Tennessee athletics is now 1-0 in 2026.
Lady Vols basketball began the year on a high note, defeating Florida 76-65 in its SEC opener. The Lady Vols (9-3, 1-0 SEC) got out to a 17-point lead in the first half, fell behind in the third quarter, but eventually pulled away in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
With the victory, Tennessee moves to 59-5 all-time against the Gators (12-4, 0-1), including five straight wins dating to 2022.
Tennessee began the year on a slow note, allowing two offensive rebounds to the Gators and airballing its first two three-pointers of the game. Florida didn’t capitalize on the Lady Vols’ early miscues, holding a one-point lead.
As the first quarter rolled on, Tennessee looked progressively better. The Lady Vols shared the ball well in the first period, highlighted by senior Zee Spearman’s bounce pass to junior Alyssa Latham, who executed a perfect backdoor cut into a reverse layup.
“It’s just reading the floor and watching who’s guarding me,” Latham said. “It’s a thing I’ve developed over time. I’ve been trying to talk to my teammates and tell them that these cuts are here and you can do them too.”
Tennessee’s defensive pressure flustered the Gators’ ballhandlers, forcing six turnovers in the first quarter and holding Florida to 5-for-12 shooting. Senior Nya Robertson connected on a three-pointer as the quarter ended to extend Tennessee’s lead to double-digits, leading 22-12 through the first 10 minutes.
The Lady Vols picked up where they left off after the quarter break, ripping off a 10-3 run in the first two minutes of the second quarter and getting out to a 32-15 lead.
However, the momentum wouldn’t last long.
Tennessee shot a poor 1-for-10 to end the quarter, going 5:38 without a field goal and turning the ball over six times to let Florida back into the game despite holding a 17-point lead just minutes earlier. After Tennessee’s initial 10-3 run, the Gators finished the half on a 15-5 run to reduce the Lady Vols’ lead to seven.
“When we get tired, we don’t play together, or when we get tired or frustrated at one person, we start taking bad shots,” head coach Kim Caldwell said. “There were some bad shots in there.”
Tennessee led 37-30 at halftime after a lackadaisical second quarter. Latham was a bright spot for Tennessee in the first half, leading the Lady Vols with seven points. She also contributed three rebounds and two steals.
Despite a seven-point deficit, the third quarter saw Florida crawl back into the lead. The Gators outscored Tennessee 22-18, taking the lead with three minutes left in the quarter.
Even with Florida surging, Tennessee kept finding ways to respond. After the Gators took a four-point lead, it clicked for the Lady Vols. They scored nine straight to give the Lady Vols a 55-52 edge heading into the final quarter.
With just 10 minutes to play, the Lady Vols needed to figure out one thing: how to stop Liv McGill. The sophomore guard tallied 11 points in the third quarter, moving her total to 25 points on the afternoon. She was Florida’s leading scorer by 14 points heading into the fourth quarter.
With a three-point lead heading into the final quarter, Tennessee came out firing. After going back and forth on the scoreboard early in the quarter, the Lady Vols began to pull away. Spearman contributed seven points down the stretch, helping Tennessee take a 12-point lead with under three minutes left in the contest.
“I think she really did really good job of letting it come to her tonight,” Caldwell said. “She got huge offensive rebounds, like at the rim ripping them down. She was talking. She never, to me, showed any type of frustration whatsoever, and we need that out of her again when she’s hitting shots or she’s not hitting shots.”
With Tennessee’s offense producing, Florida struggled to keep up. The Gators shot 5-for-14 from the field and 0-for-5 from the three-point line to end the game. They also finished the game shooting a pitiful 1-for-8 as they tried to close the gap on the scoreboard. The Lady Vols did a good job of stopping McGill in the final quarter, holding her to seven points on 3-for-6 shooting.
“The shots were going in,” Caldwell said. “Then we wanted to press and we wanted to play harder on the defensive end, and then we got steals and then we got scores, so it’s all connected.”
The Lady Vols will head south for their next matchup. They’ll face Auburn on Jan. 4 at 4 p.m. ET. Tennessee is 50-12 all-time against the Tigers and has won nine of the last 10 meetings.
