University of Tennessee Athletics
TENNESSEE TRAVELS TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS FOR PARADISE JAM
November 22, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
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TENNESSEE TRAVELS TO THE VIRGIN ISLANDS FOR PARADISE JAM
UPCOMING GAMES AT THE PARADISE JAM The #2/1-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols play in the 9:30 p.m. AST time slot in all three games in the Paradise Jam, Nov. 24-26. LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols' 32nd season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 884-172 overall record...Passed Dean Smith for most NCAA collegiate basketball wins of all-time with a 75-54 win over Purdue on Mar. 22, 2005 ... Summitt Is just 16 wins away from collecting 900 career victories...Her 2004-05 squad finished third in the NCAA Final Four Championships with a 30-5 overall record and were the SEC Tournament Champions... This season, UT returned eight letterwinners, two redshirt freshmen and welcomed one newcomer ...The 2005-06 season marked the Lady Vol debut for redshirt freshmen Candace Parker and Alex Fuller who sat out last season rehabbing their left knees...True freshman, #21 Lindsey Moss, a 6-0 guard from Alpharetta, Ga., is seeing her first action in the Orange and White this season as well... UPCOMING OPPONENTS Tennessee's opponents in the upcoming Paradise Jam kicked-off the season on Nov. 18. #9/11-ranked Michigan State defeated UC-Santa Barbara, 86-55, and former Lady Vol Kellie Jolly Harper's Western Carolina Catamounts, 84-61, in East Lansing on Nov. 20. Gonzaga opened the season at San Jose State (61-69 loss) and took a 54-51 win over Eastern Washington at home on Nov. 20. Also, #10/14-ranked Maryland traveled to Siena for its opener (a 107-66 win) and played at home on Nov. 20 recording a 93-68 win over Xavier. JUST ANOTHER TYPICAL SCHEDULE - 5 GAMES in 7 DAYS - PLUS By the time Saturday, Nov. 26 rolls around, the Tennessee Lady Vols will have completed one-sixth of their season schedule playing five games in seven days. UT played back-to-back home games to open the season on Nov. 20 (Stetson, an 83-33 win) and Nov. 21 (Chattanooga, a 92-50 win) before traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam. After traveling all day Tuesday and practicing on Wednesday, the Lady Vols will face #10/11-ranked Michigan State on Thanksgiving night at 8:30 p.m. ET (FOX Sports), Gonzaga on Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET and conclude with #10/14-ranked Maryland on Nov. 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET. UT returns home to face #18 Texas on Dec. 1 and travels to face #15 Stanford in Palo Alto on Dec. 4. OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK Crazy. UT travels to St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam and back-to-back-to-back games versus #9/11-ranked Michigan State, Gonzaga and #10/14-ranked Maryland. The Lady Vols return home on Nov. 28 and face #18 Texas at home on Dec. 1 (ESPN2) before traveling to #15/9 Stanford on Dec. 4. LADY VOLS ON TV A record 20 Lady Vol regular season games are slated for television this season. The Tennessee at Georgia game on Feb. 16 will now tip-off at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. ON THESE DAYS Tennessee is 19-4 in their history when playing on Nov. 24-25-26. The Lady Vols are 11-1 at home, 4-1 on the road, and 4-2 on neutral courts. Last time out on the 24th, the Lady Vols lost to Duke 76-55 (2002), 25th lost to Texas. 74-59 (2004) and 26th beat George Washington, 83-61 (2002). LOOKING BACK Last year at this time, the Lady Vols were 3-1 and had just lost to Texas, 74-59, on the road. UT'S OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER In all games, this is how Tennessee has shot from the field: 50%FG: none; 40%FG: Chattanooga (.477), Stetson (.446) 30%FG: none, DEEE ----- FENSE In all games, this is how the opposition has shot from the field: 50%FG: none, 40%FG: none, 30%FG: Chattanooga (.322), 20%FG: Stetson (.283) THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt is now just 16 wins away from the incredible uncharted plateau of 900 career victories. Summitt started the season with 882 wins. THE PARADISE JAM There are two women's divisions at The Paradise Jam - St. John and St. Thomas. The #2/1 Tennessee Lady Vols will be playing in the round-robin St. John Division squaring-off against #9/11 Michigan State on Nov. 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET (FOX Sports), Gonzaga on Nov. 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET (Live video streaming on collegesportsdirect.com) and #10/14 Maryland on Nov. 26 at 8:30 p.m. ET (Live video streaming on collegesportsdirect.com). The St. Thomas Division is set-up like a regular tournament with Alabama taking on Virginia and #12/17 Minnesota facing Nevada on Nov. 25 with winners and losers playing on Nov. 26. UT will be able to purchase a subscription to watch live video streaming of the tournament via collegesportsdirect.com. For only $9.95 fans can see four games in the St. John division. For only $16.95, fans can get all those games plus 4 games in the women's St. Thomas Division, as well.
