The Lady Vols handled their media duties Thursday before getting on the practice court to prepare for the NCAA tourney opener.

Coach Kim Caldwell and fifth-year seniors Tess Darby and Jewel Spear took seats on the dais inside the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.

No. 5 seed Tennessee, 22-9, will meet No. 12 seed South Florida, 23-10, in the first round tonight, March 21. Tip time is set for 8 p.m. Eastern with the broadcast on ESPN. The first game at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2 features No. 4 seed Ohio State, 25-6 and No. 13 seed Montana State, 30-3. The second game starts 30 minutes after the completion of the first game, so be prepared for a slightly earlier start for Tennessee.

Ohio State is a host site for the early rounds and the moderators for the press conferences are usually local and connected to the host school in some capacity. He also had a question for Darby and Spear.

“Comment on the Tennessee Volunteer crowds because about two and a half months ago this whole town was painted Tennessee orange, when your crowds came up for the football game against Ohio State,” he said. “I can honestly say there has never been that many visiting fans in this 100,000-seat stadium. It was crazy. It was wild to watch. I want to give both of you guys an opportunity to throw some roses at your crowds.”

Darby: “I think our fan base is very passionate, and they care a lot about Tennessee, but in particular all sports of Tennessee. I think that says a lot. Especially you recognizing that and seeing how far they travel and that our fan base is honestly the best.”

Spear: “Honestly I think they’re the greatest fans in the world. They travel. When we have home games, they’re there. They support us. They’re loud. They get there early.”

Darby and Spear are playing the final NCAA tourney of their careers – the fifth for Darby who spent her career at Tennessee and the second for Spear who arrived via the transfer portal two years ago from Wake Forest.

“We’ve talked about that a lot with our sense of urgency knowing, me and Tess, this is our last year of college basketball, but personally not putting too much pressure on myself,” Spear said. “Just staying present in the moment and enjoying the moment with my teammates and coaches.”

The Lady Vols are the only program to be in the field all 43 times since the NCAA tourney started in 1982.

Junior Ruby Whitehorn will play in her first one for Tennessee after two seasons at Clemson. It also will be the first for Favor Ayodele, who played for three junior colleges and at Pitt before arriving in Knoxville.

Samara Spencer went to the NCAA tourney as a freshman at Arkansas and will get back for the second time in her final year of college basketball at Tennessee. Zee Spearman, who transferred after two seasons at Miami, played in the NCAA tourney as a freshman and will return as a junior with Tennessee.

It’s become a birthright for Tennessee players to always be in the bracket when the bell rings.

“I think it says a lot about Tennessee Lady Vol basketball,” Darby said. “Just the amount of success that’s come through here, the players that have come through this program. It’s a successful program. It’s hard to make one NCAA Tournament but let alone make 43 in a row. I think that speaks for itself.”

Spear used a different sport for an apropos analogy.

“It’s kind of like a track race when you pass a baton,” Spear said. “I feel like that’s what we do here at Tennessee. When we graduate, we’re going to pass the baton to the next group of leaders and group of people, and we know they’re going to follow just as strong as us.”

Coach Kim Caldwell fields questions the day before Tennessee starts the NCAA tourney in Columbus, Ohio. (Tennessee Athletics)

Caldwell, who is always refreshingly direct with her answers, said, “It’s a huge streak. I think it makes Tennessee the best job in the country. It makes us one of the best programs in the country because of the dominance that we’ve had.”

“And absolutely it feels really good to not be the coach that blew it.”

Caldwell’s full press conference can be watched HERE; Spear and Darby can be watched HERE.

The Lady Vols will face an experienced foe in USF and a team that wants to slow down the pace. The Bulls have plenty of shooters, especially at the arc with Florida State transfer Sammie Puisis having made 101 three-pointers this season. The 6-1 graduate student guard and high school All-American from Mason, Ohio, will be playing close to her hometown.

“I have great support,” Puisis said. “My family, relatives, old friends from high school, AAU coaches, they’re all coming. I never thought coming back to Ohio after so many years, it’s pretty sweet.”

The Lady Vols got to work on scouting USF after the brackets were announced last Sunday night.

“We know that they like to shoot a lot of threes, O-boards, crash the rebounds,” Spear said. “They play at a little bit slower pace, so we know we have to be aggressive on defense and find ways to play our game.”

KELLIE HARPER: After one year away from the sidelines, Kellie Harper will return after accepting the head coaching job at Missouri this week. Harper and Tennessee parted ways a year ago after the 2023-24 season. Harper worked as a women’s basketball analyst and in-studio host for the SEC Network this season, but it always seemed she would want to get back to coaching.

A longtime coach at Missouri State before getting the Tennessee job in 2019, she is familiar both with the Show Me State and the SEC after five seasons leading the Lady Vols. Harper and her family arrived in Columbia this week.

“Missouri is a special place, and I know firsthand the passion and pride that surrounds this program,” Harper said. “Our family is excited to return to the state of Missouri. I look forward to working with our leadership and our student-athletes, building strong relationships throughout the community and winning championships in Columbia. The foundation is in place for success – and I can’t wait to get started.”

Maria M. Cornelius, a senior writer/editor at MoxCar Marketing + Communications since 2013, started her journalism career at the Knoxville News Sentinel and began writing about the Lady Vols in 1998. In 2016, she published her first book, “The Final Season: The Perseverance of Pat Summitt,” through The University of Tennessee Press.