Time: 1 p.m.

TV: CSS

KNOXVILLE—The Lady Vols (14-3, 5-0 SEC) host Alabama (11-6, 1-3 SEC) in a “We Back Pat” game. Around the conference this week, teams have played “We Back Pat” games to raise funds and awareness for the Pat Summitt Foundation. To learn more about the foundation and its purpose, visit www.patsummitt.org. Fans are encouraged to wear their “We Back Pat” shirts and “Fierce Courage” bracelets and each will be sold at the game.

Tennessee is coming off a tough road win at Auburn, while Alabama picked up a victory at Ole Miss in their last outing.

Legendary head coach Pat Summitt.
Photo by Reed Carringer

Offense: The Lady Vols will look for Meighan Simmons to continue her brilliant play. Simmons has scored 56 points her last two games and is thriving this year in Holly Warlick’s uptempo offense. With Simmons playing at such a high level, the Lady Vols will be tough to beat. Tennessee’s dynamic duo in the paint, Isabelle Harrison and Bashaara Graves, scored just 11 combined points in the win at Auburn; expect each of them to have a better showing this afternoon.

Defense: If there’s one glaring area where the Lady Vols need improvement, it’s on the defensive side. In a win at Auburn, several repeated defensive lapses allowed the Tigers to build a 12 point lead in the second half. Tennessee used several minutes of strong defensive play to pick up the road win, but Warlick is looking for a more consistent defensive effort throughout the game. The Lady Vols will look to slow a balanced Alabama attack led by Daisha Simmons (12.1 points per game), Shafontaye Myers (11.6 points per game), and Jasmine Robinson (10.9 points per game).

Prediction: Tennessee will play tenacious defense for much of the game and pick up a comfortable home win.