University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL HOOPS CENTRAL: VA. Tech
November 25, 2016 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2016
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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- No. 17/16 Tennessee (3-1) will conclude its season-opening stretch of four road games in the first five, as it heads to Virginia Tech (5-0) for a matchup with the Hokies on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
MORE INFO
Gameday Time & Broadcast Info
- Opponent: Virginia Tech
- Date: Sunday, Nov. 27
- Tipoff: 2 p.m. ET
- Venue: Cassell Coliseum
- Watch Online: ACC Network Extra
- Radio: Lady Vol Network
- Online: Live Audio, Live Stats
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Sunday's game will be broadcast online on ACC Network Extra and via WatchESPN. Visit WatchESPN.com or download the WatchESPN app to view the game on a computer or mobile device. Bailey Angle (PxP) and Mack McCarthy (Analyst) will call the action.
Fans can also tune into their local Lady Vol Network station to catch Mickey Dearstone describing the action as Tennessee takes on Virginia Tech.
TENNESSEE vs. VIRGINIA TECH
- #17/16 Tennessee (3-1) travels to Blacksburg, Va., to take on #NR/RV Virginia Tech (5-0) at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Cassell Coliseum (9,847).
- This will mark UT's third consecutive road game and fourth away contest in five outings thus far.
- It also will be Tennessee's second matchup played in the Old Dominion State this season, as Holly Warlick's squad opened the 2016-17 schedule on Nov. 11 with an 81-69 victory at JMU, just another 138.8 miles northeast on Interstate 81.
- The Lady Vols will be seeking to get back on the winning track after suffering a 70-56 loss at Penn State last Sunday.
- Virginia Tech is back at home after capturing a pair of victories on the road to remain undefeated, including a 71-61 victory at the College of Charleston on Tuesday night.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
- Bailey Angle (PxP) and Mack McCarthy (Analyst) will describe the action for the Tennessee-Virginia Tech game on ACC Network Extra.
- Like SECN+ games, the ACC Network Extra broadcast is available via WatchESPN.
- Mickey Dearstone will handle the call for the IMG College/Lady Vol Network radio/online broadcast. Airtime is 30 minutes prior to tip-off on network stations.
TENNESSEE-VIRGINIA TECH SERIES NOTES
- Tennessee holds a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series with Virginia Tech.
- The Hokies pulled off a huge upset last season in Knoxville, taking down the No. 8/8 Lady Vols, 57-43.
- The 43 points scored was a record low in the modern era of UT women's basketball (began in 1974-75).
- Va. Tech handed UT its second loss of the season a year ago and will try to do the same again.
- Tennessee is 3-0 vs. Virginia Tech in games played in Blacksburg, with the (then) #2/2 Big Orange women taking a 66-33 victory in their last visit to Cassell Coliseum on Feb. 22, 1995.
- Tennessee has held Virginia Tech to 57 or fewer points in seven of the eight games these teams have played.
- UT and VT met on the gridiron in the Battle at Bristol earlier this season, setting a record for the highest attendance at a college football game with 156,990 at Bristol Motor Speedway. UT came out on top of that contest, 45-24.
- Tennessee is 108-25 all-time vs. ACC schools, going 1-4 vs. league teams last season.
- A year ago, UT picked up a home win over Syracuse and lost at home to Virginia Tech, on the road vs. Notre Dame and at a neutral site vs. Syracuse in the NCAA Elite Eight.
LAST MEETING BETWEEN UT AND VT
- No. 8/8 Tennessee fell to Virginia Tech, 57-43, on Dec. 6, 2015, in the final contest of an eight-game homestand to open the season.
- The Hokies (7-1) held the Lady Vols to a season-low 43 points on just 31 percent shooting. The big difference came from behind the arc, as Virginia Tech finished 9-of-19 from 3-point range while UT was held to a season-worst 1-of-19 from long range.
- Virginia Tech guard Vanessa Panousis led all scorers with 21 points, including 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
- The Lady Vols led 25-22 at the break in what was a low-scoring opening 20 minutes. Diamond DeShields and Mercedes Russell paced the offense, accounting for 23 of the team's 25 first-half points. DeShields led all scorers at halftime with 15 points, extending her double-digit scoring streak to five straight games while Russell had eight points and nine rebounds.
- Tennessee (6-2) led by one entering the final quarter of play but was outscored 21-6 in the fourth as the Hokies snapped UT's 44-game home unbeaten streak against unranked non-conference opponents.
- Russell was a bright spot on both ends of the floor for the Lady Vols, scoring 14 points while grabbing a career-high 15 rebounds on the afternoon.
