2025–26 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

2025–26 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
2025–26 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 SEC)
Head coach	Kim Caldwell (2nd season);
Assistant coaches	Roman Tubner; Gabe Lazo; Jenna Burdette;
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena

2025–26 SEC women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Alabama	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Arkansas	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Auburn	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Florida	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Georgia	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Kentucky	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
LSU	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Mississippi State	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Missouri	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Oklahoma	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Ole Miss	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
South Carolina	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Texas	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Texas A&M	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–
Vanderbilt	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–

† 2026 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team will represent the University of Tennessee in the 2025–26 college basketball season. Led by head coach Kim Caldwell in her second year, the team will play their games at Thompson–Boling Arena and are members of the Southeastern Conference.

Previous season

Following Caldwell's hiring in April 2024, the 2024–25 team went undefeated in non-conference play, achieving a Top 15 national ranking. However, other SEC teams ranked well, and the team finished the season with a 24–10 overall record, 8–8 in the conference. In the postseason, they lost in the second round of the SEC tournament to in-state rival Vanderbilt.^[1] They earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen before losing to SEC foe Texas.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Jewel Spear	0	G	5'10"	Graduate Student	The Colony, TX	Graduated
Sara Puckett	1	G/F	6'2"	Senior	Muscle Shoals, AL	Graduated
Samara Spencer	7	G	5'7"	Senior	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Graduated
Destinee Wells	10	G	5'6"	Senior	Lakeland, TN	Transferred to UT Martin
Edie Darby	12	G	5'7"	Junior	Greenfield, TN	Walk-on; retired from basketball due to a foot injury^[3]
Avery Strickland	13	G/F	5'10"	Junior	Knoxville, TN	Transferred to Belmont
Fayor Ayodele	15	F	6'1"	Graduate Student	Móstoles, Spain	Graduated
Tess Darby	21	G/F	6'1"	Graduate Student	Greenfield, TN	Graduated
Jillian Hollingshead	53	F	6'5"	Senior	Gainesville, GA	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Janiah Barker	0	F	6'4"	Senior	Marietta, GA	UCLA
Nya Robertson	1	G	5'7"	Senior	Fort Worth, TX	SMU
Jersey Wolfenbarger	8	G/F	6'5"	Senior	Fort Smith, AR	LSU

Recruiting classes

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Mia Pauldo PG	Denville, NJ	Morris Catholic High School	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	N/A
Mia Pauldo PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (97)
Deniya Prawl W	Toronto, ON	IMG Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Deniya Prawl W	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (97)
Jaida Civil G	Vero Beach, FL	Palm Bay Magnet High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
Jaida Civil G	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (95)
Lauren Hurst W	Cleveland, TN	Cleveland High School	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Lauren Hurst W	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (94)
Mya Pauldo PG	Denville, NJ	Morris Catholic High School	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)	N/A
Mya Pauldo PG	Recruit ratings: 247Sports: ESPN: (94)
Overall recruit ranking:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 27, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	0	Janiah Barker	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Sr	UCLA	Marietta, GA
G	1	Nya Robertson	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr	SMU	Fort Worth, TX
G	2	Ruby Whitehorn	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	Sr	Clemson University	Detroit, MI
G	4	Kaniya Boyd	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS So	Centennial HS	Las Vegas, NV
G	5	Kaiya Wynn	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Sr	Foster HS	Richmond, TX
G	7	Lauren Hurst	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Cleveland HS	Cleveland, TN
F	8	Jersey Wolfenbarger	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	Sr	LSU	Fort Smith, AR
F	11	Zee Spearman	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Sr	University of Miami	Dacula, GA
G	12	Mya Pauldo	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Fr	Morris Catholic HS	Paterson, NJ
G	13	Mia Pauldo	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Fr	Morris Catholic HS	Paterson, NJ
G	15	Jaida Civil	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	Palm Bay Magnet HS	Vero Beach, FL
G	25	Deniya Prawl	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	IMG Academy	Toronto, ON
F	33	Alyssa Latham	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr	Syracuse University	Glenwood, IL
G	55	Talaysia Cooper	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Jr	University of South Carolina	Turbeville, SC

Head coach

Kim Caldwell (Glenville State)

Assistant coach(es)

Roman Tubner (Centenary)
Gabe Lazo (Barry)
Jenna Burdette (Dayton)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 29, 2025*	Columbus State	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Regular season
November 4, 2025* 4:00 p.m., ESPN2	vs. NC State Battle in the 'Boro	First Horizon Coliseum Greensboro, NC
November 7, 2025*	East Tennessee State	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
November 9, 2025* 3:00 p.m.	at UT Martin	Skyhawk Arena Martin, TN
November 13, 2025*	Belmont	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
November 20, 2025*	at Middle Tennessee	Murphy Center Murfreesboro, TN
November 23, 2025*	Coppin State	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
November 30, 2025*	at UCLA	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, CA
December 3, 2025*	at Stanford ACC–SEC Challenge/Rivalry	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA
December 14, 2025*	Winthrop	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
December 20, 2025*	vs. Louisville Shark Beauty Women's Champions Classic	Barclays Center Brooklyn, NY
December 22, 2025*	Southern	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
January 1, 2026	Florida	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
January 4, 2026	at Auburn	Neville Arena Auburn, AL
January 8, 2026	at Mississippi State	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, MS
January 11, 2026	Arkansas	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
January 18, 2026	at Alabama	Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, AL
January 22, 2026	Kentucky Rivalry	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
January 26, 2026	at Ole Miss	SJB Pavilion Oxford, MS
January 29, 2026	Mississippi State	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 1, 2026*	at UConn Rivalry	PeoplesBank Arena Hartford, CT
February 5, 2026	at Georgia	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA
February 8, 2026	at South Carolina	Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
February 12, 2026	Missouri	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 15, 2026	Texas	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 19, 2026	Texas A&M	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
February 22, 2026	at Oklahoma	Lloyd Noble Center Norman, OK
February 26, 2026	at LSU	Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, LA
March 1, 2026	Vanderbilt Rivalry	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
SEC tournament
March 4–8, 2026	vs. SEC Tournament	Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, South Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. 2025–26 Schedule

References

^ "Iyana Moore, Mikayla Blakes combine for 47 points as Vanderbilt beats No. 18 Tennessee women in SEC". ESPN. March 6, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.
^ Texas trots past Tennessee, punches ticket to Elite Eight
^ "Edie Darby to medically retire from basketball". 247. Retrieved April 21, 2025.

[1] "Iyana Moore, Mikayla Blakes combine for 47 points as Vanderbilt beats No. 18 Tennessee women in SEC". ESPN. March 6, 2025. Retrieved August 6, 2025.

[2] Texas trots past Tennessee, punches ticket to Elite Eight

[3] "Edie Darby to medically retire from basketball". 247. Retrieved April 21, 2025.

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[2]

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Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
Venues	Stokely Athletic Center (1974–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Stanford UConn Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	History Smokey "Rocky Top"
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics