Tennessee didn’t get the outcome it wanted Tuesday in a top 10 matchup to open the regular season, but it did get a lot more useful information than it would have playing a lesser team.

No. 8/9 Tennessee, 0-1, fell to No. 9/8 NC State, 1-0, by an 80-77 score that came down to the final possession of the game at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. Despite the odd tip time of 4 p.m. on a Tuesday – that wipes out anyone who works a day job during the week – nearly 5,000 people in orange or red made it to the game.

“There’s a lot to take from this game,” Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said. “Our boxouts were really bad, and that was something we knew was going to hurt us coming into the game. Our fouls were really bad, and that was something we knew would hurt us coming into the game. We made a lot of first game mistakes. We made a lot of new player mistakes and freshman mistakes, and we have to continue to figure some things out.”

Caldwell had expressed concerns about several things on that list before the game as eight newcomers, five of them freshmen, would make their debut at Tennessee.

Among Caldwell’s list of things that went awry, she noted the rotations on the full court pressure broke down – and NC State took advantage by getting easy looks at the basket.

Tennessee had built a 10-point lead in the first half and led 44-40 at halftime. NC State went on a 15-2 run in the third quarter.

“We were sharing the basketball, we were going in transition, we were getting early paint touches, playing inside out, and then we just stopped doing that,” Caldwell said.

Tennessee only trailed 63-62 at the end of the third quarter after a stellar performance by Talaysia Cooper, who finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and just one turnover while playing nearly 31 minutes in a fast-paced style.

The roster also took a hit with the dismissal of senior guard Ruby Whitehorn after two off-the-court incidents in three months – that story can be read HERE – as the senior guard understood Caldwell’s system on defense and offense and had become someone the newcomers went to for help. Caldwell said Sunday she had to uphold the standards of Lady Vols basketball, and while she knew it was best for the program, she didn’t know if it was the best decision for this team. It was easy to see what she meant Tuesday, as Whitehorn’s presence on both ends was missed.

That is another reason a tough opener was beneficial for Tennessee as it revealed what needs to be fixed for the Lady Vols to have the type of season they have envisioned.

Mia Pauldo entered the starting lineup, and the freshman held her own with 10 points and six rebounds. She also scored with less than a minute left to give Tennessee a 77-76 lead, but NC State answered on its end. Before that, she tied the game at 72-72 with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. She became the first freshman to start for Tennessee in her first game since 2021 and the 24th all time.

“My shot wasn’t falling as much as I wanted it to,” Pauldo said. “I’m glad I was able to hit that one big shot and get some momentum. Even though we lost, it was good to have that energy in the building and hear our fans.”

Pauldo, her twin sister Mya Pauldo, Deniya Prawl and Jaida Civil all played valuable minutes in their college debut. Civil tallied 13 points in 13 minutes and grabbed four rebounds.

“Coach Kim’s recruiting process she wants freshmen to come in and fit in right away,” Mia Pauldo said. I feel like the freshmen now, that’s the case. We fit in right away. She’s expecting us to have a big impact right away, and I feel like that’s what we’re doing.”

Caldwell doesn’t mince words – something the media and her players appreciate – and she will have a lot of clips for film study.

“I don’t think we meshed very well at all today, and that’s something that we’ve got to go back to the drawing board, fix it, watch the film,” Caldwell said on her post-game radio show. “Our shot selection, it looked selfish. You don’t necessarily know it was coming from a selfish place, other than we didn’t really know what else to do.

“You can’t have that. You’ve got to share the ball. You’re going to be able to lean on more than just one person. I think we put a lot of the load on Coop, and if we share the ball and then she can get it back, maybe her shots are easier. But we also need some other people to step up.”

The Lady Vols will play three games this week with East Tennessee State on Friday, Nov. 7, in Knoxville at 6:30 p.m. and then a trip to UT Martin for a Sunday, Nov. 9, game at 3 p.m. in the Pat Summitt Heritage Classic in honor of the late Lady Vols legendary head coach who played at Martin.

Cooper, a redshirt junior, made it a point to talk to the freshmen on the court and told them: “We need you. We believe in you, and you can do it. We see it every day in practice. Play how we practice, and (do) the small things like effort. That’s all we need.”

Pauldo was in high school a year ago. Her college debut was in an orange Lady Vols uniform in a nationally televised game.

“I would definitely say this is a hooper’s dream, especially for their first college game,” she said. “Not many have been against a top 10 team in their first-ever college game. I expected it to be like this, because two great teams going against each other, and hopefully we provided fans what they wanted to see.”

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 and a 10th anniversary edition will be released June 16, 2026.