University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE TAKES ON RIVAL GEORGIA AT HOME TONIGHT
February 20, 2003 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2003
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| Tennessee (22-3, 10-0 SEC) vs. Georgia (17-6, 8-2 SEC)
RADIO TV RANKINGS THE COACHES: Georgia Bulldogs
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| Read Even More with the Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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PROBABLE UT STARTERS 13- GWEN JACKSON, F, 6-2, Sr., 16.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg UT RESERVES 4- LATOYA DAVIS, F, 6-0, Jr., 2.5 ppg, 2.0 rpg THE GAME The #3-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols (22-3, 10-0 SEC) return to the friendly confines of Thompson-Boling Arena to face a challenged #13/16 Georgia Lady Bulldog team (17-6, 8-2 SEC). The 'Dawgs would like nothing more than to knock the Lady Vols out of the top spot of the SEC. IN OUR LAST GAME Third-ranked Tennessee remained on top of the SEC standings with a perfect 10-0 record, but it wasn't easy on the afternoon of Feb. 16, 2003, as the Lady Vols fought off upset-minded Auburn, 59-56, in front of 5,106 fans at the Beard-Eaves Coliseum in Auburn, Ala. With the victory UT's overall record moved to 22-3. Tough defense characterized this contest as both teams forced each other to struggle from the floor as UT hit at a 35.2% clip, while AU shot 33.9%. Tennessee controlled the boards 45-35, including a 25-14 advantage in the second half, but suffered from behind the arc (2-of-15) and at the free throw line, as the Lady Vols hit only 19-of-32 attempts from the charity stripe. Senior Gwen Jackson led the Orange & White in both scoring (20 points) and rebounding (seven boards), while Brittany Jackson totaled nine points and Loree Moore eight points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals in a team-high 37 minutes. Opening the contest, both teams couldn't find the rangge from the floor as the two squads posted a 1-for-7 start over the first 4:36. AU took a quick 4-1 lead before four straight points from Gwen Jackson boosted UT to a 5-4 advantage, as UT failed to convert its first FG until the 17:04 mark. Five straight tallies by AU's Natasha Brackett gave the Tigers a 9-6 lead, but Courtney McDaniel converted a three-point play and hit a jumper as UT moved in front 13-11 with 10:16 to play. The back and forth battle continued as a Brittany Jackson three-pointer moved UT in front 16-13, before an Auburn run grabbed the lead back for the Tigers at 17-16. A Shanna Zolman jumper gave UT its largest first half advantage at 24-19, but a late 7-0 run by AU sent the Lady Vols to the locker room down 26-24. Gwen Jackson scored eight of UT's first 12-second half points as the Lady Vols moved back in front 36-32. Auburn cut the gap to 39-37, before a Moore lay-up and a Brittany Jackson three-pointer in transition gave UT a 44-37 lead with 11:14 to play. AU cut the Tennessee advantage to 51-47, but the Orange & White answered with three straight tallies for a 54-47 advantage. That's when the game almost got away from the Lady Vols as missed UT free throws and two consecutive threes by AU's Brackett cut the Tiger deficit to 58-56 with 33 seconds remaining. A Moore free throw made it a three-point game at 59-56. Then UT turned up the defensive pressure as Auburn's Mandisa Stevenson and Brackett were forced into poor three-point attempts to give UT the tough road victory. VARIETY IS THE SPICE This season, the Lady Vols will take on teams from 10 different conferences. LADY VOLS ON TV Nineteen Lady Vol regular season games will be on television this year. Upcoming games on TV in 2002-03 include Georgia and Vanderbilt (FOX) and LSU (CSS). ON THIS DAY Tennessee sports an unblemished 6-0 record when playing on February 20. The Lady Vols are 5-0 at home and 1-0 in their lone away