By james art 
Tennessee head coach Kim Caldwell will return to coach the Lady Vols against South Carolina on Monday night, just seven days after giving birth to her first child, she announced during a news conference Sunday.
Caldwell and her husband Justin welcomed their first child, Connor, into the world last Monday after publicly announcing her pregnancy in September. The Tennessee head coach missed the Lady Vols’ 80-76 loss at Texas for the first time last Thursday, but returned to practice on Friday.
Cadlwell’s longtime assistant coach Jenna Burdett was Tennessee’s acting head coach in the days leading up to and during the Lady Vols’ game at Texas.
“She did great,” Caldwell said of Burdette. “She stepped up and we tried to talk about it for months and months. We knew this trip was going to be tough. I would either be very pregnant and very close to having a baby or having a baby and so she did a great job of taking control and she had the two days of practice before that and then she had the team there and the team looks after her and respects her. “
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Tennessee dropped a heartbreaker at No. 7 Texas, 80-76, trailing by one in the fourth quarter and by one point entering the fourth quarter and tied the game with 30 seconds left.
The Lady Vols are in the midst of a rough stretch, losing four of their last six games. But almost every game has been a heartbreaker, with Tennessee losing all four games by a combined eight points. Caldwell’s first Tennessee team lost at the buzzer against Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and LSU.
The challenge doesn’t get any easier on Monday as Tennessee hosts the defending national champion South Carolina Gamecocks at Thompson-Boling Arena at the Food City Center. The Gamecocks are ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, with their only loss coming at No. 1 UCLA earlier this season.
Tennessee enters the game at 15-4 (3-4 SEC) and ranked No. 17 in the AP poll. The Lady Vols look to overcome game adversity and earn a win over Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks.
Tip-off between Tennessee and South Carolina is at 7:00 PM ET on Monday night. ESPN is broadcasting the game.