As the midpoint of February passes by, Tennessee’s spring sports are ramping up while basketball gets prepped for the madness.

Here’s a look at some of the headlines during this weekend in Tennessee athletics. 

Lady Vols basketball

Lady Vols basketball will take a trip down to Norman to take on No. 11 Oklahoma.

Tennessee is looking to right the ship against ranked opponents after dropping its last four matchups against nationally acclaimed teams in Ole Miss, Texas, South Carolina and UConn. The Lady Vols currently sit with a 16-9 record with three games to play until the SEC Tournament after suffering an upset loss at the hands of Texas A&M. 

Coming off the loss to the Aggies, Tennessee is looking to get back on track in the conference with another league opponent in the Sooners. With another away game for the Lady Vols, they’ll look to improve on a 7-4 record on the road this season. 

This battle is going to be a challenge for Tennessee if it can’t get Talaysia Cooper going early. Cooper is coming off two monster performances, posting 29 points against the No. 4 Longhorns and 30 points against Ole Miss during a Feb. 17 loss. She posted just 11 points in the matchup with Texas A&M. The six-foot junior guard will look to replicate some hot shooting on Sunday.

Tennessee basketball

The Vols are feeling good after a clean 89-66 win against Oklahoma, and they’ll look to continue that high-scoring output in Nashville this Saturday when they take on rival Vanderbilt. 

This will be the first of two matchups between Tennessee and the No. 19 Commodores this season as the Vols look to pick up a late-season resume-boosting win. Tennessee hopes to make it two wins in a row against Vanderbilt over the last pair of meetings, downing its in-state foe 81-76 in last year’s matchup at Food City Center. 

The Vols will need to get star freshman and projected lottery pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Nate Ament, rolling early. The forward is averaging 18.2 points, 2.6 assists and 6.4 rebounds this campaign, and is coming off an efficient 29-point performance against the Sooners. He shot it at a 52.9% clip from the field, draining a trio of triples. 

This season continues to be an up-and-down year for Tennessee, but it’s gained some momentum over the last few contests. Winners of three straight, the Vols want to make it four in a row in a hostile Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. 

Tennessee baseball

First-year head coach Josh Elander got his guys off to a hot start through his first few games at the helm

The Vols come into this weekend’s three-game series with Kent State boasting a  4-0 record. Tennessee picked up a series win last weekend in Knoxville versus Nicholls State with a sweep, then followed it up with a win versus UNC Asheville in midweek action. 

Kent State comes into the second weekend of its schedule feeling good about itself. After a sweep of Southeastern Louisiana, the Golden Flashes gave LSU a run for its money as they fell by a score of 10-7.

The Vols will run it back with the same starting hurlers as opening weekend. Tegan Kuhns will take the bump on Friday, followed by Landon Mack on Saturday and Evan Blanco on Sunday. The three-game set will feature some of Tennessee’s final tests before it heads to Arlington, Texas, for the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series next weekend. 

Tennessee softball

No. 1 Tennessee softball’s undefeated start to the season will go on the line again this weekend in Birmingham, Alabama, during the Green and Gold Classic. 

The Lady Vols enter this weekend off the Shriners Children’s Clearwater Invitational, where they went 5-0 with multiple statement wins. Tennessee downed No. 6 Nebraska and registered run-rule defeats over Florida Atlantic, No. 11 UCLA and No. 7 Florida State. Head coach Karen Weekly’s squad is dialed in as they start their push for the program’s first national title. 

The Lady Vols will start their weekend with a doubleheader, taking on Missouri State and UAB on Friday. Tennessee battles Mercer on Saturday and Southern Illinois on Sunday.