game. The last time Tennessee played on the 20th was in 2000 when the team picked up an 80-48 win at home over LSU. LOOKING BACK Last year at this time, the Lady Vols were 22-3 and had just defeated Vanderbilt, 75-68 in Knoxville. TV UPDATE Tennessee's game at LSU on Feb. 23 was added to the CSS schedule. Tip-off is now at 4 p.m. CT. OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK The Lady Vols are in the normal Thursday-Sunday SEC format this week. This week, UT faces #13/16 Georgia at home on Feb. 20 and then travels to LSU for a Sun., Feb. 23 meeting. Both games will be televised (Georgia, FSNS/LSU, Comcast). NEXT OPPONENT -- SCOUTING LSU The #4-ranked LSU Tigers (22-1 overall, 9-1 SEC) travels tonight to Ole Miss (12-11, 1-9 SEC) before their Feb. 23 meeting with UT in Baton Rouge. Going into tonight's games, the Lady Vols are atop the SEC with a 10-0 record while LSU is second at 9-1 and Georgia is in third place with an 8-2 SEC record. 2003 NAISMITH FINALISTS Jackie Bradford, President of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, announced the 20 finalists for the Naismith Women's College Basketball Player of the Year Award on Feb. 19, 2003, and two Lady Vol seniors made the list. The finalists for the Naismith College Player of the Year Award (listed alphabetically): Chantelle Anderson/Vanderbilt, Alana Beard/Duke, Kara Braxton/Georgia, Coretta Brown/UNC, Shameka Christon/Arkansas, Gwen Jackson/Tennessee, Kara Lawson/Tennessee, Kelly Mazzante/Penn State, Nicole Ohlde/Kansas St., Jocelyn Penn/South Carolina, Plenette Pierson/Texas Tech, Nicole Powell/Stanford, Aiysha Smith/LSU, Stacy Stephens/Texas, Diana Taurasi/Connecticut, LaToya Thomas/Mississippi St., Iciss Tillis/Duke, Kendra Wecker/Kansas St., Lindsay Whalen/Minnesota and Shereka Wright/Purdue. The winners of the Naismith Awards, the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball, will be honored in Atlanta on Friday, April 11, 2003. 2003 SENIOR CLASS FINALISTS ANNOUNCED The organizers of the Senior CLASS Award have announced the ten finalists for the 2002-03 season and both Lady Vol seniors appear on the list. The award is presented annually to the outstanding male and female senior NCAA Division I basketball player. The list of women's finalists include Chantelle Anderson and Ashley McElhiney of Vanderbilt, Coretta Brown of North Carolina, Courtney Coleman of Ohio State, Cheryl Ford of Louisiana Tech, Gwen Jackson and Kara Lawson of Tennessee, Jocelyn Penn of South Carolina, Plenette Pierson of Texas Tech, and LaToya Thomas of Mississippi State. The Senior CLASS Award - an acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School - was launched prior to the 2001-02 college basketball season. The initial idea came from CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg, who now serves as Honorary Chairman of the award. It became reality when the Kansas City Club agreed to present the award and serve as host organization for the culminating event last year. The ten finalists for the second annual award were selected by a national committee of sportswriters and sportscasters who cover Division I college basketball. These players were chosen, based on performance during the current season, from a list of 30 "Players to Watch" for both men and women. The winner will be announced during the respective NCAA Final Four events in March. The selection of the women's award winner will be based on the cumulative ballots of three entities: the national media committee, Division I college basketball coaches and nationwide fan balloting via the award's official web site, www.seniorclassaward.com. The 2002-03 honorees will be presented with their award at the Senior CLASS Award Tribute Gala in Kansas City on Friday, April 25, 2003. The event will offer tributes to the male and female winner, along with a salute to the men's and women's national championship teams. A portion of the event's proceeds will go the local Kansas City Chapter of Special Olympics. UT- GEORGIA All-Time Series Meetings
