2020–21 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

The 2020–21 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2020–21 college basketball season. Led by former Lady Vol Kellie Harper,^[1] entering her second year as head coach, the team played their games at Thompson–Boling Arena and are members of the Southeastern Conference.

2020–21 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
NCAA tournament, second round
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 21
AP	No. 13
Record	17–8 (9–4 SEC)
Head coach	Kellie Harper (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Lacey Goldwire Jon Harper Jennifer Sullivan
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 SEC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Texas A&M	13	–	1		.929			25	–	3		.893
No. 6 South Carolina †	14	–	2		.875			26	–	5		.839
No. 13 Tennessee	9	–	4		.692			17	–	8		.680
No. 10 Georgia	10	–	5		.667			20	–	6		.769
No. 15 Arkansas	9	–	6		.600			19	–	8		.704
No. 18 Kentucky	9	–	6		.600			18	–	8		.692
Alabama	8	–	8		.500			16	–	9		.640
LSU	6	–	8		.429			9	–	13		.409
Mississippi State	5	–	7		.417			10	–	9		.526
Missouri	5	–	9		.357			9	–	13		.409
Ole Miss	4	–	10		.286			15	–	12		.556
Florida	3	–	11		.214			12	–	14		.462
Auburn	0	–	15		.000			5	–	19		.208
Vanderbilt	0	–	3		.000			4	–	4		.500
Vanderbilt suspended their season on January 18, 2021
† 2021 SEC tournament winner As of March 21, 2021 Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The 2019–20 team finished the season 21–10, 10–6 for a third-place tie in SEC play. They lost in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament to Kentucky.^[2]

Preseason

SEC media poll

The SEC media poll was released on November 17, 2020 with the Lady Volunteers selected to finish in sixth place in the SEC.^[3]

Media poll
Predicted finish	Team
1	South Carolina
2	Kentucky
3	Texas A&M
4	Arkansas
5	Mississippi State
6	Tennessee
7	LSU
8	Alabama
9	Georgia
10	Missouri
11	Ole Miss
12	Florida
13	Vanderbilt
14	Auburn

Preseason All-SEC teams

Rennia Davis was selected to the preseason all-SEC team, her third-straight honor.

Roster

2020–21 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G/F 0 Rennia Davis 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Jean Ribault HS Jacksonville, FL G 2 Destiny Salary 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Jonesboro HS Jonesboro, AR G 4 Jordan Walker 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) RS Jr Western Michigan University Muskegon, MI G 10 Jessie Rennie 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) So Bendigo Senior Secondary College Bendigo, AUS C 11 Kasiyahna Kushkituah 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr St. Francis HS Atlanta, GA G/F 12 Rae Burrell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Liberty HS Henderson, NV F/C 13 Keyen Green   6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Liberty University Philadelphia, PA F 15 Jaiden McCoy   6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) RS Sr Northwest Florida State Knoxville, TN C 20 Tamari Key 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) So Cary HS Cary, NC G/F 21 Tess Darby 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Greenfield HS Greenfield, TN G 25 Jordan Horston 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Columbus Africentric Early College Columbus, OH C 31 Emily Saunders 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) So Wyoming East HS Mullens, WV G/F 33 Marta Suárez 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Fr Joaquim Blume Institute Oviedo, Spain	Head coach Kellie Harper (Tennessee) Assistant coach(es) Lacey Goldwire (East Central) Jon Harper (Auburn) Jennifer Sullivan (Memphis) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Rankings

Main article: 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
RV = Received votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV			RV	RV	RV	23	25	20	18	16	21	14	14
Coaches	RV	RV				RV	RV	24	RV	22	19	19	21	20

