Lady Vols meet defending champs

December 18, 2012 |

Baylor ended Tennessee’s 2011-12 season in Iowa at the Des Moines Regional, toppling the Lady Vols in the region final, 77-58.

The Lady Bears went on to win their second NCAA National Championship and fashioned a perfect, 40-0 record.

While Baylor has all five starters back from that squad, UT lost its entire starting five.

ESPN will televise the contest live to a national audience.

#10/12 TENNESSEE (7-1) vs. #3/3 BAYLOR (8-1)

Dec. 18, 2012 | 7 p.m. CT (8 p.m. ET) | Ferrell Center | Waco, Texas

TV: ESPN (Pam Ward, play-by-play; Kara Lawson, color analyst)

RADIO: Lady Vol Network (Mickey Dearstone, play-by-play)

LISTEN LIVE: http://bit.ly/UFiL6z

LIVE ON WATCHESPN: http://es.pn/UFij8s

TWITTER: @LadyVol_Hoops

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/BallwiththeLadyVols

¢ Tennessee enters the contest on a seven-game winning streak after dropping the opener to Chattanooga, 80-71, on Nov. 9.

¢ Holly Warlick faces off vs. a top-five-ranked squad for the first time as head coach.

¢ Baylor has strung together six straight victories since falling to Stanford, 71-69, at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu on Nov. 16.

¢ The Lady Vols have defeated four ranked foes this season, including No. 22/20 Georgia Tech (71-54), No. 23/23 Miami (79-67), No. 22/RV North Carolina (102-57) and No. 18/20 Texas (94-75). The UNC game was at home, while the other three were road contests.

¢ Baylor is 2-1 this season vs. ranked foes, defeating No. 6/7 Kentucky (85-51) at home, falling to No. 4/4 Stanford (71-69) in Honolulu at the Rainbow Wahine Classic and beating No. 5/5 Notre Dame on the road (73-61).

¢ This marks only the seventh meeting between Tennessee and Baylor and the fourth regular-season game between the programs.

¢ The series began on March 28, 2004, when the teams met in the Midwest Regional semifinal in Norman, Okla., and UT escaped with a 71-69 victory.

¢ Tennessee enters the contest with a 2-4 all-time record vs. Baylor.

¢ Baylor has claimed the last four meetings in the series, taking two from Tennessee in 2011-12.

¢ Last year’s BU wins over UT included a 76-67 regular-season triumph in Knoxville on Nov. 27, 2011, and a 77-58 NCAA Elite Eight game victory in Des Moines, Iowa, on March 26, 2012.

¢ Baylor was ranked No. 1/1 in both of the games vs. Tennessee last season, while the Big Orange women were ranked #6/7 for the first meeting and 9/7 for the latter.

¢ BU defended its home court the only other time UT has been to Waco, taking a 65-54 decision on Dec. 14, 2010.

¢ The Lady Vols are 52-17 all-time vs. schools from the Big 12 after defeating Texas on Sunday.

Tennessee vs. Baylor Gameday Central: http://bit.ly/UFhAnF

Lady Vol basketball game notes (.PDF) for Tuesday’s contest can be viewed and downloaded at http://bit.ly/UFhNr4

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