*denotes overtime GEORGIA SERIES This marks the 44th meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1968-69 season with Tennessee leading 30-13. The Lady Vols held a 14-5 advantage over Georgia in the 1990s. UGA is one of three schools (others are UConn and Texas) to defeat UT twice in the Thompson-Boling Arena...is the last SEC school to record a win over UT at home. AVERAGE SCORE The average score of all UT-UGA games is 74.2 (Tennessee) and 66.5 (Georgia). CAREER STATS VS. GEORGIA Three Lady Vols have career scoring averages in double figures against the Lady Bulldogs. Shyra Ely leads the way with 21.5 ppg, followed by Kara Lawson with 12.3 ppg, and Gwen Jackson with 11.5 ppg. Ely is also the leading returning rebounder against Georgia with a career average of 7.0 rpg. Jackson follows closely with 6.3 rpg. GAME REPORT 26 - GEORGIA UT and UGA meet today for the 44th time in the series. The Lady Bulldogs hold the distinction of the most meetings ever with the Lady Vols (43) and is the only school in the SEC to record double-digit victories in the series (13). Georgia is led by sophomore forward Kara Braxton with 15.7 ppg and 7.3 rpg and junior post Christi Thomas 15.5 ppg and 7.7 rpg GEORGIA'S PROBABLE STARTERS 42-Marquita Driskell, F, 6-3, Fr., 5.9 ppg, 3.8 rpg LADY VOLS VS. LADY BULLDOGS STAT COMPARISON
OUR LAST MEETING WITH GEORGIA The #3-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers opened play in the 2002 SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn., with a tough 81-67 win over the #24-ranked Georgia on Mar. 1. After suffering a disappointing 52-50 loss to the Lady Vols earlier in the season, Georgia jumped on UT from the onset. With seven minutes gone, the Dogs led 14-4 after UT could only muster two Michelle Snow buckets. About that time, rookie Shyra Ely entered the Lady Vol line-up and sparked a 12-3 UT run over the next three minutes tossing in seven points. UGA went on its own run to take another 10-point advantage, 26-16 with 6:55 to go. But it was Ely again for UT tossing in 10 points down the stretch to give UT its first lead with 11 seconds before the half. Tennessee led Georgia, 35-34 at the break as Ely had 17 points. A point of emphasis in UT's halftime chat was rebounding as the Dogs held a huge 29-16 rebounding advantage over the Lady Vols. In the second half, UT never trailed UGA. Behind the hot-hands of Kara Lawson and Ely, the Lady Vols led 61-50 with 9:14 to play. UT gained its largest margin of the second half with a 16-point, 70-54 advantage with 5:55 to play. On the afternoon that saw all 14 Lady Vols play, UT was led in scoring by Ely's career high 31 points (just the second rookie ever to score over 30 points). Also in extra digits was Lawson with 18 points and Snow with 10 points. Ely claimed top rebounding honors with a career high 11 boards. UT connected on a cold 38% of its field goals, 25% three-pointers and 76% from the charity stripe. UT finally outrebounded Georgia, 46-45 (including 21 UT offensive boards). The Lady Vols committed just 16 turnovers and forced 23 miscues off of 11 steals. The Lady Vols tallied 20 points off of turnovers. UT's reserves scored 47 points to Georgia's 17 points. LADY VOLS HAILING FROM GEORGIA Two Lady Vol juniors hail from the state of Georgia as starting forward Tasha Butts represents Milledgeville and back-up guard LaToya Davis calls Forsyth home. Outside of the state of Tennessee, which has produced 60 Lady Vol hoopsters, the state of Georgia has seen 17 players cross over the Tennessee border to play in Knoxville all-time. BACK TO THE LAND OF THE RANKED After a four-game hiatus from playing top 25 teams, the Lady Vols will take on three in a row facing Georgia (#13/16), LSU (#4) and Vanderbilt (#18/19) in succession. COMMON OPPONENTS UT and Georgia share only SEC teams common opponents this season.
