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Lady Vols Built for High-Volume 3-Point Shooting in 2026-27

Tennessee’s newcomers made 396 3-pointers at 37.4 percent last season. Kim Caldwell explains why the Lady Vols will shoot it early and often.

KNOXVILLE, TN - October 27, 2026 - Guard Kaylene Smikle #0 of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers during the exhibition game between the Florida A&M Rattlers and the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Food City Center in Knoxville, TN. | Photo By Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics

For Kim Caldwell’s Tennessee Lady Vols, there will be no shortage of 3-point shots going up. In their exhibition win over Florida A&M, the Lady Vols hit 11 of 41 from beyond the arc. That number of attempts may seem a bit high, even to Caldwell, but it isn’t unusual for her teams to shoot at a high volume.

“It was a little bit high, because I think we could have gotten whatever shot we wanted at the rim,” Caldwell said Tuesday night. “We are going to be a high-volume 3-point shooting team.”

Caldwell brought in an entirely new roster, and with it came 396 made 3-pointers from last season on 1,059 attempts, good for 37.4 percent, according to Tennessee Athletics. As a team, that would have ranked seventh in the nation.

Tennessee guard Jada Eads (10) shoots a three-point basket during a women’s college basketball exhibition game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Florida A&M Rattlers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Oct. 27, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Seven newcomers made double-digit 3-pointers a year ago, led by Naomi White (92), Avery Mills (82), and Rylie Theuerkauf (71). Kennedy Fauntleroy (45), Riley Makalusky (35), Fatmata Janneh (29), and Jada Eads (20) also reached double figures. Mills is currently out with an injury.

White ranked 22nd nationally in made 3-pointers at Northern Arizona and hit nine in a game against Weber State. Mills shot 42.7 percent at Liberty, 15th in the country. Theuerkauf shot 40.6 percent at Georgia, third in the SEC, and averaged 2.2 made 3-pointers per game. Makalusky shot 43.2 percent at West Virginia but didn’t have enough attempts to qualify nationally. She also hit 46.1 as a freshman while at Butler.

Last season’s numbers undersell three others. Eads made her 20 in just 16 games at Seton Hall before a season-ending injury, after hitting 56 as a freshman. Kaylene Smikle made seven in seven games at Maryland before her season ended, but she made 42 the year before and 56 at Rutgers in 2022-23. Aaliyah Moore, a sixth-year forward, missed last season at Texas while recovering from surgery.

The volume fits the offensive identity Caldwell has put together. Recently, on “The Mike Keith Show,” Caldwell was asked about her comfort level with so many guards rotating in and out. She has built a roster where anyone on the court can be trusted with the ball.

“Yeah, we are very, very guard-heavy,” Caldwell said. “We are faster. I think that’s what I like about it is we are smaller, but we’re going to make up for that in speed. I think we’ll be a hard scout for people defensively because we’re going to play so many people on the perimeter, and we’re going to be able to drive and kick from multiple positions. Almost every player on our roster can shoot it pretty well.”

Tennessee guard Kaylene Smikle (0) moves past Florida A&M's Kamryn Grant (24) as she dribbles the ball during a women’s college basketball exhibition game between the Tennessee Lady Vols and Florida A&M Rattlers at Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center on Oct. 27, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

That versatility is what makes this group a real offensive threat. The Lady Vols can hurt teams from outside, but they can also get downhill, and defenses have to account for their basketball IQ and ability to make plays from all over the floor. The approach may not look the same every night. When asked who scores for this team, Caldwell named a few, but the list runs deeper than that.

“Right now, our best scorer is K.K. [Smikle],” Caldwell said. “She does the best job of being consistent. But the thing I like is Rylie [Theuerkauf] is going to be able to score for us. Fats [Janneh] is going to be able to score for us. We’re going to be able to have a lot of different looks based on the night.”

The Lady Vols open the season Monday, Nov. 2, at 6:30 p.m. ET against Duquesne at Food City Center. The game will air on SEC Network+.

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