Tennessee's Kim Caldwell Ponders What Pat Summitt Might Think About Win vs UConn

Tennessee Volunteers coach Kim Caldwell had a wholesome quote about how Pat Summitt would have reacted to her team's upset win against UConn.

Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach Kim Caldwell in her first news conference on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn., after the birth of her son. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers women's basketball team produced what is undoubtedly the best win of their 2024-25 season — and the best win of first-year head coach Kim Caldwell's career at the school — on Thursday night after they defeated Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies team by a score of 80-76.

Not only was this upset win big because UConn entered Thursday's game with a 21-2 record, but it's also the first time Tennessee has defeated UConn since 2007, which is when the legendary Pat Summitt was still the Volunteers' head coach.

This is a massive accomplishment for this Tennessee team and brought Summitt back to mind in the wake of their victory.

Caldwell (who recently returned to the sidelines after giving birth to her first son) spoke with the media after the game ended. At one point, WATE 6 news reporter Casey Kay asked her what she thinks Pat Summitt would say if she had been at the game.

"I think she would be thrilled with the effort and the rebounding," Caldwell said, per Kay's X post. "And I am sure she is up in heaven with my dad. They're probably having a cold one celebrating."

A rivalry that was made what it was because of the dominance Pat Summitt built at Tennessee.

I asked HC Kim Caldwell what she thinks Pat would say if she were here tonight.

"I am sure she is up in heaven with my dad probably having a cold one celebrating." pic.twitter.com/U5lxD9xPhy

— Casey Kay (@caseykaytv) February 7, 2025

Summitt won eight NCAA Division 1 championships before retiring from coaching at 59 years old in 2012, following a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. She died on June 28, 2016.

While it's impossible for Caldwell to fill Summitt's shoes at Tennessee, she's certainly doing a great job getting her Volunteers team back on track toward contending for national championships in her first season.