No. 11 Kentucky women’s basketball (17-3, 4-2 SEC) will stay on the road to take on No. 17 Tennessee (13-3, 5-0 SEC).
This game will be the 79th all-time meeting between the two teams, where Kentucky trails 61-17.
Although the Vols have historically succeeded against the Wildcats, Kentucky boasts the most recent victory against Tennessee, where No. 15 Kentucky defeated No. 11 Tennessee 82-58 last season.
Kentucky and Tennessee are known distinctly for its strong rivalry across all sports and this specific rivalry dates back all the way to 1976.
Although the numbers don’t sway strongly in the Wildcats’ favor, Kentucky only trails by two in the last 10 matchups, with the Vols leading 6-4.
Who to watch-
Kentucky – Clara Strack
Strack is no stranger to doing numbers against the Vols, and is one of Kentucky’s most consistent top players.
In the last faceoff against Tennessee, Strack had 23 points and a school-record 11-11 from the field. She also tied her then-career high of 15 rebounds.
The center is currently the only player in the nation averaging at least 16.0 PPG, 10.0 RPG and 3.0 BPG.
Strack also is already a Wooden Award Top 25 Watch List selection and Naismith Trophy Player of the Year Watch List candidate – alongside many other accolades for the season.
As one of the best passing centers in the nation, Strack will be huge for Kentucky to create opportunities against a fast defensive Tennessee, as well as help control the paint.
Tennessee – Talaysia Cooper
The redshirt junior, like Strack, comes into this season with similar accolades to Strack. Cooper is on the Wooden Award Preseason Watch Lists, Naismith Trophy Preseason Watch List and Nancy Lieberman Award Preseason Watch List.
The guard has also topped many career highs this season, including rebounds (14), assists (9), steals (10) and minutes (33).
In the Vols’ most recent showing, Cooper led the team in scoring with 16 points and two steals to help take down No. 21 Alabama.
Cooper not only does well to score, but she also contributes largely to UT’s impressive ability to steal the ball. Tennessee sits at No. 24 in the nation for steals and is averaging 11.9 steals per game.
Cooper’s career-best steals are tied for No. 2 in school history and No. 8 in SEC history.
Kentucky’s road stint-
So far during the 2025-26 season, the Wildcats have been 1-2 during conference road games.
Oddly enough, Kentucky’s only road win so far comes from an upset over then No. 5 LSU. Kentucky’s two losses come from unranked opponents.
The trend that is starting form for the Wildcats where they lose on the road to lower-ranked opponents is an interesting one, seeing as Kentucky easily goes toe-to-toe with the country’s best teams.
These losses were additionally some of Kentucky’s worst performances this season.
On the road against Alabama, the Wildcats only held the lead for 10:48 compared to the Tide’s 27:46.
Kentucky allowed the Tide to capitalize on 21 points from its 20 turnovers in the game, and only had 12 points in the paint compared to Alabama’s 26.
In the third quarter of that game, the Cats were shooting 18.8% from the field, going 3-16.
Three games later, Kentucky hit the road again following huge home wins against then No. 5 Oklahoma and Florida.
The trip down to Starkville for a clash with Mississippi State played out similarly to the Alabama game. The Cats, the favorite between the two, fell to the Bulldogs 71-59.
Mississippi State held the lead for the majority of the game at 29:06.
Maybe this trend is just a fluke on the season, as it’s still early in conference play and Kentucky is still figuring out its depth amidst Teonnie Key’s absence. However, if Kentucky falls to the Vols in this matchup, it will be a trend to keep in mind moving forward in the season.
Knoxville’s atmosphere-
Going into Thursday’s game, it will be interesting to see how the atmosphere plays a role in Kentucky’s performance.
Tennessee ranks at No. 3 in the SEC for game attendance, welcoming an average of 10,308.57 fans into Thompson-Boling Arena.
For comparison, Kentucky sits at the No. 6 spot with an average of 4,350.80 fans.
This will be the second time this season that Kentucky will be playing in a more fan-filled arena than its own, with the only other time being the conference-opening upset against LSU.
LSU tops the Vols by one spot with an average of 10,406.11 people in attendance per game.
With the victory over the Tigers being the only other time Kentucky’s been faced with a large opposing atmosphere, it’s hard to tell if the Cats might falter in the pressure of the sea of orange.
Moreover, it’s sure to be a large game – it’s one of the biggest rivalries in college sports.
Kentucky will face off against Tennessee on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m. EST in Knoxville. The game will air live on the SEC Network.
