This tough schedule has caused Tennessee to build up rivalries with many prominent teams, including Texas, Stanford, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and, most notably, Connecticut.

Within the conference, Tennessee's main rivals are LSU, Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Georgia, with the series vs. South Carolina and Mississippi State gaining importance due to the emergence of those schools as national powers.

In her opening season, the Lady Vols won the TCWSF Eastern District Championship for the third straight year.

After finishing 16–11 her second season, Head directed two 20-win teams, winning back-to-back AIAW Region-II championships.

[8] During the 1980–1981 season, the Lady Vols went 25–6, and avenged their championship game loss to Old Dominion by defeating them three times.

[7] The next year, the Lady Vols were poised to repeat, as the third-ranked and top seeded Tennessee made it to the Final Four yet again.

After a close win in the regional semifinals against Western Kentucky, Tennessee dispatched Auburn for the second time in three years.

In the national semifinals, the Lady Vols beat Stanford, 68–60, to earn the opportunity to avenge the previous year's tournament loss against Virginia.

However, the next year the Lady Vols did not even make it to the regional championship, falling to the same Western Kentucky team they had beaten in the same round the previous tournament, 75–70.

However, the streak of years without a Final Four appearance extended to three with a 71–68 loss in the regional semifinals to Louisiana Tech.

In 1995–1996, with freshman Holdsclaw and senior Michelle M. Marciniak, the Lady Vols won the SEC tournament and made a second straight Final Four.

In the semi-finals, facing the UConn Huskies who had knocked them off for the title the previous year, the Lady Vols shot out to an 11-point lead.

In addition to losses to powerhouses such as Louisiana Tech (twice), Stanford, Old Dominion, and Connecticut, Tennessee also lost to teams such as Florida, against whom they had been previously undefeated.

Only three teams came within 10 points of beating them, and the Lady Vols won a 93–75 victory over Louisiana Tech for their third straight national championship.

A landmark was set during this season however, as "The Meeks"—Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings, and Semeka Randall—became the first trio from one team to be named Kodak All-Americans.

Tennessee suffered other losses during the season, losing to Texas by a point and getting badly beaten by the Duke Blue Devils.

The Lady Vols defeated most of their opponents, including Duke and Louisiana Tech, but dropped games to UConn and Texas.

Tennessee suffered losses during the season to Duke, Rutgers, and LSU, while beating teams which included Stanford and Louisiana Tech.

However Tennessee was able to break their streak of four years without a tournament title, by avenging their loss with a 67–65 victory over LSU in the SEC Championship.

In the NCAA tournament, Tennessee defeated the Rutgers team which had beaten them earlier in the year to advance to their fourth Final Four in a row.

[17] Later, in Baton Rouge, the Lady Vols clinched the SEC title against LSU in a game where Candace Parker scored 27.

Down by 11 at the half, Rutgers mounted a small comeback, taking the lead down to 7 with 13:33, only to have Shannon Bobbitt hit three three-pointers.

Rutgers responded with a 7–0 run, cutting the lead down to 8, but Parker hit 6 free throws to ice the win for Tennessee.

[24] After two more wins, #1 Tennessee knocked off fourth-ranked North Carolina, 83–79, in a rematch of a Final Four match-up last year, to advance to 6–0 on the season.

Candace Parker's 17 points and 12 rebounds, including a bucket with 22 seconds remaining, helped the Lady Vols defeat the Blue Devils for the first time in four years, 67–64.

[27] After winning their next three games, all against SEC opponents, the Lady Vols met with a top-5 Rutgers squad who had just defeated top-ranked UConn.

However, the finish proved to be controversial, as replays revealed that the game clock had paused with 0.2 seconds remaining, giving Anosike enough time to be fouled.

[29] Tennessee won the remainder of its regular season games and finished second in the SEC, giving them a first-round bye in the conference tournament.

In the opening round of the tournament they played a 26–8 Ball State Cardinals team that was making their NCAA tourney debut.

Harper coached the Lady Vols to two straight Sweet Sixteen appearances in 2022 and 2023, but they struggled against ranked opponents for much of her tenure and failed to win any SEC titles (whether regular season or tournament).