WARLICK SPENT TWO SEASONS AT VA. TECH
- UT head coach Holly Warlick, who played under Pat Summitt at Tennessee, spent two seasons in Blacksburg after getting her first coaching position as an assistant for VT's Carol Alfano from 1981 to 1983.
- The Hokies were 16-12 in 1981-82 and 13-12 in 1982-83 for a combined record of 29-24 during Warlick's time at Virginia Tech.
- Warlick then spent two seasons at Nebraska as an assistant before returning to Knoxville as an assistant in 1985-86. She has been on the Lady Vols staff ever since.
LADY VOL QUICK NOTES
- Preseason All-SEC Second Team pick Mercedes Russell is off to a terrific start, averaging 17.3 ppg. and 8.8 rpg. while hitting 25 of 35 charity tosses in the first four games.
- Russell, a 6-6 redshirt junior center, has notched double-doubles in three of her first four games this season to give her 14 for her career.
- In her first two seasons of play, Russell had only four games of 15 or more points. She has 15 or more points in all four games this season (17/18/15/19).
- Preseason All-SEC First Team selection Diamond DeShields, a do-it-all 6-1 guard, is averaging 15.0 points per game to rank second on the team. She paces the Lady Vols in assists (4.5) and blocks (1.3), is second in steals (1.5) and fourth in rebounding (6.0). She is shooting 47% from the field, 46% on threes and 75% from the charity stripe.
- Junior forward Jaime Nared already has two of the top scoring efforts of her career in her first four games this season.
- Nared had her second career double-double last Sunday, tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds vs. Penn State.
- Tennessee opened the season 3-0 for the fourth straight season under head coach Holly Warlick but a 2-for-19 night from the three-point arc and a 26-point fourth quarter by Penn State resulted in UT's first loss last Sunday, 70-56, in University Park, Pa.
- The Lady Vols tipped off the season with three games in a five-day span, capturing an 81-69 road victory at perennial NCAA Tournament team James Madison, beating Navy at home, 85-55, and taking down in-state foe East Tennessee State, 83-58, at Johnson City in front of a Bucs-record crowd of 6,072 in the ETSU/MHSA Athletic Center.
- Tennessee is facing Power Five schools Penn State, Virginia Tech, #5/6 Baylor, #14/14 Texas and #11/11 Stanford in five of its next seven games.
- Junior guard Alexa Middleton's hard work in the offseason also has been revealed, as she has connected on 69% of her three-point attempts (11-of-16) and is hitting 54% overall from the field.
- Middleton hit 21 threes her first two years combined (12/9) and already has 11 this season.
- Jordan Reynolds has been very consistent at the point, with 13 assists vs. 7 turnovers and averages of 7.5 ppg., 6.5 rpg. and 2.3 spg. She is shooting 50 percent from the field as well.
- Tennessee has been led in scoring by a different player in all four games. Jaime Nared had 19 vs. JMU, Alexa Middleton tossed in 21 vs. Navy, Diamond DeShields scored 28 vs. ETSU and Mercedes Russell led the way with 19 vs. Penn State.
A GLANCE AT THE HOKIES
- Virginia Tech is off to a 5-0 start, picking up road victories over UCF (67-64) and College of Charleston (71-61) to remain undefeated.
- VT returns three starters and six letterwinners from last season's 18-14 squad that made it to the second round of the WNIT.
- The Hokies are coached by first-year skipper Kenny Brooks, who spent 14 seasons at James Madison and fashioned a 337-122 (.756) record.
- While at JMU, Brooks guided the Dukes to 11 consecutive postseason appearances, including six NCAA bids and five trips to the WNIT.
- Va. Tech is led by 5-6 sophomore guard Chanette Hicks, who is averaging 17.8 points and 3.8 assists per contest while shooting 52 percent from the field.
- She has support from 6-2 senior forward Sidney Cook, who supplies 13.4 ppg. and 7.4 rpg., and 5-10 senior guard Samantha Hill, who posts 11.8 ppg., 4.2 rpg. and leads the squad with nine threes thus far.
- Virginia Tech is shooting .419 from the field and .290 from three-point range while averaging 69.8 points per game. The Hokies allow only .375 on FGs, .224 on 3FGs and 55.2 ppg.
- VT junior guard Diandra DaRosa and UT's Cheridene Green (redshirting due to injury/won't make trip) were junior college teammates at ASA College in Brooklyn, N.Y.
WHAT'S NEXT
- Following the game vs. Virginia Tech, Tennessee will return home and gear up for a Wednesday home contest at 7 p.m. ET vs. Tennessee State.
- The Hokies, meanwhile, play host to Nebraska in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at 7 p.m. ET on Dec. 1.
- Following the road game at Va. Tech, the Lady Vols will play seven of their next eight in the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena.
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