Women have the strength of ten men, no doubt about it,” South Carolina’s four-time national coach of the year Dawn Staley said of her counterpart’s remarkable feat Monday night in Knoxville, Tennessee.
University of Tennessee women’s basketball head coach Kim Caldwell returned to the sidelines one week after giving birth to her first child, Conor Scott, while she had the flu.
Caldwell received a standing ovation as she entered the court at Food City Center before No. 18 Lady Volunteers’ big conference showdown against the
NCAA national champion and No. 2 Gamecocks Caldwell and her husband, Justin, had a six-pound, 10-ounce boy last Monday. Caldwell said their son is named after her father, Scott.
The first-year Tennessee coach missed the team’s last game, an 80-76 loss to No. 7 Texas, on Thursday after the birth. She returned to practice on Friday.
After the game, Caldwell told reporters she was surprised with the ovation she received from the crowd.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting it. I try to sneak in and so I sneak in the back. I always try to go unnoticed,” she said. “It made coming back worth it.”
When asked how she handled the physical demands of the night, she replied, “I’ll know probably tomorrow when I get home. I appreciate the team. I appreciate my staff.
“It’s hard for me to yell so I can move around okay. … So just having the players repeat things, having my staff repeat things, having them being able to just go up and call some plays when I needed to sit, it’s big when you have people around you who you can trust.”
Caldwell said she didn’t hit a wall during the game as “adrenaline was going. … I’ll find out pretty quickly once when I get in my car.”
Caldwell was asked about Staley’s “Women have the strength of ten men” statement, Caldwell quicky agreed, saying, “Duh!”
Tennessee senior guard Samara Spencer said it felt good having Caldwell back on the bench.
“I know how hard she worked to get baby Conor into the world and so she’s a blessing that she’s able to here with us for our games,” Spencer said.
Tennessee senior forward Jillian Hollingshead added: “She just had a baby. She’s coming back. She’s not feeling good and things like that. Of course, we have to give our all for her, as she said, she gives her all for us, so we have to have each other’s back.”
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley praised Caldwell on her return.
“I think she is very passionate about her team, coaching here,” Staley said. “When you a coach that really wants to hang another banner, it comes with a sacrifice. She’s probably a better woman then me.
“I don’t know if I can be detached from my little one for that long but she got great help and she wanted to be here with her team. Women have to make decisions like that and when they do I feel like other women should honor them and let them know we see you.”
The Gamecocks picked up their SEC-record 55th consecutive regular season conference victory. South Carolina becomes the third team in the last 25 years to defeat five straight ranked opponents. The 2009-10 UConn Huskies and 2023-24 Notre Dame Fighting Irish were the first two.