All-Time Series Tied 1-1
THE SERIES This marks the third meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1977 season. AVERAGE SCORE The average score of a UT-MSU game is 70.0 for UT and 65.5 for MSU. VERSUS THE BIG TEN Tennessee has taken on 10 teams from the Big Ten all-time and sports a 42-5 record. Five teams have claimed victories over UT - Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State, Penn State and Purdue, each with one win. Prior to facing MSU at the 2005 Final Four, Tennessee's last meeting with a Big Ten opponent came in Knoxville in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, as the Lady Vols defeated Purdue, 75-54, on March 22. In the Dec. 3, 2000 contest versus the Illinois Fighting Illini at the Maui Women's Invitational, UT won 111-62. Lady Vol Michelle Snow became the first woman in NCAA history to dunk on live TV. MICHIGAN STATE'S PROBABLE STARTERS 52-Liz Shimek, F, 6-1, Sr., 27.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg
UT vs. GONZAGA All-Time Series First Meeting VS. THE WEST COAST CONFERENCE Tennessee has taken on three teams from the WCC all-time and sports a 4-0 record. GONZAGA'S PROBABLE STARTERS 42-Stephanie Hawk, F, 6-3, Jr., 13.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg
UT vs. MARYLAND All-Time Series UT leads 9-3
THE SERIES This marks the 13th meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1978 season. The Lady Vols lost to the Terps in the first two games but won seven straight until a 77-72 loss in the Maryland Invitational in 1992. AVERAGE SCORE The average score of a UT-UM game is 79.1 for UT and 67.9 for UM. VERSUS THE ACC Tennessee is 76-12 (.855) all-time versus 11 teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. UT's last match-up with an ACC team came on Dec. 2, 2004, with a 59-57 loss to Duke in Knoxville. Three ACC teams have three wins against UT - Duke (UT 4-3), Maryland (UT 9-3) and N.C. State (UT 12-3). UT is undefeated against Boston College, Fla. State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. MARYLAND'S PROBABLE STARTERS 1-Crystal Langhorne, F, 6-2, So., 13.0 ppg, 8.0 rpg
PARADISE JAM NOTEBOOK ISLAND GIRLS Tennessee Lady Vol seniors Shanna Zolman and Tye'sha Fluker have been somewhat "Island Girls" during their UT tenure. As rookies, they traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to the San Juan Shoot-Out where the Lady Vols defeated Army, 96-44, and Saint Louis University, 75-40. In the summer following their freshman season, Tennessee traveled on a two-week junket to Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece. While in the Greek Isles, UT won the Greek International Basketball Tournament in Glyfada (just outside Athens). Zolman and Fluker spearheaded UT to the tournament championship. The Lady Vols also traveled by boat to tour and shop in Hydra, Poros and Aegina in the Greek Isles. TOURNAMENTS & INVITATIONALS Since 1969, the Lady Vols have played in 49 regular season tournaments or invitationals and sport 29 championships and 13 runner-up honors. During the Pat Summitt era (since 1974), the Lady Vols have been crowned champions 29 times. UT'S RECORD ON ISLANDS The trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands is the eighth journey for the Tennessee Lady Vols to play basketball on "Islands." This marks UT's first trip back to "Islands" since a Summer 2003 junket to the Greece where the Lady Vols won the Greek International Basketball Tournament in Glyfada (outside Athens). During the 2002-03 season, the Lady Vols won the 2002 San Juan Shoot-Out in Puerto Rico. Previously, UT traveled to the Hawaiian Islands five times where the team has accumulated a 13-0 record. The most recent trip to Hawaii was in 1999 to Maui where UT defeated Clemson and Illinois. It is also where Michelle Snow first dunked in a game on live television. Previously, UT captured the title on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1995 at the Kona Women's Invitational. Prior to that, UT posted an 8-0 record in all games played on the island of Oahu. UT traveled first to Hawaii in December 1985 and recorded two wins. The next two trips found the Lady Vols winning the Rainbow Wahine Classic in 1988 and 1992. WE KNOW MEEK AND AL If Lady Vol fans