KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee women's basketball will face a No. 12 seed in the second round for the second year in a row, but don't let Toledo's seed fool you.
The Rockets enter Monday's Round of 32 matchup in Thompson-Boling Arena on a 17-game win streak, and the team has lost only four contests all season. Toledo is coming off a first-round upset against Iowa State on Saturday. The team won the regular season and tournament championships in the MAC this season and is led by MAC Player of the Year Quinesha Lockett. Lockett is averaging 17.8 points per game and dropped 24 points in the win against Iowa State.
Tennessee clobbered Saint Louis in its first-round matchup, 95-50 in a game that saw 13 different UT players register points in the matchup. Jordan Horston led four double-digit scorers for Tennessee with a game-high 21 points along with eight rebounds and four assists. Rickea Jackson scored 18 points in her first-career NCAA Tournament game.
The Lady Vols' matchup against 12-seed Belmont last season proved to be a tough test, and Tennessee is expecting the same as the team tries to make it to the Sweet 16 two years in a row for the first time since 2015 and 2016.
Toledo is in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history and first time since 1996. The Rockets have never made it past the Round of 32.
Tennessee and Toledo have only met once in program history and it has been nearly 40 years since the teams' first and only game on December 18, 1985 in Honolulu. Tennessee won that game, 81-63.
Monday's second-round matchup in Thompson-Boling Arena is set to begin at 6:06 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.