13 IN A ROW The Tennessee Lady Vols have won 13 consecutive games since dropping a 63-62 overtime decision to then-#3/2 Connecticut Huskies on Jan. 4. Thirteen consecutive wins ranks 16th best in school history. TEN SEASONS OF 10 SEC VICTORIES In the win over Auburn, Tennessee claimed its 10th SEC victory of the season. The Lady Vols have now registered double-digit victories in conference play an incredible 10 times. Since the 1991-92 season when SEC play expanded, the Lady Vols have won at least 10 games in the following years: 1992-10 games, 1993-11 games, 1994-11 games, 1995-11 games, 1998-14 games, 1999-13 games, 2000-13 games, 2001- 14 games, 2002- 13 games and 2003- 10 games (Still in progress). FOUR AND OUT THE DOOR The Tennessee Lady Vols are currently in the driver's seat at the top of the SEC with a 10-0 record. Upcoming foes which are breathing down the Lady Vols collective necks are LSU (9-1) and Georgia (8-2). Looking to grab and unprecedented sixth consecutive SEC title, the Lady Vols face an ominous stretch run: Georgia, @LSU, Vandy and @ Kentucky. LSU has four games remaining: @Ole Miss, Tennessee, Arkansas, and @Vandy. Georgia also has four games left: @Tennessee, Arkansas, @Mississippi St., and Florida. The Lady Vols face Georgia and LSU in back-to-back games this week. LADY VOL STREAKS The last time the Lady Vols lost at home was against Texas, 69-66, on Feb. 12, 2002 -- since then, UT has won 14 games played at home. The last time UT lost on the road was on Jan. 4, 2003, at Connecticut, 62-63, since then the team has won six road games. The last time the Lady Vols lost on a neutral court was against Duke, 55-76, in the Jimmy V Classic on Nov. 24, 2002. Since then, UT has won four games on a neutral court. IN A SELECT CLUB When the 2002-03 season started, two SEC coaches were in a select club. Carolyn Peck of Florida and Melanie Balcomb of Vanderbilt were the only SEC coaches with a winning record over Tennessee's Pat Summitt. Peck registered a 1-0 record over Summitt while at Purdue, while Balcomb collected a 1-0 slate as Xavier's head coach. Summitt has improved her record over Peck with a pair of wins over Florida (94-53 and 79-40) and duplicated that feat with a 81-67 win over Balcomb's Vandy club on Feb. 2. DON'T LOOK NOW, GEORGIA WAS THE LAST TO DO IT Tennessee's last SEC loss at home was a little over six years ago. And the last SEC team to beat the Lady Vols in Knoxville? That would have been against the Georgia Lady Bulldogs on Dec. 8, 1996, 94-93 (OT) - that was 45 consecutive SEC home wins ago. RANDOM NOTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING WITH UGA Shyra Ely's 31 points against Georgia in the 2002 SEC Tournament second round was the second-most ever by a Lady Vol rookie...Tamika Catchings scored 35 points at DePaul on Jan. 20, 1998...Ely and Catchings become the only Lady Vol rookies in history to eclipse 30 points...Naismith Player of the Century Chamique Holdsclaw, managed a rookie high of just 27 points versus Purdue in 1995...Ely's 11-12 free throws against the Lady Bulldogs ties Catchings for second-most free throws by a freshman...Ely's 31 points and 11 rebounds were both then-career highs...Rookie Loree Moore closed in on tying Dawn Marsh for most Lady Vol freshman assists...In 1984-85, Marsh dished out 127 assists in 32 games for a 3.9 apg average...After the Georgia game, Moore had handed out 117 assists in just 28 games for a 4.1 apg average...Junior Gwen Jackson was back in the Lady Vol starting line-up in the SEC Tournament contest versus Georgia...Jackson tallied two points...In six SEC career tournament games, Jackson's tournament high is just eight points...UT reserves tallied 47 points versus Georgia whose second-teamers added 17 points... After scoring just two points in the first half versus Georgia, Kara Lawson exploded for 16 second half points for an SEC Tournament career high. LAST YEAR VS. GEORGIA IN THE REGULAR SEASON The #3/4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols survived a scare at #22/21 Georgia on Feb. 10, 2002, and produced an ugly 52-50 victory. UT managed to tie a 22-year old record for fewest second half points with 17, managing just five field goals in the second half on 27 attempts for a paltry 18% field goal average but survived to win. To start the game, Georgia jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead at 16:18. Tasha Butts tied the score at 10 with a lay-up at 11:53. After a time out, the Lady Vols went on an 11-2 run to post a 21-12 lead with 8:10 to go in the first half. UT pushed its margin out by as many as 15 points (35-20 at 2:08) before taking a 35-27 lead into the locker room at the