OUR PRESEASON MATCHUPS WITH SOUTH CAROLINA AND TENNESSEE IN MAPLES COULD BE A PREVIEW OF OUR FINAL FOUR OPPONENTS!!

Charlie Creme has put out a revised bracket for the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament. You may have seen it. The four Number One seeds in his projection are South Carolina, Stanford, Texas, and Tennessee. And as you know, we play South Carolina on November 20 and Tennessee on December 18 - both in Maples. I've previewed our game with the Gamecocks, so now I'll give you the lowdown on the Lady Volunteers. 

But first, since my preview of the Gamecocks, Dawn Staley went to the Transfer Portal shopping for a veteran replacement for Destanni Henderson and signed Kierra Fletcher, a 5'-9"point guard grad student transfer from Georgia Tech. 

It's taken Kellie Harper a few years to get the team from Rocky Top back into national contention, but believe you me - they're back. She went shopping in the Transfer Portal and has basically, rebuilt her team. 

1. Rickea Jackson is a 6'-2" senior forward transfer from Mississippi State. Is she good? She's better than good. She's All American good. Last season she averaged 20 points and 7 rebounds per game. She's quick and explodes off the floor. 

2. Jillian Hollingshead is a 6'-5" sophomore forward transfer from Georgia. As a freshman she played behind their All SEC post player Jenna Staiti. Averaged 12 minutes, 5 points and 4 rebounds. She's mega-talented and athletic. 

3. Jasmine Franklin is a 6'-1" grad student forward transfer from Missouri Valley. She was obviously their best player in the two tournament games we played them in recent years.

4. Jasmine Powell is a 5'-6" senior point guard transfer from Minnesota. Last season she averaged 6 assists and 5 points per game. She's the veteran point guard Kellie needed to pull all this talent together.

Among her starters from last year

1. Jordon Horston a 6'-2" senior guard is back from injury which caused her to miss most of last season.  She was the team's leading scorer before getting injured. Kellie Harper says this season she's better than ever.

2. Tamari Key, their 6'-6" post player decided to return for her fifth season because she knew she needed more seasoning before entering the WNBA draft. She's been an up and down player during her career, but this could be her big year. She's long both in physique and experience. 

The Vols will be a great challenge for the Cardinal. If the tournament goes as Charlie Creme predicts - we're playing both our semi-final and our championship game opponents in the pre-season. Let's beat'em both!     

LET'S GO STANFORD!!