Kim Caldwell calls out Tennessee after first half vs Mississippi State: 'Act like you want to be here'

Tennessee trailed Mississippi State 35-26 at halftime of Thursday’s SEC showdown in Knoxville. The Volunteers entered the night ranked 15th and alone atop the SEC rankings with a 6-0 conference record.

The Bulldogs outscored the Volunteers 26-14 during the second quarter. Coming out of halftime, Volunteers head coach Kim Caldwell sent a stern message to her team.

“Change your faces. Act like you want to be here. Rebound, hit a shot, guard the 3-point line. We need to look like what we do,” Caldwell said. “… I don’t think we got much out of anyone. We had some people in power trouble. We need more out of every single person on our roster.”

During the first two quarters, the Volunteers made 11-34 (32%) shots including a 1-9 mark from the 3-point line. Moreover, Tennessee ended the first half shooting 3-10 from the free throw line.

Defensively, Tennessee allowed Mississippi State to finish the first half shooting 45% (13-29) from the floor, including 6-13 (46%) from deep. Five of those treys were made in the second quarter. The Bulldogs entered the second half +10 on the rebound margin and scored 20 of their 35 points during the fast break.

Nearly all of Tennessee’s scoring came from two players. Talaysia Cooper and Janiah Barker both scored 10 points, finishing the first half with 20 of Tennessee’s 26 points.

Much of the same woes would plague Tennessee throughout the third quarter and by the end of the game, the Mississippi State lead had ballooned up to 20 points. In the end, Tennessee would fall 77-62 to the Bulldogs.

This is the first loss in SEC play for Caldwell’s squad. It also snaps a seven-game win streak dating back to 2025 in non-conference play.

Tennessee’s schedule doesn’t let up from here. On Sunday, they head to Hartford, CT to play the No. 1 UConn Huskies before resuming SEC play the next Thursday. Over the next eight games after, Tennessee will play six teams currently ranked in the AP Top 25 including No. 3 South Carolina (Feb. 8) and No. 6 LSU (Feb. 26). Both of those games are on the road.