeout for the Lady Vols, who went 5:28 without making a field goal. They almost didn’t hit a field goal the rest of the quarter, if not for Nya Robertson’s 3-pointer with four seconds left in the first.

Ole Miss led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.

The first few minutes were a bit hectic for Tennessee, but it eventually settled in, particularly on the defensive end. The Lady Vols forced three turnovers early and shot 60% to start the game.

Ole Miss led 9-7 at the media timeout with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

Mia Pauldo injury status for Ole Miss

Starting point guard Mia Pauldo will miss her third straight game due to an injury sustained during the South Carolina game. She was listed as out on the initial SEC injury report Feb. 16.

The star freshman has been crucial to the Lady Vols’ success as their best ball handler and one of their best shooters. She’s averaging 11.6 points, which went up to 14.4 points in SEC play, along with 2.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 steals.

When does Lady Vols basketball vs. Ole Miss start?

• Date: Tuesday, Feb. 17
• Time: 7 p.m. ET
• Where: SJB Pavilion in Oxford, Mississippi

What TV channel is Lady Vols vs. Ole Miss on today?

Lady Vols basketball 2025-26 schedule, TV times

• Nov. 4: NC State 80, Tennessee 77
• Nov. 7: Tennessee 97, ETSU 47
• Nov. 9: Tennessee 72, UT Martin 61
• Nov. 13: Tennessee 68, Belmont 58
• Nov. 20: Tennessee 85, MTSU 41
• Nov. 23: Tennessee 88, Coppin State 35
• Nov. 30: UCLA 99, Tennessee 77
• Dec. 3: Tennessee 65, Stanford 62
• Dec. 14: Tennessee 112, Winthrop 40
• Dec. 20: Louisville 89, Tennessee 65
• Dec. 22: Tennessee 89, Southern Indiana 44
• Jan. 1: Tennessee 76, Florida 65
• Jan. 4: Tennessee 73, Auburn 56
• Jan. 8: Tennessee 90, Mississippi State 80
• Jan. 11: Tennessee 85, Arkansas 50
• Jan. 18: Tennessee 70, Alabama 59
• Jan. 22: Tennessee 60, Kentucky 58
• Jan. 29: Mississippi State 77, Tennessee 62
• Feb. 1: UConn 96, Tennessee 66
• Feb. 5: Tennessee 82, Georgia 77
• Feb. 8: South Carolina 93, Tennessee 50
• Feb. 12: Tennessee 98, Missouri 53
• Feb. 15: Texas 65, Tennessee 63
• Feb. 17: at Ole Miss (7 p.m. ET, ESPNU)
• Feb. 19: vs. Texas A&M (6:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network+)
• Feb. 22: at Oklahoma (2 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN2)
• Feb. 26: at LSU (6 p.m. ET, ESPN)
• March 1: vs. Vanderbilt (2 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: subscribe.knoxnews.com/offers