NCAAW: No. 2 South Carolina can add to impressive resume against No. 17 Tennessee

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For about three decades, Tennessee was the standard for SEC women’s basketball. For the past decade, it’s been South Carolina that has clutched the conference’s crown.

On Monday night in Knoxville (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2), the two programs meet, with the No. 17 Lady Vols looking to re-establish the program among the SEC’s elite, as the No. 2 Gamecocks aim to approach another, unchartered level of greatness.

Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell, charged with returning the Lady Vols to the top of the sport with her hyper-modern fast-paced, shoot-first system, will be back on the sidelines, missing just one game after giving birth to her son last Thursday. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Caldwell described the “helpless feeling” of watching her team lose yet another close game as they came up short against Texas in Austin on Thursday, 80-76. Tennessee has suffered four losses by a combined eight points.

Coach Kim Caldwell announces that she will be back coaching the Lady Vols tomorrow against South Carolina.

This is just 7 days after giving birth to her son Conor. pic.twitter.com/lJ4WXvdlKc

— Tri-Star Network (@TennesseeNet) January 26, 2025

On the other side, of course, will be Dawn Staley, whose Gamecocks’ are fresh off a 69th-straight home win. South Carolina’s Friday victory over previously undefeated LSU matched the 69-consecutive home victories earned by Summitt and the Lady Vols from 1991 to 1996. After her team’s win over LSU, Staley said, “It was necessary for us to win this game.” Expect a similar, no-nonsense approach on Monday night in Knoxville as the Gamecocks go for their 55th-straight SEC regular-season win.

Tennessee, however, might cause some difficulties for Staley’s team, not only through their aggressive, uptempo style but also with frequent substitutions that could somewhat nullify South Carolina’s depth advantage. Although not a great overall defense, the Lady Vols can tie teams in knots when they ramp up the pressure, and the Gamecocks can be prone to trying overly-ambitious passes. Yet, South Carolina often has multiple, competent ball handlers on the court at a time, equipping them to effectively navigate Tennessee’s efforts to induce turnovers.

If the Lady Vols themselves turn the ball over, they’ll be doomed, as the Gamecocks are highly proficient when it comes to turning defense into offense; it often is what allows them to turn a close game into another blowout. Because Tennessee usually shoots early in the shot clock, turnovers tend not to be a big problem. However, the Lady Vols have to hope that the gods of shooting variance favor them; if the more than 30 3-pointers they’re likely fire off fall at around a 40 percent rate, things could get interesting on Rocky Top, especially since South Carolina is not a high-volume 3-point shooting team.

Alternatively, a cold night from deep could result in an uglier outcome for the home team. While Tennessee can try to salvage missed shots by grabbing offensive rebounds, they’ll have to contend with South Carolina on the glass, and after the Gamecocks were outrebounded by LSU, it’s safe to assume Staley will be emphasizing the importance of the boards.

In sum, Tennessee will have to win on every margin to put themselves in position for the upset, and even then it might not be enough. Although they’ll be facing their fifth-straight ranked SEC opponent, it will not be surprising when the South Carolina “chameleons” meet the challenge by doing whatever needs to be done and, in turn, earning another dominant win.