A coach amassing 1,006 wins in 36 seasons in Pat Summit, 27 Southeastern Conference championships and eight national titles — Tennessee women’s basketball is as good as it gets.
So even Texas Tech coach Kristy Curry knows her team must be flawless when facing its next opponent.
“Obviously when you play a team like Tennessee the margin for error is very small,” she said. “We’re gonna have to play our best basketball. It’s a great opportunity for us we’re gonna embrace that. We’re excited about the challenge.
“When I got the phone call that we’d play Tennessee in San Antonio, I said, ‘We’ll walk to San Antonio.’”
Despite a 91-52 victory against Sam Houston State, the Lady Raiders face a giant of an opponent in the Lady Volunteers.
Tech takes on No. 6 Tennessee at 6 p.m. today in San Antonio in the AT&T Center as a part of the ESPNU Road to the Championship.
The matchup gives Tech a high-ranked opponent early in the season and a chance to turn heads among women’s basketball spectators. It may be one of the few times Tech has to impress voters in the rankings, as the game against Tennessee also is the only one against a ranked opponent in nonconference play at this point in the season.
As much as it seems the Lady Raiders are going up against a tough opponent, both teams enter the game with young players on the roster.
Against Sam Houston State on Saturday, the Lady Raiders started two freshmen — point guard Monique Smalls and guard Chynna Brown — and feature four newcomers who are playing solid minutes.
However, the Lady Vols are also a young team with no seniors on the squad. But Tennessee is led by this week’s SEC Player of the Week Shekinna Stricklen, who scored 25 points, grabbed a career-best 14 rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 74-65 win against No. 7 Baylor Sunday.
Stricklen also was named Freshman of the Year last season by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and had an All-SEC second team selection to go along with it.
Tennessee and Tech have met five times prior to this matchup with the Lady Vols undefeated in the series. The last time the two teams met, Tennessee took down the Lady Raiders 75-59 in the 2005 NCAA Sweet 16 on March 27 in Philadelphia.
The Lady Raiders also had a quick turnaround for the high-profile match up. After Saturday’s game, Tech left Monday for San Antonio.
Tech forward Ashlee Roberson, who is a San Antonio native, said the match up will be a great experience for her in front of her family and for the team to play against such a storied program.
“It’s just pretty exciting. My family is going to be there and this is going to be a once in a lifetime chance to actually go and play in front of your family in your hometown,” said Roberson, who recorded her fourth career double-double at Tech with 14 points and 11 rebounds against Sam Houston State. “I’m just looking forward to coming out, play hard and do what we need to do on the floor and get it done.”
Tech has some positives heading into the Tennessee game with five players scoring in double figures Saturday, including forward Jordan Barncastle tying her career-high for the third time with 14 points against the Lady Bearkats. Tech also was tough to stop from the field, as the Lady Raiders shot 53 percent from the field and created a lot of second chance and fast break points.
Tech players also hope they can keep up with the Lady Vols on the glass. Tennessee features a team with 10 of its 13 players six feet or taller.
The second game of the ESPNU Road to the Championship features another battle between ranked teams with No. 1 Connecticut and No. 12 Texas taking the floor after the Tech-Tennessee game.
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