University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLS TRAVEL TO AUBURN TO TAKE ON THE TIGERS
January 19, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2005
| QUICK FACTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tennessee Lady Volunteers at Auburn Tigers
RADIO TV LIVE STATS RANKINGS
THE COACHES: Auburn Tigers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
THE GAME The #7/9-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols (12-3, 2-0 SEC) travel to Auburn, Ala., for their second SEC road game of the season with a match-up against the Auburn Tigers (9-7, 0-3 SEC). Entering the game, the Lady Vols have won 36-consecutive SEC regular season games dating back to 2002. Auburn is not ranked and is 9-7 overall and 0-3 in the SEC. The Tigers are under the direction of first-year Auburn coach Nell Fortner. Auburn is currently on a five-game losing skid dating back to a New Year's Eve loss to Duke, 80-61. Prior to that game, Auburn had reeled off nine consecutive wins. Natasha Brackett leads AU with 15.4 ppg and 5.0 rpg. Also in double-figures is Louise Emeagi with 11.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg. LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols' 31st season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 864-170 overall record...Needs just 16 wins to become the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history...Her 2003-04 squad finished as the NCAA runner-up with a 31-4 record...UT also is the seven-time-consecutive defending SEC regular season champion, and has been picked by both the media and the coaches to finish first in this year's SEC race as well. Tennessee returns seven letterwinners and welcomes eight newcomers to the lineup...Rookie Alex Fuller (Shelbyville, Tenn.) will redshirt this season after undergoing knee surgery in October... Junior guard Shanna Zolman broke out of the worst slump in her Lady Vol career once the 2005 SEC season started...In her previous four games (#2 Stanford, #24 Rutgers, ODU and #15/14 Connecticut), the junior sharpshooter had managed a total of just 16 points while connecting on a dismal 22% from the field. In two games last week, after losing her starting position, she came off the bench and led the Lady Vols to wins over Arkansas and at #17/15 Vanderbilt as she led UT in scoring in both games, produced a career back-to-back best FG % of .632 and 3FG% of .545. Her father, Kem, who was her high school coach, told her to relax, start laughing and smiling more on the court. TIGERS AT A GLANCE Against #18-ranked Georgia on Jan. 16, Auburn fell 71-56, suffering their fifth straight defeat and dropping to 9-7 overall and 0-3 in SEC play. The last time Auburn lost more than five consecutive games was a seven-game losing streak in 2001-02 (at Alabama, Tennessee, Ole Miss, at Mississippi State, at LSU, Alabama and at Arkansas). Natasha Brackett leads the team with 15.4 points per game and is now just 11 points from passing former teammate Le'Coe Willingham (1,475) on the all-time scoring list at Auburn and taking over seventh place. Auburn is 8-26 all-time vs. Tennessee with the Tigers' last win vs. the Lady Vols coming March 2, 1997 in a 61-59 win in the SEC Tournament. Auburn has not won at home against Tennessee since Jan. 19, 1991 (70-65). JUMP SHOTS Tennessee Lady Vol starting center, 6'5" Tye'sha Fluker from Pasadena, Calif., was named to the Southeastern Conference 2005 Good Works Team on Jan. 17. The SEC Good Works Team looks to highlight a player from each member school who gives back to their community. A junior, Fluker has been very active in the Knoxville community for the past three years in a variety of programs. She has volunteered for the Toyota Literacy Program in the Knox County Schools; is a favorite of the students as a reader at Sam E. Hill Elementary School, additionally, she has also volunteered for Knoxville's Promise, The Race for the Cure, and April Play Day. AUBURN SERIES Tennessee leads the series with Auburn, 26-8. The two teams began their series during the 1980 season in the SEC Tournament. UT has won the last 10 meetings and 18 of the last 19 games overall dating back to the 1991 SEC Tournament. THOSE DARN CATS Auburn is one of just seven teams who have ever recorded a win over the Lady Vols in Thompson-Boling Arena. The Tigers defeated UT on Jan. 9, 1988, 71-68. The six other teams with wins over UT since the team moved to TBA in 1987 includes: Texas (78-97, 66-69 and 60-70), Louisiana Tech (58-59 and 64-69), Georgia (74-81, 93-94 OT), Connecticut (53-59, 67-74 and 72-86), Stanford (65-82) and Duke (59-57). AVERAGE SCORE In the last 10 meetings, the average score of a Tennessee vs. Auburn game is UT 70.0 and AU 57.9. CAREER STATS VS. AUBURN Returning Lady Vol career statistics versus Auburn can be found on p. 76 in the 2004-05 Tennessee media guide. Sophomore Sidney Spencer is the leading scorer (14.0 ppg) and has connected at a .600 clip. Senior Loree Moore has proven that she enjoys playing against Auburn, as she owns a 8.0 points per game average versus the Tigers and hits on 56% of her shots against the SEC rivals. OUR LAST MEETING WITH AUBURN The top-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols rallied from six-point deficit late in the second half and then outscored #22/25 Auburn 15-8 in overtime for a 68-61 victory on Feb. 1, 2004, in Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee (18-1, 7-0) climbed to 3-0 in overtime games for the 2003-04 season. Additionally, UT claimed its 51st consecutive SEC home contest and extended its regular-season