The No. 22-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers reached their breaking point last week. In their latest game against the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks, what was supposed to be a highly contested matchup ended up as their third loss in the last four games they have played. However, it wasn’t the loss that caught everyone’s attention, but what head coach Kim Caldwell said afterward. Now, three days later, Caldwell has addressed it again, but this time with a wider lens.
After the Lady Vols were handed a 93-50 defeat by the Gamecocks, Caldwell didn’t shy away from putting much of the loss on the players. “We just had a lot of quit in us tonight, and that’s been something that’s been consistent with our team is when we’re not comfortable and things don’t go our way and I have a team that’ll just quit on you,” she said.
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While her comments quickly caught the national attention, Caldwell recently revealed that inside the locker room, her players took the historic defeat personally, and she hopes that it will benefit them in the long run. When asked about the mood in the locker room following her comments, Caldwell acknowledged the players’ disappointment and explained her hope that it would serve as a turning point.
“The hope is that we can come back, and we can point to this moment right now that it’s not a flattering moment,” Kim Caldwell said. “It’s not a flattering moment for our program, it’s not a flattering moment for me. It’s not a comfortable situation for me to be here in this seat and have drawn attention to a failure and made it more public by my comments. But I hope that it’s a turning point, and we can go, ‘Well, that worked.’ That’s my hope.”
In the game, the Lady Vols were within striking distance after the first quarter, trailing just 25-18. But South Carolina steadily tightened its grip, outscoring them 24-9 in the third quarter to stretch the lead to 30 as they entered the final 10 minutes of the game, which ultimately ended with a 43-point margin loss. That defeat surpassed Tennessee’s previous program record loss of 31 points, set against Texas on Dec. 11, 1984.
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Moreover, this loss came just one week after the Lady Vols lost to the UConn Huskies with a 30-point gap, which now stands as the second-largest margin of defeat in program history.
But as the season continues to move forward, the question now is how the Lady Vols will come back from this.
What’s next for Kim Caldwell and the Volunteers?
With that loss under their belt, the Lady Vols are now 15-6 overall and 7-2 in the Southeastern Conference. While it’s common for every team to win some and lose some in a competitive tournament like this, Tennessee’s concern lies in a troubling pattern. Out of the six losses they have been a victim of so far, five of those came against high-ranked teams.
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But with 7 matchups remaining in the regular season, the Lady Vols still have every chance they need to improve their standings. And coach Kim Caldwell knows exactly how to do that.
Tennessee’s Mia Pauldo (13) talks to teammates on the court during a game between the Lady Vols and Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center in Knoxville, Tenn., Jan. 22, 2026. Tennessee defeated Kentucky.
“Win your next game. Win your next game. It’s embarrassing. We’re embarrassed. Win your next game… They have to fix it. They have to decide they want to fix it,” she said.
For their next game, the Lady Vols will lock horns with the Missouri Tigers on February 12th. A game predicted to be in their favor with 94.9%. Following that, they will play against:
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The No. 4 Texas Longhorns on February 15th.
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The No. 14 Ole Miss Rebels on February 17th.
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The Texas A&M Aggies on February 19th.
Whether that South Carolina loss becomes a scar or a spark now depends on how Tennessee reacts. The schedule won’t ease up, and neither will the scrutiny. But if Kim Caldwell’s public callout truly struck a chord inside the locker room, the Lady Vols will have to prove that what happened in Columbia is not the beginning of a slide.