look closely during the game against Michigan State, they will see a couple of familiar faces in former UT All-American Semeka Randall and former Lady Vol assistant Al Brown who are assistant coach on the Spartan staff. While playing for the Orange and White, Randall was a two-time Kodak All-American (1999 and 2000) and scored 1,915 points, the fifth-highest total in UT history. Brown served on Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt's staff from 1995-2002, helping the Lady Vols win three straight national crowns (1996-98). Brown also worked as an assistant with the men's team at UT during the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons. PARADISE JAM OPPONENT NOTEBOOK OUR LAST MEETING WITH MICHIGAN STATE Playing in front of the second-largest crowd to ever watch a women's college basketball game (28,937), the top-seeded Tennessee Lady Vols surrendered a 16-point second half lead and fell to Michigan State, 68-64, in an NCAA Final Four semifinal game at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Ind., on April 3, 2005. MSU's comeback equaled the largest rally in NCAA Final Four history. UT, which was playing in its fourth consecutive Final Four and a record 16th overall, finished its season with a record of 30-5, marking the seventh time in the last eight seasons that the program has won at least 30 games. Early in the contest, the Lady Vols struggled to find their shot as they connected on just 2-of-12 shots to open play and fell behind, 9-4. Shortly after the second media timeout, the Spartans extended their lead to eight points, 18-10, before the Big Orange rattled off a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Loree Moore three-pointer. While MSU was able to maintain a narrow lead during the next few minutes, Tennessee exploded on a 12-2 run that put them ahead 29-23 with 1:30 remaining in the opening half. UT went to the locker room with a 31-25 advantage. Unlike the first half, the Lady Vols opened the second stanza with solid shooting, hitting on their first three attempts from the field to quickly push the margin to 11 points, 38-27. After a layin by Nicky Anosike at the 16:03 mark, Tennessee secured its biggest lead of the game, 45-29. Unwilling to go down easily, MSU responded with a 14-2 run during the next seven minutes to cut the lead to just four. UT's only points during the run came off a pair of Shanna Zolman free throws after Michigan State's bench was whistled for a technical foul. While the Big Orange pushed the lead back to eight points, 57-49, the Spartans answered with yet another run (15-5) to take a two-point lead with less than a minute to play after a steal and layin by Kristin Haynie. UT knotted the score at 64 following a short jumper by Moore but found itself trailing by two with 35 seconds to play. With a chance to tie or take the lead, the Lady Vols failed to connect on a three-pointer and two put-back attempts. SHORT HISTORY-BIG STAKES Tennessee has faced Michigan St. in just two games all-time but ironically, they came in the Lady Vols' first and most recent last game in postseason tournament play. The Lady Vols won their first game at the Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) Championships in school history over Michigan State, 76-62, on March 23, 1977. The contest came in Pat Summitt's third season at Rocky Top. After defeating MSU, the Big Orange topped Kansas State the next day, 81-69, to advance to the first Final Four in school history. After falling to eventual national champion Delta State, 62-58, in the semifinals, the Big Orange outscored Immaculata, 91-71, to secure third place. Michigan State would drop a 63-62 decision to Utah in the consolation bracket and ended the season with a 23-6 mark. The advancement was also the farthest in a national tournament for MSU until last season. In the first contest versus the Spartans in 1977, the Lady Vols took control in the first half as they grabbed a commanding 38-26 advantage into the locker room before holding on for the win. Center Patricia Roberts tallied 31 points, scoring 41 percent of Tennessee's total, and grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds. Also contributing double-figure point totals with 10 each were current