BREAKING NEWS:As Lady Vols earn landmark win for program, Kim Caldwell over UConn……….Read more 

 

 

Zee Spearman (11) celebrates a victory over UConn at Food City Center. Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.

Until Thursday, Lady Vols basketball hadn’t beaten UConn in 18 years.

Since then, Tennessee has seen championship teams and WNBA stars come and go. It has seen two coaching changes. It saw the death of possibly the most impactful coach in the history of the game, who until Thursday was the only coach to lead the Lady Vols to a win over the Huskies.

It took Pat Summitt four tries to beat Connecticut. She did it for the first time in the 1996 Final Four on the road to the first of three straight national championships.

Kim Caldwell beat UConn on her first attempt. Her Lady Vols took down Geno Auriemma’s Huskies, 80-76.

“We knew this when she took the job here,” Tennessee guard Samara Spencer said. “We knew she won a lot of games, and she told us when she got her she wants this year to be the year that we do something special. She didn’t want to wait.”

Tennessee as a program didn’t want to wait to beat UConn either. The intent of bringing Caldwell to Knoxville was to win now, and the Lady Vols are winning now.

That’s not to say getting to this point was an easy path. The Lady Vols suffered heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss, losing four games by a total of eight points before a seven-point defeat against South Carolina.

The win over UConn was different.

“We had poise down the stretch,” Caldwell said. “I think we played with confidence. I think we played to win as opposed as afraid to lose, and I think the crowd had a lot to do with it.”

Tennessee knew how not to play with a lead. It blew a major lead against Florida State, so when it went up nine after a 13-0 run, Tennessee held on.

When trying to hold onto the lead, Tennessee’s defensive intensity was paramount. It didn’t waver as the Lady Vols held Connecticut to 40% shooting from the field.

“Our defense is what helped us,” Spencer said. “I felt like we got them out of what they’re normally used to and a little bit frantic. They weren’t hitting shots that they normally would hit.”

Tennessee ended up taking less field goals than UConn. It made three more shots from the field and two more 3-pointers, taking a narrow shooting edge. In a game like Thursday’s, any edge is one that must be taken.

When Caldwell earned her career-defining win against the standard of excellence in women’s basketball, her team immediately went to her. Caldwell was back at practice just four days after giving birth to her son and was back in action a week after Conor Caldwell entered the world. The next weekend, Caldwell got on a plane to Columbia, Missouri to be with her team.

Her team responded. Talaysia Cooper battled illness to play. Tennessee’s effort allowed it to out-rebound the Huskies by 12 and force 13 Connecticut turnovers. The Lady Vols did what they needed to give Caldwell this win just as Caldwell did her job.

“I didn’t do it,” Caldwell said. “They did it, and they just made up their minds that they wanted to do it. I didn’t score one point. I didn’t get one stop. They locked in, and they wanted it.”

After the initial celebrations on the floor, Tennessee’s players went to celebrate with the alumni in attendance. Some of them, such as Jordan Horston and Tamari Key, never beat the Huskies in their career. Then, it was time for one final moment with the woman who is poised to bring Tennessee back to the top.

Caldwell got back to the locker room, and she lost for the only time that night. She lost the locker room celebration to her players.

“It wasn’t cups of water,” Caldwell said. “It was bottles of water, and I surrendered.”