^Coaches' Poll did not release a second poll at the same time as the AP.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
11/27/2020* 1:00 pm, SECN+		Florida A&M						Thompson–Boling Arena  Knoxville, TN
11/28/2020* 2:00 pm, SECN+		Western Kentucky	W 87–47	1–0	18 – Burrell	11 – Davis	7 – Burrell	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,239) Knoxville, TN
12/1/2020* 7:00 pm, SECN+		ETSU	W 67–50	2–0	20 – Burrell	8 – Suarez	3 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,156) Knoxville, TN
12/6/2020* 2:00 pm, ESPN+		at West Virginia Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge	L 73–79 ^OT	2–1	18 – Burrell	9 – Green	6 – Davis	WVU Coliseum (142) Morgantown, WV
12/10/2020* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Furman	W 90–53	3–1	26 – Burrell	8 – Suarez	7 – Burrell	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,137) Knoxville, TN
12/13/2020* 5:00 pm, ESPN		at No. 23 Texas						Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
12/17/2020* 4:00 pm		at No. 15 Indiana	W 66–58	4–1	19 – Davis	15 – Davis	6 – Horston	Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall  Bloomington, IN
12/20/2020* Noon, SECN		UNC Greensboro	W 66–40	5–1	13 – Kushkituah	7 – Suarez	5 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,114) Knoxville, TN
12/28/2020* 7:00 pm, SECN+		Lipscomb	W 77–52	6–1	19 – Davis	11 – Davis	4 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,141) Knoxville, TN
1/7/2021 6:30 pm, SECN		No. 13 Arkansas	W 88–73	7–1 (1–0)	26 – Tied	11 – Davis	5 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,143) Knoxville, TN
1/10/2021 2:00 pm, SECN+		at LSU	W 64–63	8–1 (2–0)	18 – Burrell	9 – Davis	2 – Tied	Maravich Center (762) Baton Rouge, LA
1/14/2021 6:30 pm, SECN	No. 23	Georgia	L 66–67	8–2 (2–1)	15 – Davis	7 – Kushkituah	4 – Horston	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,167) Knoxville, TN
1/17/2021 3:00 pm, SECN+	No. 23	at Alabama	W 82–56	9–2 (3–1)	21 – Davis	10 – Davis	7 – Horston	Coleman Coliseum (914) Tuscaloosa, AL
1/21/2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 25	No. 3 UConn Rivalry	L 61–67	9–3	18 – Burrell	9 – Tied	5 – Walker	Thompson–Boling Arena (3,553) Knoxville, TN
1/24/2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 25	No. 12 Kentucky Rivalry	W 70–53	10–3 (4–1)	19 – Key	20 – Davis	7 – Horston	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,609) Knoxville, TN
1/28/2021 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 20	Ole Miss	W 68–67	11–3 (5–1)	21 – Davis	8 – Kushkituah	4 – Salary	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,167) Knoxville, TN
1/31/2021 2:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 20	Florida	W 79–65	12–3 (6–1)	23 – Key	12 – Kushkituah	4 – Tied	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,409) Knoxville, TN
2/11/2021 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 16	at No. 20 Kentucky Rivalry	L 56–71	12–4 (6–2)	22 – Burrell	9 – Walker	3 – Horston	Memorial Coliseum (1,683) Lexington, KY
2/14/2021 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 16	at No. 6 Texas A&M	L 70–80	12–5 (6–3)	25 – Davis	10 – Key	7 – Horston	Reed Arena (500) College Station, TX
2/16/2021 5:00 pm, ESPNU		at Mississippi State	Postponed due to weather concerns.					Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, MS
2/18/2021 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 21	No. 2 South Carolina	W 75–67	13–5 (7–3)	24 – Davis	12 – Davis	5 – Horston	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,512) Knoxville, TN
2/21/2021 Noon, SECN	No. 21	at No. 22 Georgia	L 55–57	13–6 (7–4)	22 – Davis	13 – Kushkituah	1 – Tied	Stegeman Coliseum  Athens, GA
2/25/2021 8:00 pm, SECN+	No. 20	at Missouri	W 78–73	14–6 (8–4)	26 – Davis	10 – Walker	6 – Horston	Mizzou Arena (1,828) Columbia, MO
2/28/2021 2:00 pm, SECN	No. 20	Auburn	W 88–54	15–6 (9–4)	23 – Davis	11 – Davis	9 – Horston	Thompson–Boling Arena  Knoxville, TN
SEC tournament
March 5, 2021 8:30 pm, SECN	(3) No. 14	vs. (11) Ole Miss Quarterfinals	W 77–72	16–6	33 – Davis	14 – Davis	5 – Horston	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
March 6, 2021 6:30 pm, ESPNU	(3) No. 14	vs. (2) No. 7 South Carolina Semifinals	L 52–67	16–7	11 – Tied	6 – Tied	3 – Burrell	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2021 2:00 pm, ABC	(3 RW) No. 13	vs. (14 RW) Middle Tennessee First Round	W 87–62	17–7	24 – Davis	14 – Tied	6 – Horston	Frank Erwin Center  Austin, TX
March 23, 2021  ABC	(3 RW) No. 13	vs. (6 RW) No. 16 Michigan Second Round	L 55–70	17–8	12 – Davis	9 – Key	2 – Walker	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. RW=River Walk regional. All times are in Eastern Time. 2020–21 Schedule

References

1. Voepel, Mechelle (April 8, 2019). "Sources: Lady Vols to hire Harper as coach". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
2. Too much Rhyne Howard dooms Tennessee Lady Vols vs. Kentucky in SEC Tournament
3. "Gamecocks tabbed as 2021 SEC Women's Basketball champs".