Lady Vol associate head coach Holly Warlick, Lisa McGill and Suzanne Barbre. OUR LAST MEETING WITH MARYLAND In the last meeting between Tennessee and Maryland, the No.1-ranked Lady Vols shattered school records en route to a 95-29 victory at Cole Field House in College Park, Md., on Dec. 4, 1994. It was the worst loss for the Terps in 24 years, surpassing a 37-point loss to Virginia in the 1990-91 season. UT burst out to a 34-point unanswered hot streak in ten minutes of the first half. Sixty-three percent shooting in the opening stanza (22-35), including 57 percent from beyond the arc (4-7), gave the Lady Vols a 52-8 advantage heading into the locker room. The 44--point margin ranks as the fourth-largest at the break in Tennessee history. Maryland's eight points was the fewest ever scored in the first half by a UT opponent and the fewest ever scored in Terp program history (a dismal 3-25) from the field. Twelve percent was the lowest field-goal percentage in a half by a Maryland team in school history. The Terrapins managed to sink two of their four free throw attempts in the first twenty minutes. Maryland finished the game with just eight made-field goals and 29 points. Both marked the fewest ever by a Maryland team. The Terps connected on eight of 47 attempts, the lowest field-goal percentage in the history of the program. Tennessee placed five players in double figures - Dana Johnson (22), Latina Davis (21), Michelle Marciniak (11), Tiffani Johnson (14) and Laurie Milligan (12). Marciniak paved the way by dishing out nine assists, along with grabbing seven boards. The nine helpers in a game tied for eighth all-time by a sophomore at Tennessee. The Big Orange saw five players grab seven or more rebounds, including Pashen Thompson and Tiffani Johnson with nine each. Dana Johnson, a Maryland native and Western High graduate, commented "For me, it was a little sweeter because I was at home. The last time we were here, we lost and I didn't want to go back with the same taste in my mouth." The Lady Vols were down two star players, as senior starters Nikki McCray (injured) and Tiffany Woosley (suspended) did not play. MOSS MAKES THE MOST AND FIRST ACTION FOR SYBIL Rookie Lindsey Moss played 11 minutes in her Lady Vol debut and canned a trey, dished two assists and registered two blocks in back-to-back trips up the floor against Chattanooga. Sophomore post Sybil Dosty saw her first action of the season against Stetson and grabbed three rebounds, and had a block and a steal in 14 minutes. The 6-3 Dosty missed the first two exhibition games of the season due to violation of team rules - she missed class. WELCOME TO OUR NEW FLOOR - "THE SUMMITT" The playing court in the Thompson-Boling Arena on the University of Tennessee campus has a new look for the 2005-06 season. After Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt passed Dean Smith for most NCAA collegiate basketball wins of all-time with a 75-54 win over Purdue on Mar. 22, 2005, UT named the TBA court, "The Summitt." The floor had a complete overhaul this past summer. Permanent logos of both the Lady Vols and Vols were painted directly in front of the scorer's table; the free throw lanes were painted orange with "SEC" reversed out; the giant jump circle/mid-court TENNESSEE was given a new brighter color scheme, and "The Summitt," Coach Summitt's actual signature adorns the sidelines opposite the team benches. LADY VOLS & DUNKING HISTORY - JUST IN CASE IT HAPPENS Lady Vol redshirt freshman Candace Parker has Orange Nation holding its collective breath in anticipation of her first dunk. Even though she tempted the rim during the opening game versus Stetson at Thompson-Boling Arena, the closest Parker came to a dunk was a sweet finger roll. This is a chronology of Tennessee's and collegiate women's basketball dunking history. Former University of Tennessee basketball center, 6'5" Michelle Snow from Pensacola, Fla., became the first player in a storied Lady Vol history to dunk in a game. Now with the WNBA Houston Comets, it's just a matter of time before Snow dunks as a professional and joins Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks in the dunking circles. At Tennessee, Snow established school records for most dunks in a