conference winning streak to 27. The Tigers opened the game by scoring the first bucket, but the Big Orange responded with a 9-2 run, capped with a steal and lay-in by senior Tasha Butts. Shortly after the second media timeout, Coach Pat Summitt's squad pushed the lead to eight, 16-8, in large part to the accurate shooting of junior Brittany Jackson, who connected on her first four shots (including two 3-pointers). AU fought back to even the score, 24-24, with 5:40 remaining in the opening stanza before UT closed the half on a 6-2 spurt to lead, 30-26, at the break. In the first frame, Tennessee shot just 36.4 percent from the field, while the Tigers connected on 40.7 percent. The battle of the boards was even, with each team snaring 18 rebounds. Following the intermission, Auburn quickly went on an 11-2 run during the opening four minutes of the second half and earned a 37-32 lead. AU would not trail for the remainder of regulation. With the Lady Vols down by six, 53-47, with less than two minutes left on the clock, the home club scored the last six points, including an 8-foot game-tying jumper by Butts with 2.6 seconds on the clock to send the match-up into overtime. In the extra session, UT trailed, 61-59, but closed the game on a 9-0 run over the final 2:20 to escape the upset bid with its 11th-consecutive victory. Junior Shyra Ely led all scorers in the overtime period with six points, and the team connected on 5-of-7 shots. On the afternoon, four Lady Vols posted double-digit point totals: freshman Sidney Spencer (14 - career high), Ely (13), Jackson (12) and Butts (10). In addition to her career night scoring, Spencer just missed out on her first double-double, as she grabbed nine rebounds. Senior Ashley Robinson also put up big numbers, totaling a career-high seven assists and a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with nine points. As a team, UT connected on a season-low 34.3 percent (24-70) of its shots but committed just 12 turnovers. UT also edged the Tigers on the boards, 45-41. FORMER LADY VOL NOW A TIGER...GRRRR Auburn assistant coach Carla McGhee wore #24 for the Lady Vols from 1986-90. A 6'3" forward, McGhee was a fierce competitor and shot blocker who averaged 6.1 ppg and 5.1 rpg while appearing in 101 games. McGhee started for Tennessee against Auburn in the 1989 NCAA title game in Tacoma, WA. UT won 76-60 for NCAA title #2. LOOKING AHEAD TO KENTUCKY Kentucky (13-5, 2-1 SEC) returns to action on Jan. 20 traveling to Starkville, Miss., to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs before coming to Knoxville on Jan. 23. In their last outing, Kentucky hit clutch free throws down the stretch to take a 70-63 win over Ole Miss on Jan. 16 at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky. Four Wildcats scored in double-figures led by senior Sara Potts' 17 points. Sophomore Nastassia Alcius came off the bench for 13 points, while freshman Chante' Bowman registered her first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Sarah Elliott added 10 points. It was the Wildcats' second consecutive SEC victory and the Cats' 12th-straight home victory. Kentucky led 39-28 at the half thanks largely to the play of Alcius, who came off the bench and poured in 10 first-half points. Ole Miss responded out of the break, jumping out on an 8-2 run to pull within five, 41-36, with 16:44 remaining in the game. Alcius connected on a three-pointer to push UK's lead out to five, 48-43, at the 13:07 mark and the Wildcats eventually pulled ahead by 11 points (66-55) with 1:09 to go. The Lady Rebels wouldn't back down, however, as they put together a late run to come within four, 67-63, with 35 seconds left. Bowman made three clutch free throws in the final seconds to preserve the win. Kentucky's bench outscored Ole Miss' bench 28-13. The Cats' bench has now outscored the opponents' bench in all 18 games this season. UK shot 63.2 percent (12-of-19) as a team from the charity stripe and 48.1 percent (25-of-52) from the floor. The Cats also hit an impressive 57.1 percent (8-of-14) clip from three-point range, marking fourth time UK has hit over half its shots this season from beyond the arc. MEET-AND-GREET DEMOSS The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame will host a "meet-and-greet" reception with University of Kentucky women's basketball head coach Mickie DeMoss when the Wildcats come to Knoxville to face the University of Tennessee Lady Vols. The reception is scheduled for Sat., Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m. in the Hall of Fame's South Rotunda and is open to the public. DeMoss is in her second season at the helm of the UK women's basketball program. Her 28 years of coaching experience includes 18 years on the sideline at the University of Tennessee where she served as an assistant coach and associate head coach with the Lady Vols basketball squad. The Hall of Fame has hosted a series of "meet-and-greet" receptions, giving fans the opportunity to meet such basketball notables as Tamika Catchings, Van Chancellor, Jody Conradt, Marsha Sharp, Dawn Staley, Pat Summitt, and Tara VanDerveer. The mission of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame is to "honor the past, celebrate the present, and promote the future" of women's basketball. HAILING FROM ALABAMA Sophomore forward Sidney Spencer (Hoover, Ala.) is the Lady Vols' third-ever player from the state of Alabama. Gwen Jackson (1999-03) was the first Lady Vol from the state of Alabama to become a starter. Tasheika Morris of Huntsville spent the 1999-2000 season at UT before transferring to Florida State. RANDOM NUMBERS The number to remember when watching the Lady Vols is 60... 