Holly Warlick reflects on A rivalry that has measured generations of women’s basketball
For 27 seasons, one game has lived above the rest.
“It’s a measuring stick,” Lady Vol great Holly Warlick said.
It’s a sentiment that will ring true for the 28th time Sunday, when the Huskies host Tennessee.
“Win or lose,” Warlick said, “it tells you where you are and what you still need to become.”
Warlick knows the weight of that better than most.
Last season, when Tennessee snapped a four-game losing streak against UConn, Warlick watched from the stands.
“That was a different perspective for me,” she said.
For the first time since 1985, she wasn’t on the bench. For more than three decades, that had been her view; first as a legendary former Lady Vol, then as an assistant coach when the rivalry took shape in 1994, and later as Tennessee’s head coach through some of its most demanding chapters.
Still, the emotions felt the same.
“You still feel that competition,” Warlick said. “You still feel that adrenaline. You still feel like you have to win.”
That pull has followed Warlick through every phase of the rivalry.
“This rivalry set a standard,” she said. “It got people invested in the game.”
Through championship runs and rebuilding years, this game demanded more.
That perspective feels especially relevant this week.
Tennessee enters Sunday’s matchup coming off a loss that exposed lapses in effort and cohesion. For Warlick, she knows all too well what happens when either is missing against UConn.
“You’re playing the number one team in the country,” Warlick said. “So there shouldn’t have to be a lot of motivational factors for you to get back on track.”
She thinks back to the 1996–97 season.
On Jan. 5, 1997, Tennessee fell to UConn 72–57, a loss that revealed just how far that team still had to go.
“We just weren’t good at that point,” Warlick said. “We weren’t playing well together. When you go up against UConn and you’re not connected, you’re going to get beat.”
The response came months later.
On March 24, 1997, Tennessee beat UConn 91–81 in the Elite Eight, turning a season of inconsistency into a national championship run.
The difference wasn’t scheme or talent.
“We finally listened to the game plan,” Warlick said. “We trusted it.”
That lesson, she believes, still applies especially after Tennessee’s loss to Mississippi State.
“If you go on your own agenda,” Warlick said, “it won’t work.”
In this rivalry, effort has often been the difference between competing and unraveling.
“You don’t want to coach effort,” Warlick said. “You’re playing for Tennessee. You’re playing one of the biggest games in the country.”
That demand sharpens on the road.
Warlick coached in both Storrs and Hartford and understands how difficult Connecticut can be — not just because of the opponent, but because of the environment.
“Oh, you have to be totally focused,” she said. “Your leaders have to step up. You cannot have your own agenda.”
Defense and rebounding, she said, remain the clearest indicators of readiness. The effort plays that travel, steady a team, and quiet a crowd.
“It sounds so simple,” Warlick said. “But there’s so many distractions. Fans are going to distract you. They’re going to make a great play. People are going to go crazy. And you’ve got to reel it back in.”
For Warlick, the 28th meeting matters just as much as the first because of what it still reveals.
“This rivalry is always going to matter because of the history,” she said. “Those two teams got people interested in women’s basketball on a national level.”
Decades later, that standard remains. Not as history, but as responsibility.
“There’s a lot of pride factor,” Warlick said. “I want them to win every game. This is a great opportunity to get out of the hole they dug and represent the program the right way.”
For the 28th time, Tennessee is asked to do just that.