game (1), a season (2) and a career (3). Snow's rise to the forefront of women's collegiate basketball in winter of 2000 was not in the original forecast for the Lady Vols. A solid contributor and a starting post player for UT, she was not having a particularly stellar game against Illinois on Nov. 25, 2000, in the title tilt of the Maui Women's Invitational. Then came what was simply known henceforth as "The Dunk." Snow's two-handed slamming, hanging on the right side of the rim jam, occurred with 10 seconds left before halftime, when she stepped up to steal the ball at the high post and sailed all the way to the bucket. In flight, she jammed the ball through the hoop with both hands and then hung on the rim to put an exclamation point on the slam. Oxygen Sports Network, producing its first sporting event, was on hand televising the game, and play-by-play announcer Beth Mowins made the call. Maui News photographer Matthew Thayer was the only one to capture the photo. Snow's dunk was replayed on ESPN's SportsCenter within 12 minutes of the play. It was labeled the "Play of the Day" by just about every network, sports program, etc. The excitement of Snow's dunk gave the Lady Vols momentum going into the half that eventually sprung them to a 111-62 victory over 21st-ranked Illinois. But the story from Maui was not an impressive win by one of the top teams in the country; it was a spectacular play by the new face of women's basketball. Snow became only the third woman in NCAA history to dunk in a game, the first to do it two-handed and the first to do it in televised game. The dunk put a crowning touch on the 61-point first half by the Lady Vols. The team went into the locker room soon after the dunk and sat waiting for coach Pat Summitt's reaction. LADY VOLS & DUNKING HISTORY Summitt walked in, turned to Snow and merely said, "Nice high-post steal there, Snow." Laughter broke out in the locker room as Summitt high-fived Snow in approval. Snow may be the most recent female athlete to dunk in a collegiate game, but she certainly was not the first. The first recorded dunk in women's college basketball was by 6'7" Georgeann Wells of the West Virginia University (Northland H.S./Columbus, Ohio). Wells tossed in a one-handed dunk against Charleston (W.Va.) in the Mountaineer Christmas Classic on Dec. 21, 1984. With 11:58 remaining in the game, Wells took a full-court pass from teammate Lisa Ribble and soared to the basket for the one-handed dunk at Elkins' Randolph County Armory. The crowd of 750 erupted. Her teammates drew a technical foul for running onto the court to congratulate Wells on her accomplishment. The Lady Mountaineers went on to defeat Charleston that night, 110-82, but the true history lies in only two of those 110 points. Over the days and weeks that followed, media from all over the country clawed for a piece of Wells' time. Her next dunk came a few weeks later against Xavier, setting off another media frenzy. Everywhere the team went for the rest of the season, Wells' celebrity followed. Summing up her dunk and the frenzy it caused, Wells commented, "I wish other girls would start slamming, so people would see it's not impossible." Wells went on to play professionally in Europe and Asia. The collegiate basketball world would have to wait another decade before the next dunk in a women's game. North Carolina's Charlotte Smith became the next women's basketball player to dunk in a sanctioned game when she accomplished her one-handed stuff out of a secondary break against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 4, 1994, in Chapel Hill, as the Tar Heels won 113-58. The dunk would not be the most famous shot Smith would take in her career, however. In fact, it was not even the biggest shot of her season. Smith hit a jump shot in the closing seconds of the 1995 NCAA Championship game to win the contest and the first NCAA title for the Tar Heel women. In the 2000-01 season, Michelle Snow took her game to the next level with her first dunk, and then solidified her position in history when she dunked again to seal a 70-64 victory against in-state SEC rival Vanderbilt on Jan. 23, 2001. The second dunk was slightly more controversial than the first. Snow's second jam came with seven