Mississippi State visits Pauldo and No. 15 Tennessee

Published Jan. 28, 2026 4:43 a.m. ET
Associated Press

Mississippi State Bulldogs (15-6, 2-5 SEC) at Tennessee Lady Volunteers (14-3, 6-0 SEC)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 15 Tennessee plays Mississippi State after Mia Pauldo scored 21 points in Tennessee's 60-58 win against the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Lady Volunteers are 8-0 on their home court. Tennessee is sixth in the SEC scoring 79.4 points while shooting 41.7% from the field.

The Bulldogs have gone 2-5 against SEC opponents. Mississippi State averages 79.3 points and has outscored opponents by 16.6 points per game.

Tennessee scores 79.4 points, 16.7 more per game than the 62.7 Mississippi State gives up. Mississippi State averages 19.1 more points per game (79.3) than Tennessee gives up (60.2).

The Lady Volunteers and Bulldogs match up Thursday for the first time in SEC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Pauldo is shooting 34.0% from beyond the arc with 2.1 made 3-pointers per game for the Lady Volunteers, while averaging 12.2 points. Talaysia Cooper is averaging 12.3 points, 3.3 assists and three steals over the past 10 games.

Favour Nwaedozi is scoring 13.2 points per game and averaging 10.4 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Madison Francis is averaging 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Lady Volunteers: 9-1, averaging 78.5 points, 38.5 rebounds, 14.6 assists, 10.9 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 41.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 60.3 points per game.

Bulldogs: 5-5, averaging 80.5 points, 40.1 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 7.8 steals and 3.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 71.2 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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