Talaysia Cooper banks in winner as Tennessee beats Stanford
STANFORD, Cali – Following a 22-point loss to No. 3 UCLA earlier this week, Tennessee stayed on the West Coast for its ACC/SEC Challenge matchup with Stanford.
Despite being unranked, Stanford entered at 8-1 and was receiving votes in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.
Now No. 19 in the country, the Lady Vols were looking for a steady road win before heading home. What followed was a game Tennessee controlled with defense, survived with timely bursts, and finished with one last play from Talaysia Cooper.
Stanford set the tone early behind its bench and work on the glass. After the first 10 minutes, the Cardinal had six points from the bench and six points off offensive rebounds to take a 16-14 lead into the second quarter.
Tennessee’s pressure was there from the start. The Lady Vols forced nine first-quarter turnovers and created transition chances. But it missed shots kept the game tight instead of turning those takeaways into early separation.
The defensive intensity carried into the second. Nya Robertson helped force a backcourt violation to open the quarter. A possession later, after a Zee Spearman turnover, Deniya Prawl delivered a key transition block to keep Stanford from stretching the lead.
Tennessee kept Stanford uncomfortable, trapping Nunu Agara in the backcourt and getting an interception from Kaniya Boyd. But the offense still stalled in that stretch. Janiah Barker missed a layup, Robertson’s open 3 rimmed out, and the Lady Vols went nearly three minutes without a basket to start the quarter.
A Spearman-Cooper pick-and-roll finally ended the drought. It also cut the deficit to three, 19-16, with about six minutes left in the half.
Then came the swing. In the final 10 seconds before halftime, Cooper lost the ball, recovered it and fired a kick-out to Barker. Barker buried a 3 from the top of the arc at the buzzer, giving Tennessee a 28-24 lead and capping an 8-0 run.
Tennessee opened the third quarter looking ready to turn defense into distance. Another forced turnover led to a Mia Pauldo 3 from the wing, pushing the lead to 31-24. It was Tennessee’s largest of the game.
And the pressure kept building. Stanford came in averaging 13 turnovers per game, and Tennessee blew past that number quickly. By the middle of the third quarter, the Lady Vols had already forced 17, closed in on their season high of 22 (set against UT Martin).
No one drove that disruption more than Cooper. She created chances without needing shots, forcing her ninth steal late in the third. Even while diving for a loose ball before flipping it to Barker for a fast-break finish. Cooper’s nine steals through three quarters matched her career high, set in January 2025 against Oklahoma.
Still, Stanford stayed within range. Tennessee’s defense kept generating extra possessions, but the Lady Vols struggled to knock down shots, whether open or contested. They were more effective in the paint with 40 points. But made just five 3-pointers, a season low, and were at 34% shooting from the field entering the final minute.
That set up a tense finish.
Tennessee entered the final minute on a two-minute scoring drought as Stanford pushed back. The Cardinal knocked down a deep 3 to make it a one-possession game with 58 seconds left.
A moment later, Lara Somfai missed both free throws, but Agara extended the possession with an offensive rebound and a layup to tie it at 62 with 12.1 seconds remaining.
Tennessee called timeout and put the ball in Cooper’s hands.
Cooper drove to the rim, absorbed contact, stayed balanced and banked in the go-ahead basket for her 19th point, giving Tennessee a 64-62 lead with 6.7 seconds left.
Stanford got a clean final look, but the shot rolled off the rim. Robertson secured the rebound, and Tennessee escaped with the 65-62 win.
Cooper finished with a double-double, 10 steals and 19 points. The Lady Vols ended the night with a season-high 30 turnovers.