seconds remaining in a game that the Lady Vols led, 68-61, prior to the slam. In a designed play to either a post or a guard, UT point guard Kara Lawson took the ball out on Vandy's baseline and rifled a 60-foot Peyton Manning-type pass to Snow, who broke to the basket from halfcourt. She deposited the two-handed slam, sent the crowd into a frenzied state and then was whistled for a technical foul for lingering on the rim too long. Ironically, Summitt found herself being asked to defend her play call in the final seconds of the game by the media after the contest. Summitt responded, "We ran a full-court play to a 6'5" post player who happens to be able to dunk the ball. If it's in the men's game, I'm not even asked this question. It's (the dunk is) expected." Snow's final collegiate dunk also occurred on the road during her senior season on Jan. 17, 2002 at South Carolina. In front of a school record crowd of 12,168 in the Carolina Coliseum, Snow performed her first one-handed jam with 1:49 left in the game in the 80-61 victory over eighth-ranked South Carolina. Sadly for the Tennessee fans, Snow never dunked in a game at the Thompson-Boling Arena. In her final home showing, a NCAA Tournament contest versus Notre Dame on St. Patrick's Day 2002, Snow attempted to dunk with 1:59 left in the contest but was fouled hard on the shot and the dunk did not go down. Nevertheless, Snow graduated from Tennessee holding the Lady Vol basketball records for most dunks in a game (1), a season (2) and a career (3). LADY VOL STREAKS The last time the Lady Vols lost at home was against Duke, 59-57 on Dec. 2, 2004 -- since then, UT has won 14 home games. The last time UT lost on the road was on Feb. 10, 2005 at #1 LSU, since then, UT has won two road games. The last time the Lady Vols lost on a neutral court was against Michigan State, 64-68, in the NCAA semifinal game on April 3, 2005 Since then, UT has not played on a neutral court. 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 previous (to the day) losing to Auburn on Mar. 2, 1997 at the SEC Tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn. 487 GAMES VERSUS RANKED TEAMS Tennessee's game versus #6/5 Michigan State on Apr. 3, 2005 was the Lady Vols' 487th all-time versus a ranked team since the inception of the polls in 1976. UT is an amazing 345-142 (.703) versus ranked teams. In 2004-05, the Lady Vols were 10-5 vs. ranked teams. 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. IN OVERTIME The Lady Vols are 24-12 all-time in overtime games. The most OT games in a year was tied in 2003-04 with four as the Lady Vols went 3-1 in overtime losing to Georgia, 68-66, and defeating Auburn, 68-61, DePaul, 96-89, and Stanford, 70-66. It tied the mark set in 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. UT's 22 points in the OT against Florida (2-3-05), was the most ever scored by the Lady Vols in a single overtime. AN OT STORY Before the Lady Vols piled up four overtime games in the 2003-04 season, OT contests were few and far-in-between. The Jan. 4, 2003, overtime contest with Connecticut, was the first time Tennessee was involved in an extra stanza game since the 1996-97 season when the Lady Vols played a then-record four overtime affairs. SEC COACHES MAKE PICKS The Southeastern Conference unveiled its second annual women's basketball preseason All-SEC first and second teams, Tues. Oct. 25, 2005, to tip off another great season of SEC women's basketball. The Tennessee Lady Vols placed two players - senior guard Shanna Zolman and sophomore center Nicky Anosike - on the first team, while sophomore guard Alexis Hornbuckle earned a spot on the second team. The preseason All-SEC first and second teams consist of a minimum of eight players on each squad, voted on by the SEC Head Women's Basketball Coaches. No ties were broken and no predicted order of finish was made. SEC MEDIA DAY VOTING The media attending SEC Media Days in Birmingham. Ala., on Oct. 26-27, picked the Tennessee Lady Vols to win the SEC. UT received 10 first place votes (251 points) while LSU grabbed 11 first place votes (248 points) to rank second. Georgia was awarded the only other first place vote (224 points) for third place. The remaining teams: 4. Vandy, 5. Ole Miss, 