FORT MYERS, Fla. – Lady Vols basketball faces its second ranked opponent in a row at the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

No. 21 Tennessee (3-2) takes on No. 20 Oklahoma (5-1) on Saturday (1:30 p.m., Women’s Sports Network) at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Both teams are coming off tough losses, the Lady Vols dropping their Thursday matchup 71-57 to No. 19 Indiana and the Sooners falling 77-63 to Princeton.

Tennessee star forward Rickea Jackson is still sidelined with a lower leg injury. Jackson wore a boot on her right foot Thursday and Lady Vols coach Kellie Harper declined to put a timeline on the injury.

Here’s what you need to know about the matchup with Oklahoma.

Oklahoma has the shooters to hurt Lady Vols perimeter defense

Louisville transfer Payton Verhulst and senior guard Aubrey Joens are both 50% shooters from 3-point range. Verhulst is averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and four assists. Joens is averaging 12.8 points and 4.3 rebounds off the bench.

The Sooners average 8.3 made 3-pointers and perimeter defense has been Tennessee’s weakness to start the season, allowing 9.4 3-pointers per game. After allowing Indiana to shoot 10-for-22 from 3-point range, Tennessee isn’t inspiring confidence that Oklahoma won’t do the same.

The game may be won and lost in the paint

Senior forward Skylar Vann and freshman forward Sahara Williams were standouts in Oklahoma’s upset of Ole Miss the first week of the season. Vann had 24 points, four rebounds and three assists and Williams logged a double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) and added four assists. The duo led the Sooners to dominate the paint, outscoring the Rebels 42-26 in paint points en route to an 80-70 win.

Tennessee is outpacing opponents in paint points by 13 points per game – though in its closest games against Florida State and Memphis, it only outscored each team in the paint by six and eight points, respectively. But the Lady Vols haven’t had Jackson, who’s their most dominant presence in the paint, since Florida State.

Tennessee needs Jillian Hollingshead and Karoline Striplin to be dominant, especially with the size advantage they have over Oklahoma’s forwards. Winning the rebounding battle will be big, because Tennessee can’t afford to give the Sooners’ offense extra possessions.

Tennessee shouldn’t let Oklahoma dictate pace

Oklahoma’s offense is all about pace and space. The Sooners love to push the pace and get out in transition, whether they force a turnover or get down the court immediately with a long outlet pass. But they also have pace in their ball movement and look for shots early in the shot clock.

The Sooners play 81.5 possessions per 40 minutes, according to Her Hoop Stats, which ranks 13th in the country. The Lady Vols play 76 possessions per 40 minutes, but they may benefit from slowing the game down and not letting Oklahoma dictate the pace of play. The Lady Vols struggled at times playing to Florida State’s pace, and that was with Jackson on the court.

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Oklahoma has several playmakers on the team and is averaging 21.5 assists, which ranks in the top 10 nationally. The Sooners don’t look for isolation opportunities often and have logged assists on 68.6% of their field goals. But Oklahoma is averaging 21.2 turnovers with the pace it plays, which is an area Tennessee needs to convert into points.

Score prediction

Oklahoma 70, Tennessee 65: This game will be closer than Tennessee’s loss to Indiana, but based on how the Lady Vols played Thursday, I don’t have as much confidence they can pull this one out without Jackson.

Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.