The Tennessee Lady Vols women’s basketball team returns from the holiday break riding an 8-3 start and a No. 23 ranking, but confidence is not driving the Lady Vols into SEC play. With Florida waiting on January 1, head coach Kim Caldwell offered a strikingly honest assessment as her team regrouped after a lopsided win over Southern. The timing made her words impossible to ignore.

Kim Caldwell made an honest admission, stating, “Yeah, I don’t think we’re ready for conference play,” when asked about her team’s position and preparations.

“We’ve had some days where we are really good, we play hard. We are turning that we’re at least self-aware of our behaviors now, of being a bad teammate, or maybe the feedback that we give in practice. And again, those are the lapses we are seeing in games,” she stated, pointing out the team’s inability to score off the turnovers forced, especially against inferior opponents.

In their previous games against Louisville and Southern Indiana, they scored 26 points off 20 forced turnovers and 36 points off 29 turnovers, respectively. Caldwell also showed concern about the lack of teamwork between the players in their previous games. However, the team has used the break to regroup and return stronger.

Caldwell said the team has spent time watching film, focused on being better teammates, emphasizing small but meaningful habits like extra effort and giving high fives to stay connected. With the opener against Florida approaching, those details now matter more than ever. Turning awareness into action could determine how ready Tennessee truly is for the demands of SEC play.

Kim Caldwell explains how Florida Gators could test her team’s readiness

The Florida Gators have a track record of 11.5 steals and 21 forced turnovers per game. The Lady Vols enter the match averaging 81.4 points per game, and the Gators are averaging 77.8. When questioned about what challenges Florida presents to her team in their first SEC game, Caldwell was clear that the Gators would test her team, as both teams are even.

“I think it’s going to be a very even match-up. We’re both athletic. They have great players, and we are going to have to sit down and guard as a unit.”

According to the coach, she has made her team understand the rising difficulty of the tournament with every passing game. She added that her team will understand it once they enter the tournament.

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Liv McGill is known for driving the Gators with her ability to push the pace. This season, McGill is averaging 24.4 points and 5.5 assists per game. While Caldwell recognized McGill’s ability, she did find a loophole in her turnovers and plans to tackle her with a collective team effort.

As the two teams are now set to face each other on Thursday, game plan execution might act as a deciding factor in the game. With excitement building up, the match will go live on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET on SEC Network+.