half. To open the second stanza, UT scored three free throws in the opening three minutes of play before Kara Lawson hit a finger roll basket at 16:50 to give UT a 40-33 lead. Rookie Shyra Ely connected on UT's second basket of the half at 15:45 for a 42-35 lead. Gwen Jackson's baseline jumper at 13:12 pushed the Lady Vol lead back to nine points, 44-35. Ten minutes went by before Jackson hit UT's fourth field goal of the half with 3:10 left to play. By that time, UGA had taken a 46-45 lead with 5:46 to go and the two teams were trading leads. After Jackson's basket to tie the score at 48-all, April McDivitt hit a couple of free throws with 2:18 showing to tie the game at 50-all. UT's fifth and final basket of the second half came on a clear-out play to Lawson. UT spread the floor and she went to the hoop with 1:06 left for the 52-50 advantage. UGA almost pulled it out but Kara Braxton's shot rimmed out as time expired. UT misfired on 22 shots in the second half with 10 as missed lay-ups or shots in the paint. On the afternoon, Jackson and Ely led with 12 points each. Also in extra digits was Lawson with 10. Michelle Snow led with six boards. UT connected on a season low 34% of its shots and a 53% from the charity stripe. UT was killed on the boards with a 46-30 pounding from the Dawgs. The Lady Vols committed 17 turnovers on four Georgia steals while forcing 28 miscues on 14 UT thefts. Additionally, UT's bench outscored UGA, 20-11. UT & GEORGIA RANKING OUR OPPONENTS IN 2002-03 The #3 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols have faced 13 ranked teams in 25 games (52% of its opponents) while Georgia has taken on five ranked teams in 23 games (21% of its opponents). After the Georgia contest, UT will play two more games versus ranked teams.
SUMMITT ON SEC TELECONFERENCE ON MONDAY Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt will be on the SEC Teleconference on Monday, Feb. 24 in the 12:03-12:10 p.m. ET time slot previewing UT's upcoming games with Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The SEC media teleconference will take the place of Summitt's weekly teleconference. LADY VOL WEEKLY GAMES, RECORD,POLLS
2002-03 WON-LOSS DIFFERENTIAL Wins: +110 (1), +52 (1), +43 (2), +41 (1), +39 (1), +35 (1), +32 (1), + 28 (1), +26 (1), +22 (1), +25 (1), +19 (2), + 16 (1), +15 (1), +14(3), +13 (1), +9 (1), +3 (1) 2002-03 TENNESSEE LADY VOL LINE-UP COMBINATIONS During the 2002-03 season, Tennessee has used three starting lineups --
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER In all games, this is how Tennessee has shot from the field: 60%: Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (.663), 50%FG: Saint Louis (.569), ODU (.563), Vandy1 (.558), GWU (.542), S.Carolina (.531), Arkansas (.526), Florida1 (.521), 40%FG:Army (.493), USC (.484) DePaul (.471), Oklahoma (.459), Auburn1 (.456), TCU (.452), Alabama (.438), Florida2 (.433), Stanford (.433), Miss. St. (.429), LaTech (.400), 30%FG: Ole Miss (.392), Texas (.357), Notre Dame and Connecticut (.353), Auburn2 (.352), Duke (.316) DEEE ----- FENSE In all games, this is how the opposition has shot from the field: 50%FG: South Carolina (.545), Vandy1 (.500) 40%FG: Duke (.453), TCU (.444), Auburn1 (.433), Arkansas (.422), Connecticut (.418), DePaul (.415), Texas (.403); 30%FG: Miss. St. (.391), GWU (.375), ODU (.373), Stanford (.367), Auburn2 (.339), Florida1 (.328), Army (.320), Oklahoma (.314), Notre Dame (.306), Saint Louis (.302); 20%FG: USC (.286), Alabama (.262), Ole Miss (.259), Florida2 (.213), La Tech (.200), UPRM (.200). MOVED UP TO #3 IN THE POLLS The Lady Vols moved up to the third spot in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN/WBCA polls on Feb. 3. Tennessee started the season ranked number two, dropped to fourth/fifth place and now landed in the third spot. 189 WINS IN OUR LAST 207 GAMES The Lady Vols have won an amazing 189 games in their last 207 basketball contests (.913) spanning six seasons (starting with NCAA Tournament play in 1997). UT was 6-0 in the 1997 NCAA Tourney, ran the table with a 39-0 record in 1997-98, turned in a 31-3 worksheet in 1998-99, a 33-4 mark in 1999-2000, a 31-3 overall record in 2000-01, 29-5 in 2001-02 and 22-3 in 2002-03 2003 NCAA TOURNAMENT ACTION - KNOXVILLE, TENN. Credential requests for the NCAA First and Second Rounds and the Mideast Regionals to be held in Knoxville, Tenn., in the Thompson-Boling Arena have been distributed to the local media. Deadline for turning in the credential request form is March 1. NCAA'S TOP SCORING MARGINS (After the games of 2-17-03)
AMAZING NUMBERS
MORE AMAZING NUMBERS Summitt has registered double-digit wins over these opponents . .
