GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Lady Vols basketball team successfully advanced through the first round of the SEC Tournament, prompting Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell to join the “SEC Now” panel on Wednesday.
Caldwell, who was hired in April to replace former Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper, found herself seated next to Harper during the show. Harper, now an analyst for the SEC Network, posed one question to Caldwell during the postgame interview. Former Lady Vol Nikki Fargas, also on the panel, directed most of the questions to Caldwell.
The No. 9 seed Tennessee team dominated No. 16 seed Texas A&M with a decisive 77-37 victory to kick off the SEC Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
Reflecting on her first SEC Tournament game, Caldwell said, “It was great. It’s a little nerve-wracking when your players know more about a situation than you do, so it was really good for us to come in and get one under our belt.”
Tennessee (22-8) is set to face Vanderbilt (21-9) in a rematch on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET, broadcast on the SEC Network. The Lady Vols previously lost to the Commodores 71-70 in a close game on the road in January.
When Harper asked how Tennessee plans to turn the tables in the rematch, Caldwell smiled as she listened. “It’s a big game for us,” Caldwell said. “They had our number the last game, so it’s going to be really important for us to get a quick reset. That’s a really hard team to play with no prep. They run a lot of sets, they run a lot of actions, so we’ve got to rest, watch our film, and hopefully get that one back.”
Harper has been a regular on “SEC Now” this season and will continue to contribute to the SEC Network’s tournament coverage throughout the week.
Harper’s final SEC Tournament as the Lady Vols’ coach ended in the semifinals against South Carolina. Tennessee came close to upsetting the Gamecocks during their undefeated championship season, but a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by 6-foot-7 center Kamilla Cardoso sealed the win for South Carolina.
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