No. 21 Lady Vols Basketball Falls to No. 11 Oklahoma

Tennessee's three-game losing streak continues with a road loss to the Sooners.

Feb. 22, 2026 at 1:51pm

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

The No. 21 Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team traveled to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners, but came up short, falling 78-64. The Lady Vols were without star forward Janiah Barker, who missed the game due to injury. Tennessee struggled to contain Oklahoma's fast-paced offense and sharp 3-point shooting, as the Sooners built a comfortable lead that the Lady Vols couldn't overcome.

Why it matters

This loss extends Tennessee's losing streak to four games, dropping their record to 16-10 overall and 8-6 in SEC play. The Lady Vols are in danger of falling out of the Top 25 rankings and will need to right the ship quickly with the postseason approaching. Oklahoma, meanwhile, solidifies its position as one of the top teams in the country with the home victory.

The details

Tennessee's defense had trouble slowing down Oklahoma's high-powered offense, led by guard Aaliyah Chavez's 18.4 points per game. The Sooners shot 47% from the field and 40% from 3-point range, while the Lady Vols struggled to find their rhythm offensively without Barker in the lineup. Tennessee's press defense, which has been a weakness this season, also failed to create the turnovers needed to get back in the game.

  • The game tipped off at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
  • This was the 26th game of the regular season for both teams.

The players

Talaysia Cooper

The Lady Vols' leading scorer, averaging 15.8 points per game.

Janiah Barker

Tennessee's star forward, who missed the game due to injury.

Aaliyah Chavez

Oklahoma's leading scorer, averaging 18.4 points per game.

Raegan Beers

Oklahoma's leading rebounder, averaging 10.2 boards per game.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“We have limited practice time left. We have to have a day off. We'll have another one-day prep going into Oklahoma. We'll do a lot of it with film, we'll do a lot of it with breakdown. I think there was a point in time in the year where we were pretty solid defensively, and that was kind of what we hung our hat on, and we just need to find a way to get back to that.”

— Kim Caldwell, Tennessee Head Coach

“They play incredibly fast. They share the ball. We're going to have to guard the 3-point line, and we're going to have to guard the post. We haven't been good at doing either lately. We've got to guard in transition, and it's really going to come down to can we guard them, and we'll have, again, one day prep, so we'll have to watch film, get practice here, and then it's an early game, too, so we won't even have shootaround time, unless it's at 6 AM.”

— Kim Caldwell, Tennessee Head Coach

What’s next

The Lady Vols will look to bounce back in their next game, a home matchup against the Missouri Tigers on February 26th.

The takeaway

Tennessee's recent struggles have put their NCAA Tournament hopes in jeopardy, and they will need to find a way to regain their defensive intensity and get key players like Janiah Barker healthy if they want to make a deep postseason run.