The No. 15 Lady Vols lost another heartbreaker, falling 71-70 to Vanderbilt. It was an uphill battle to erase the 11-point lead at halftime that Vanderbilt (15-4, 2-3 SEC) had built. Tennessee had one of its worst shooting games of the season, going 6-for-26 from 3-point range, and the way the game was called was not in its favor.

Vanderbilt Commodores women's basketball vs Tennessee Lady Vols on Jan. 19, 2025, at Memorial Gym in Nashville, Tennessee

The mistakes that Lady Vols basketball works to correct in practice came out in the game against Vanderbilt, especially in the second quarter.

The Lady Vols dropped in the AP poll after losing their third game of the season. Tennessee lost by one point at Vanderbilt on Sunday.

A day after a late rally by the UT men wasn't quite enough — the sixth-ranked Volunteers missed a chance to force overtime while falling 76-75 on Saturday — the No. 15 Lady Vols suffered a similar finish as Vanderbilt freshman guard Mikayla Blakes capped her game-high 23 points by tipping in a missed shot at the buzzer,

The Lady Vols came back from an 11-point deficit at halftime, but lost another heartbreaker in conference play and fell 71-70 at Vanderbilt on Sunday.

Zee Spearman is available for Lady Vols basketball at Vanderbilt. She was upgraded from questionable on the SEC injury report.