11 times this year, the Big Orange has scored at least 60 points in a game...Their record in those games is 11-0... When tallying less than 60, the Orange and White are just 1-3, with their only victory coming against Temple (54-52)...This squad is one of UT's deepest in recent history, as at least 10 players are averaging extra digit minutes...Additionally, eight different players have started games this year for the Lady Vols...Only one player is currently averaging more than 10 points a game...Perhaps that bodes well for the Big Orange, as in program history only five teams have had just two players in double-digit scoring... Four of those teams advanced to the national championship game, with three of them, the 1986-87, 1988-89 and 1990-91 squads winning it all...Shyra Ely is UT's leading scorer at 12.9 points per game...Should that figure not climb above 14.0 ppg, it would mark the lowest average for Tennessee's top scorer in program history...Thus far, opponents have attempted 22 more three-point shots on the season than the Orange and White but have made 12 fewer. TIDBITS OF INFO: A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT Auburn might want to add a few more ushers for Thursday's game on The Plains. The Tigers have been averaging just 1,141 fans per home game. The Lady Vols have been attracting an average of 9,383 patrons per away game. In all, 160,948 fans have clicked the turnstiles watching Lady Vol hoops in 15 games this season. Rookie Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood missed the game versus Arkansas on Jan. 13 due to a violation of team rules. Gatewood also took a seat on Dec. 12 and missed the DePaul game for violation of team rules. ESPN announced this week that the upcoming Lady Vol game versus Georgia on Jan. 31, 2005, would also be available in HD on ESPN2. THINGS WE JUST NOTICED This is a weird note...Tennessee's game with UConn on Jan. 8 marks the earliest a Lady Vol team has ever concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule in the history of the program...Typically, UT has had a UConn, Duke, TCU or Texas lurking on the schedule in February... This season, UT managed to get 13 non-conference games taken care of before the grueling SEC season starts...Hmmmm, we'll see how that bodes for this collection of Lady Vols. Former Lady Vol All-American, Olympian and all-around crowd favorite Tamika Catchings has enrolled at UT for the 2005 spring semester... "Catch," a WNBA All-Star, is working on her master's degree in Sport Studies...She plans on owning her own WNBA or perhaps NBA franchise in the future and figured the master's degree might come in handy. The Lady Vol medical staff is taking a "wait and see" approach with rookie Candace Parker. Parker has been on and off the practice floor since Dec. 26 with swelling in her left knee. Her activity has been limited to address the swelling issue. 479 GAMES VERSUS RANKED TEAMS Tennessee's game versus Vanderbilt on Jan. 16 was the Lady Vols' 479th all-time versus a ranked team since the inception of the polls in 1976. UT is an amazing 339-140 (.707) versus ranked teams. The Lady Vols are 4-3 on the 2004-05 season vs. ranked teams. SENIORS HAVE PLAYED A FEW RANKED The Tennessee senior class of Shyra Ely, Brittany Jackson and Loree Moore have faced 65 ranked teams out of 122 career games - 53% of their collegiate contests have been spent playing against the best in women's basketball. Following the game with #17/15 Vanderbilt, the senior class has compiled a 49-16 record against ranked teams winning 75% of the time. Overall, this senior class is 105-17 in all games (.857) for their Tennessee tenure including the current 12-3 mark. 245 WINS IN OUR LAST 272 GAMES The Lady Vols have won 245 games in their last 272 basketball contests (.906) spanning nine 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, 33-5 in 2002-03, 31-4 in 2003-04 and 12-3 in 2004-05. MOVIE NEWS Coach Carter," a movie released on Jan. 14, 2005, and starring actor Samuel L. Jackson is based on the story of Coach Ken Carter and his 1999 Richmond High School (California) boy's basketball team. In a recent segment on ESPN's "Budweiser Hot Seat," Jackson related that he had prepared for his movie role using Tennessee Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt as his model. Partial Transcript From Mike Greenberg's Interview With Samuel L. Jackson On ESPN's "The Budweiser Hot Seat" (1-6-05) Greenberg: Q. "You're staring in an upcoming movie called Coach Carter about a disciplinarian high school coach who takes a lot of young kids under their wing and sends them in the right direction. What coach did you model you performance after?" Jackson: A. " Pat Summitt." Greenberg: Q. "In what way?" Jackson: A. "Umm, I like the fact that she's tough but loving. She admonishes but teaches at the same time, and she always encourages her players, no matter what." Several member of the Lady Vol team and staff saw the movie "Coach Carter" on Jan. 15. SUMMITT & SAMUEL L. CONNECTION Samuel L. Jackson, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., and a graduate of Chattanooga Riverside High School, first met the Lady Vol coach at the ESPY Awards in New York City when Chamique Holdsclaw was being honored as the 1998 Women's Collegiate Basketball Player of the Year. He remarked at the time that he "had always been a fan of Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols."
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
