Lady Vols Coach Kim Caldwell Excited to Face Texas After Missing Previous Matchup

Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell was happy that she’ll be on the sidelines for the Lady Vols’ rematch with Texas in the NCAA Tournament. She missed the regular season game that Tennessee lost by four points while she was recovering from giving birth to her son.

“I was not very involved in the prep on that one. A little bit busy. But, you know, it was interesting to sit at home and watch it and to yell at your team through the TV like a fan as opposed to a coach. We did go back and watch the film and just treated it like a normal game prep since.”

Caldwell was also happy to be back in Birmingham because she’s had a lot of success in the city. She coached Glenville State to a national championships in 2022. That game wasn’t played at the same venue as Saturday’s contest, though.

Familiar foe

Vic Schaefer thought he was done with the SEC for at least a while after finishing tied with South Carolina for the regular-season title. But sure enough, it only took a trip to the Sweet 16 for a conference opponent to pop up again.

“I do think when you get in the NCAA Tournament, you think, OK, thank goodness you get out of the SEC and you don’t have to go against those people because you have so much respect and admiration for everybody in our league,” he said. “Then these things happen. I mean, they go into Ohio State, and they thumped them. They played really good. Those kids play so hard.”

At least playing in the regular season gave Schaefer and his team a bit of familiarity with the Lady Vols’ fast-paced pressing style that sees subs constantly coming in and out of the game.

Texas and the Lady Vols battle in the Sweet 16 from Birmingham with a 3:30pm tipoff.