BIG SUMMITT NUMBERS
SUMMITT COLLECTS WIN #810 The victory over Auburn was UT coach Pat Summitt's 810th of her 29-year career. She currently ranks sixth among all coaches (men's or women's) in all-time victories (as of 2-18-03). Summitt is closing in on Jerry Johnson of cross-state college LeMoyne-Owen.
DIAL 1-800-SUMMITT On Tues., Jan. 14, 2003, University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summitt became the first women's coach to join the exclusive 800 victory club with a 76-57 victory over #25/24-ranked DePaul in Knoxville, Tenn. Summitt joined an elite group of three other NCAA Division I coaches who previously achieved the 800 milestone - Dean Smith (North Carolina) 879, 2. Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) 876, 3. Jim Phelan (Mt. St. Mary's) 829. What is so amazing is that Summitt achieved 800 victories in just 29 seasons while Smith finished with 879 wins in 36 seasons, Rupp with 876 victories in 41 seasons and Phelan with 829 w's is still going strong in his 49th season. Additionally, 46% of the 971 total games coached by Summitt have been contested against ranked teams. WOW! JODY JOINS THE 800 CLUB - BOBBY DOES TOO Almost a week to the day that Tennessee coach Pat Summitt became the first women's coach to reach 800 wins, she was joined by Texas coach Jody Conradt who claimed her 800th win an upset victory over #7 Texas Tech, 69-58, in Austin, Texas. What's amazing is how quickly Summitt closed the gap on Conradt who had 680 wins on Dec. 21, 1996, while Summitt had 604 trailing the Texas coach by 76 victories. After UT's undefeated 39-0 season in 1997-98, Summitt closed the gap to 44 games. Last season, Summitt had narrowed the victory gap to just two games 781 (Conradt) and 779 (Summitt) on Feb. 12, 2002, when Texas upset Tennessee in Knoxville. Both coaches sported 788 wins to start the 2002-03 season. Coach Bob Knight of Texas Tech entered the 800 Club on his second try as his Red Raiders defeated Nebraska (75-49) on Wed., Feb. 5, 2003. With Knight's inclusion, three coaches entered the 800 wins club in a 22-day span. What's so amazing is that the 800 Victory Club had just four members entering this season and their ranks have doubled to eight coaches. Summitt, Conradt and Knight joined the ranks from the NCAA Division I ranks while Jerry Johnson of LeMoyne-Owen (NCAA D-II) was first in the 800 Club this season winning number 800 on Nov. 22, 2002 with a 78-73 win over Christian Brothers College in front of 987 fans at home. THE 20-WIN THING
PECK'S THE ONLY ONE UT coach Pat Summitt has faced many former players and assistant coaches in a variety of games thru the years but Florida head coach Carolyn Peck is the only one to record a victory over her former boss. While at Purdue, Peck handed Summitt a 78-68 loss on Nov. 15, 1998 in the State Farm TipOff Classic in West Lafayette. The defeat snapped UT's 46-game consecutive winning streak that was second only to Louisiana Tech's 54-game winning streak. UConn recently broke Tech's NCAA record. UT IN THE NCAA STATS Games Thru 2/17
