COLUMBUS, Ohio — Lady Vols basketball is dancing back into the Round of 32 in Kim Caldwell's first season as head coach.

5-seed Tennessee fended off 12-seed South Florida 101-66 in Columbus to stay alive in the 2025 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

This places the Lady Vols (23-9) in a matchup with 4-seed Ohio State on the Buckeyes' home floor on Sunday for a trip to the Sweet 16 in Birmingham, Alabama. The last time Tennessee did not make the Round of 32 was during the 2019 tournament.

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Helping the Lady Vols blow past USF (23-11) was a barrage of 3-pointers. Tennessee's 16 made deep balls in the game set the program record for most makes from range in an NCAA Tournament game.

The previous mark was 12 makes in a 94-55 win over Oral Roberts in the opening round of the 2008 tournament.

Pacing the team in threes were Talaysia Cooper, Zee Spearman and Samara Spencer with three a piece.

Cooper led the team in scoring with 20 points. She also grabbed six rebounds and passed for four assists in her 21 minutes on the court.

Behind her was Spencer (15), Spearman (13) and Jewel Spear (11) reaching double figures.

As a team, the Lady Vols shot 50% from the field and 43.2% on 3-pointers.

Defensively, Tennessee forced the Bulls into 24 turnovers and 39.1% shooting from the field.

Tennessee struck first with a Samara Spencer three but gave up a 7-0 run instantly after. The Lady Vols responded to tie the game at seven three minutes in.

The teams went back and forth, trading blows the rest of the first quarter. USF used another 7-0 run to climb back into the lead later, but Tennessee finished strong enough to take a one-point advantage into the second quarter.

It was all Lady Vols after talking it over during the break, though. Tennessee got out to a 15-4 run that ended with an 8-0 stretch. This put it up 41-29 and forced the Bulls to call a timeout less than three minutes into the second frame.

The Lady Vols kept their foot on the gas after the timeout. Tennessee built a 13-point lead at the media break via another Zee Spearman 3-pointer. Just 15 minutes into the game, she notched 12 points on three made 3-pointers.

The Lady Vols would use a 10-0 run heading into halftime to really but themselves at an arm's reach. Tennessee took a 55-34 advantage into the locker room behind Talaysia Cooper's brilliant play. She notched 16 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, a block and no turnovers while reaching a +/- of +25 while on the court.

The third quarter went back to a hard fought period. Tennessee's offense cooled to start but got shots to drop as the quarter progressed. The Lady Vols outscored the Bulls by a pair of points to take a 23-point lead into the fourth.

Tennessee coasted from there. The reserves entered with over four minutes to play and an over 30-point lead.

The final margin sat at 35 as the Lady Vols handled business.

Tennessee is now moving on to the Round of 32.

The Lady Vols will face off with Ohio State on the Buckeyes' home floor on Sunday. Tip-off time and TV designations are yet to be revealed.

The winner of that game is on to the Sweet 16. Tennessee's portion of the bracket would sent that team to Birmingham. The most likely opponent is 1-seed Texas.

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