GREENVILLE, SC – Lady Vols basketball had an underwhelming showing against Alabama, and it led to a winless trip to the SEC Tournament.
No. 6 seed Tennessee (16-13) never led in the second-round matchup with No. 11 Alabama (23-9) at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 5, and extended its losing streak to seven games with the 76-64 loss.
Janiah Barker led the Lady Vols with 20 points on 6-for-14 shooting, five rebounds and a steal, but also had seven turnovers. Zee Spearman added 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting with six rebounds, an assist and two blocks.
Talaysia Cooper, the team’s leading scorer, did not play in the game after 6:27 left in the third quarter. She had four points on 1-for-4 shooting with two assists, two steals and a rebound in 12 minutes.
The Lady Vols tied the game 12-12 in the first quarter, and by halftime they trailed by double digits – they never came back within single digits after halftime. Their defense didn’t show any improvement as they allowed Alabama to shoot 50% from the field and gave up 19 points off their 18 turnovers. Tennessee only scored 11 points off 13 forced turnovers.
The Lady Vols fell behind early when Alabama destroyed their press, passing through it for easy buckets to build a lead. When Tennessee stopped pressing, it still couldn’t get enough stops in the halfcourt. Alabama outscored UT 36-24 in the paint.
Freshman guard Deniya Prawl, who was listed as out on the SEC availability report, was not on the bench with the team.
Watch Lady Vols basketball vs. Alabama
Lady Vols basketball vs. Alabama: Live score updates
Tennessee got outscored 22-17 in the third and Alabama took a 61-46 lead into the fourth quarter. The Tide shot 55% from the field in the third.
Tennessee’s defense couldn’t get a stop on defense, and it wasn’t even pressing much anymore. Alabama went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-point lead before Zee Spearman hit a layup to cut it to 15, and Tennessee trailed 53-38 at the media timeout with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
Alabama outscored Tennessee 8-3 to open the third quarter, and after five straight points for the Tide that included a late closeout by Talaysia Cooper and a turnover on the inbound by Janiah Barker, Kim Caldwell called timeout with 8:47 left in the quarter.
Caldwell was not happy and yelled, “wake up!” as she walked onto the court to meet her team. Alabama led 47-32.
Tennessee’s defense got better in the second quarter, and it held Alabama to 14 points. However, its shotmaking did not improve and it committed eight turnovers. The Tide scored 12 points off Tennessee’s 12 turnovers.
The Lady Vols only scored 11 points in the second. Janiah Barker led the team with nine points on 3-for-6 shooting with two rebounds in the first half. Zee Spearman added seven points on 3-for-4 shooting with four rebounds, an assist and a block.
The Lady Vols regrouped between quarters and outscored Alabama 5-2 in the first three minutes of the second. Nya Robertson hit a 3-pointer and Zee Spearman scored off an offensive rebound to cut Alabama’s lead to 27-23 with 6:47 left in the quarter.
Alabama passed through Tennessee’s press with ease and immediately retook the lead. The Lady Vols weren’t hitting shots and couldn’t get a stop defensively, either. The Tide shot 55% from the field and scored 18 points in the paint.
Alabama also scored seven points off of Tennessee’s four turnovers and outrebounded UT 11-8.
Alabama jumped out to a 12-7 lead, but then Zee Spearman scored five straight points to tie the game 12-12. Then Tennessee was two seconds away from trapping the Tide in the backcourt before Kristy Curry had to call timeout with 3:44 left in the first quarter.
Janiah Barker also had five early points for the Lady Vols.
Deniya Prawl out on SEC injury report
Freshman Deniya Prawl was listed as out on the SEC student-athlete availability report on March 4.
The 6-foot-2 guard has been a solid piece of the rotation for Tennessee this season. Prawl has averaged 3.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and a steal in 15.4 minutes per game while shooting 40.4% from the field.
When does Lady Vols basketball vs. Alabama start?
- Date: Thursday, March 5
- Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
- Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina
What TV channel is Lady Vols vs. Alabama on today?
Lady Vols basketball 2025-26 schedule, TV times
- Nov. 4: NC State 80, Tennessee 77
- Nov. 7: Tennessee 97, ETSU 47
- Nov. 9: Tennessee 72, UT Martin 61
- Nov. 13: Tennessee 68, Belmont 58
- Nov. 20: Tennessee 85, MTSU 41
- Nov. 23: Tennessee 88, Coppin State 35
- Nov. 30: UCLA 99, Tennessee 77
- Dec. 3: Tennessee 65, Stanford 62
- Dec. 14: Tennessee 112, Winthrop 40
- Dec. 20: Louisville 89, Tennessee 65
- Dec. 22: Tennessee 89, Southern Indiana 44
- Jan. 1: Tennessee 76, Florida 65
- Jan. 4: Tennessee 73, Auburn 56
- Jan. 8: Tennessee 90, Mississippi State 80
- Jan. 11: Tennessee 85, Arkansas 50
- Jan. 18: Tennessee 70, Alabama 59
- Jan. 22: Tennessee 60, Kentucky 58
- Jan. 29: Mississippi State 77, Tennessee 62
- Feb. 1: UConn 96, Tennessee 66
- Feb. 5: Tennessee 82, Georgia 77
- Feb. 8: South Carolina 93, Tennessee 50
- Feb. 12: Tennessee 98, Missouri 53
- Feb. 15: Texas 65, Tennessee 63
- Feb. 17: Ole Miss 94, Tennessee 81
- Feb. 19: Texas A&M 82, Tennessee 74
- Feb. 22: Oklahoma 100, Tennessee 93
- Feb. 26: LSU 89, Tennessee 73
- March 1: Vanderbilt 87, Tennessee 77
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: cora.hall@knoxnews.com; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks: subscribe.knoxnews.com/offers