IF YOU HOLD OUR FG% IN THE 30s . . . Tennessee has shot in the 30 percent range from the field in six games this season netting three losses. The Lady Vols struggled from the field in three losses shooting just 30% - Texas (.357), Connecticut (.353) and Duke (.316). However, UT defeated Auburn in game two connecting on 35%, Notre Dame shooting just 35% and Ole Miss (39%) to defy the odds. The Irish barely shot 30% after notching 22% FG in the first half. IF THE OPPONENTS' FG% IS IN THE 40s . . . Well, typically you'll beat Tennessee. Duke, Texas and Connecticut shot over 40% and all three recorded wins over the Lady Vols as Duke shot 45%, UConn 41% and Texas 40% of its field goal tries. The exceptions are South Carolina who shot a blistering 54.5 (and lost by 19 points), Vandy1 who shot 50% and lost by 14, TCU who shot 44.4% Auburn (game one), who shot 43.3%, Arkansas, who shot 42.2% and DePaul, who shot 41.5% and all lost to UT. WE'VE PLAYED A TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE Out of the top five teams ranked in the AP Top 25 polls this week, the Lady Vols have played the toughest non-conference schedule this season.
LATEST RPI Tennessee (.694) is #1 in the latest RPI rankings released Feb. 17. Number two is Connecticut (.692), followed by 3. Duke (.675), 4. LSU (.667) and 5.. Texas Tech (.655), respectively. LATEST STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE Tennessee (.662) is #1 in the latest Strength of Schedule rankings released Feb.17. Following the Lady Vols are: 2. TCU (.639), 3. Washington State (.635), 4. Illinois (.634), and 5. Oklahoma (.631). UT'S LAST LOSS TO AN UNRANKED TEAM? When is the last time Tennessee lost to an unranked team? That would have been to LSU on Mar. 2, 2002 at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. LSU had been in and out of the Top 25 polls in late January and February. Prior to that, UT's last loss to an unranked team was five years ago to the day losing to Auburn on Mar. 2, 1997 at the SEC Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. BEEN AWHILE SINCE WE'VE HAD OT Before the Jan. 4, 2003, overtime contest with Connecticut, the last time Tennessee was involved in an extra stanza game was during the 1996-97 season when the Lady Vols played a record four overtime affairs Previously, UT's last OT game was a 100-99 win over LSU in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Mar. 1, 1997. IN OVERTIME The Lady Vols are 20-11 all-time in overtime games. The most OT games in a season was 1996-97, when the Lady Vols were 3-1 in overtime contests losing to Georgia, 94-93, and defeating Texas, 68-65, Vanderbilt, 92-79 and LSU, 100-99. Tennessee's 21 points in the extra stanza against Vanderbilt on Jan.19, 1997, was the most ever scored by the Lady Vols in a single overtime. The previous high-water mark was 18 points versus Colorado on Dec. 20, 1993. 100 POINT GAMES Since 1974, the Lady Vols have gone over the century mark 69 times. Noteworthy: Tennessee went over 100 points in an NCAA playoff game for the first time ever in 1993-94 with the win over North Carolina A&T, 111-37. The 1987-88 team hit triple digits in seven games leading the NCAA.