6. Auburn, 7. Florida, 8. Alabama, 9. Kentucky, 10. Arkansas, 11. Mississippi State and 12. South Carolina. SOME SERIOUS EXHIBITION NUMBERS In two exhibition games, the Lady Vols put up some serious numbers. The team shot a mind-boggling .647 from the field (88-136), .452 three-pointers (14-31), .792 on charity tosses (42-53), outrebounded its opponents 43.5-26.0, committed an average of 16.0 miscues while forcing 31 per game, grabbed 21.5 steals per contest while giving up 8.5 thefts. The 2005-06 squad racked up 116 ppg while limiting the opponents to just 47.5 ppg. UT also dished out 24.5 assists and blocked 7.0 shots per game. Get this - all 10 dressed players in the exhibitions averaged over 5.5 ppg or more...every player got into the rebounding, assists and steals column of the box score. OPENING DAY RECORD Over the last 32 years on opening day, the Lady Vols have won 29 times and only lost just three contests. Coach Pat Summitt lost her very first game as a college head coach -- a heartbreaking one-point decision at home to Mercer, 84-83, on Dec. 7, 1974. The next time UT lost an opening game was in Knoxville on Nov. 21, 1981, to Stephen F. Austin, 80-74. Most recently, UT fell in their first contest of the 1999-2000 campaign dropping a 69-64 decision to Louisiana Tech in Thompson-Boling Arena on Nov. 14, 1999. Until the loss to the Lady Techsters, the Lady Vols had won 18 consecutive season openers. LADY VOLS INK TWO HOOPSTERS University of Tennessee Lady Volunteer Basketball Coach Pat Summitt confirmed on Nov. 10 that she had received signed scholarship papers from Cait McMahan and Nicci Moats. "We are very excited to have both Cait and Nicci sign with the University of Tennessee Lady Vols," said Summitt. "They are the only players we will sign this year and both will be an excellent fit and complement the players on our roster." McMahan, a 5'6" point guard from nearby Heritage High School in Maryville, Tenn., signed her letter-of-intent at school Wednesday morning. Moats, a 6'2" forward from Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville, Va., inked her scholarship papers that same afternoon in a ceremony at the LBHS library. This past summer, McMahan was a member of the 2005 USA Youth Development Festival White Team that earned a silver medal. She paced all 2005 Festival participants for assists (3.6 apg.) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.25), while averaging 9.6 ppg. McMahan was named to USA Today's list of top juniors in 2005. She was recognized as a Street & Smith's All-America in 2005 and honorable mention in 2004. Additionally, she was a finalist for Tennessee's Miss Basketball in 2004 and 2005 and All-State in 2003, 2004 and 2005. A two-time district and region MVP in 2004 and 2005, she has been a catalyst for the Lady Mountaineers since her rookie season. During her career at Heritage, she has compiled 2,322 points, 618 rebounds and 360 assists in three seasons. As a junior in 2004-05, McMahan averaged 21.7 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 5.0 apg. and 3.1 spg. During her sophomore season, she averaged 22.0 ppg, 5.2 apg, 5.0 rpg. and 3.3 spg. In 2002-03, as a freshman, she compiled impressive numbers as well, and averaged 21.5 ppg, 5.7 apg, 4.5 rpg. and 3.5 spg. As a junior, she broke the HHS single-game scoring mark a swishing the nets for a career high of 40 points twice. Moats is entering her fourth season as a starter at Lord Botetourt H.S. after first playing varsity basketball as an eighth grader at Roanoke Valley Christian. Already this season, she has tacked on Street & Smith's honorable-mention All-American honors. As a junior, she averaged 16.1 points and 10.9 rebounds, earning first-team All-Timesland and first-team All-Group AA honors. In 2005, she led Botetourt to a 27-2 record and the VHSL Group AA championship game in March where the Cavaliers lost to Spotswood HS. "Nicci is a composed and skilled player who can step into the three-four or five-spot on the floor and be comfortable and effective," said Summitt. "She's got a great mid-range game and causes match-up problems because she can step out and shoot the three and extend the opponents' defense."
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