THE SEC Tennessee has a 313-51 record all-time versus the SEC. Mississippi State is the only team who has never recorded a win over UT. Florida and Arkansas have the next fewest victories at 1 each. OVER 100,000 . . . AGAIN The Tennessee Lady Vols have gone over the 100,000 mark in home attendance for the ninth consecutive season as UT cleared that mark in the game with Ole Miss. To date, 137,325 fans have been counted at UT games with two more regular season home games to play. Last season, Tennessee attracted 200,132 patrons to 14 home games. SISTERS OF SWAT Tennessee held shot rejection parties against Ole Miss, Florida and TCU in back-to-back-to-back games. A little more than one-sixth of the Lady Rebels and Lady Gators shot attempts were blocked as the Orange and White recorded nine and eight blocks, respectively. Against TCU, UT rejected six of the Frogs 54 shots. Rookie Tye'sha Fluker tallied five swats while junior center Ashley Robinson crushed nine attempts. Senior Gwen Jackson swatted four against Florida and TCU, while sophomore Shyra Ely had back-to-back blocks in one series of shots in the Ole Miss game. Also recording blocks were Tasha Butts, LaToya Davis, Brittany Jackson and Courtney McDaniel (one each). 200 WINS IN THE BAG Tennessee recorded its 200th win in Thompson-Boling Arena when the Lady Vols defeated the University of Southern California Women of Troy on Nov. 18, 2001, 106-66. UT has now amassed a 221-11 record since the Orange and White moved into the Thompson-Boling Arena to start the 1987-88 season 15-years ago. Along the way, the Lady Vols have produced eight flawless home records in 1988-89 (15-0), 1991-92 (14-0), 1992-93 (13-0), 1993-94 (15-0), 1994-95 (15-0), 1997-98 (16-0), 1998-99 (14-0), and 2000-01 (15-0). UT also registered an NCAA record 69-game home court-winning streak from Feb. 1, 1991 thru Jan. 2, 1996. JUST 11 LOSSES The Tennessee Lady Vols rarely lose at home. In fact, since moving to the Thompson-Boling Arena for the 1987-88 season, UT has lost two games in one season just four times. UT lost two games in TBA during the inaugural 1987-88 campaign, 1996-97,1999-00 and the 2001-02 season. The 11 all-time losses at Thompson-Boling Arena have come at the hands of just six teams: Connecticut (2002, 2000, 1996), Louisiana Tech (1999, 1989), Georgia (1996, 1991), Texas (2002, 1987), Stanford (1996) and Auburn (1988). BENCHMARK WINS The PAC 10 Conference has helped Tennessee celebrate milestone wins in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Lady Vols won their 100th game in Thompson-Boling Arena with a victory over Stanford on 12-1-94. Seven years later, win #200 in TBA came at the expense of Southern Cal on 11-18-01. 170 OF 177 AT HOME UT has won 170 of their last 177 games in Thompson-Boling Arena dating back to 2-1-91. UT's seven losses were to Louisiana Tech, UConn (three times), Stanford, Texas and Georgia (OT). HOME SWEET HOME UT is 372-35 (.914) at home since the 1974-75 season. Home losses (in the Summitt era) include: six in Alumni Gym from 1974-76; 18 in Stokely Athletics Center from 1976-87; and 11 in Thompson-Boling Arena since 1987. TBA STREAK BROKEN AT 26 GAMES Tennessee's 26-game home court winning streak in Thompson-Boling Arena was broken on Jan. 5, 2002 by Connecticut. It ranked as the fourth longest home court-winning streak in Lady Vol history. AT LEAST 5000 IN THE HOUSE When an untimely blizzard and single-digit temperatures hit Knoxville on Jan. 23, 2003, the Lady Vols had played in front of at least 5000 turnstile fans in 169 consecutive games at home dating back to 1991. When the Lady Vols defeated #15/14 South Carolina, 97-78, on Jan. 23, 2003 only 4,482 fans braved the treacherous conditions to see the game and the streak was snapped. ONLY 35 LOSSES AT HOME . . . ALL-TIME SINCE 1974 Overall in Knoxville (since 1974): 367-35 (.913); ATTENDANCE CHALLENGE Tennessee has moved back ahead of the UConn Huskies in the attendance challenge with 13,732 fans per game. UConn is in second place with an average of 13,339 fans per home game. Following UConn and UT are: 3. Texas Tech 11,985, 4. New Mexico 10,280 and 5. Iowa State (9,086). ALL-TIME BEST WOMEN?S BASKETBALL HOME COURT AND HOME CITY RECORDS - UT AND KNOXVILLE LEAD ! (As of Dec. 31, 2002)
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