University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLS HIT THE ROAD, TAKE ON STANFORD SUNDAY
December 02, 2005 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2005
| QUICK FACTS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
RADIO
TELEVISION: LIVE STATS RANKINGS: THE COACHES: Stanford Cardinal | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FEATURES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
LADY VOLS HIT THE ROAD, TAKE ON STANFORD SUNDAY
LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols' 32nd season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 888-172 overall record...Passed Dean Smith for most NCAA collegiate basketball wins of all-time with a 75-54 victory over Purdue on Mar. 22, 2005 ... Summitt Is just 12 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 marks 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... THE 4-1-1 ON THE CARDINAL Stanford is off to a 4-1 start on the season and has a 1-1 record versus ranked opponents. The Cardinal lost at #16/17 Minnesota, 84-77, on Nov. 20 but rebounded with a three-point victory, 66-63, at #14/16 Texas Tech on Nov. 27. Additionally, the Cardinal has posted wins over Long Island (69-28), Fresno State (89-67) and a thrashing of Pacific (109-58) in their last outing. Stanford finished atop the Pac 10 preseason coaches' poll with nine first-place votes (81 points). It marked the sixth-consecutive time and sixth time overall that Stanford has been favored by the coaches to win the Conference title since the poll's inception in 1998-99. Tara VanDerveer's teams have compiled a 261-28 (.903) record at home during her tenure and, with the 13-0 mark last year, have posted seven perfect seasons at Maples. The Cardinal has won 57 of its last 60 games at Maples and 23 straight since Dec. 27, 2003. OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK Still crazy. After returning from St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and back-to-back-to-back wins over #9-ranked Michigan State, 83-55, Gonzaga, 79-65 and #10-ranked Maryland, 80-75, the Lady Vols returned home and defeated #16/18 Texas on Dec. 1, 102-61, now travels to #12/11 Stanford for a Dec. 4 contest. LADY VOLS ON TV A record 20 Lady Vol regular season games are slated for television this season. Tennessee's game at Mississippi State on Jan. 15 will now be televised on CSS. The Tennessee at Georgia game on Feb. 16 will now tip-off at 8 p.m. on ESPN2. ON THIS DAY Tennessee is 7-0 in their history when playing on Dec. 4. The Lady Vols are 3-0 at home, 2-0 on the road, and 2-0 on neutral courts. Last time out on the 4th, the Lady Vols defeated Louisiana Tech, 60-35 (2002) in Ruston, La. LOOKING BACK Last year at this time, the Lady Vols were 4-2 and had just lost to Duke, 59-57, at home. UT'S OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER In all games, this is how Tennessee has shot from the field: 50%FG: Texas (.549); 40%FG: Chattanooga (.477), Mich. St. (.460), Stetson (.446), Maryland (.415), Gonzaga (.406), 30%FG: none, DEEE ----- FENSE In all games, this is how the opposition has shot from the field: 50%FG: none, 40%FG: Texas (.448), Maryland (.434), Gonzaga (.426), 30%FG: Mich. St. (.333), Chattanooga (.322), 20%FG: Stetson (.283) 2005-06 WON-LOSS DIFFERENTIAL Wins: +50 (1), +42 (1), +41 (1), +28 (1), +14 (1), +5 (1) THE COUNTDOWN HAS BEGUN Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt is now just 12 wins away from the incredible uncharted plateau of 900 career victories. Summitt started the season with 882 wins and now has 888. CRAZY EIGHTS With the victory over longtime rival Texas, Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt picked up her 888th career victory. The "crazy eights" win produced the largest margin of victory (41 points) in the storied history of the rivalry. For the Longhorns, it marked their sixth-worst loss in school history was only the fifth time Texas allowed an opponent to score over 100 points, the last time coming in 1999 in a 106-76 loss at Tennessee. A RELENTLESS SCHEDULE, AS USUAL Fresh from the Virgin Islands and the 2005 Paradise Jam championship, the Tennessee Lady Vols are back on the road following the win over Texas, 102-61. The Lady Vols will fly out to the west coast on Fri., Dec 2, play at Stanford on Sun., Dec. 4 and return to Knoxville late on Mon., Nov. 5. On Tues., Dec. 6, UT travels to Washington, D.C. for a Dec. 7 meeting at George Washington Univ. in a projected sold-out Charles E. Smith Athletic Center By the time the Lady Vols return home following the game, they will have logged 13,728 miles in trips to the Virgin Islands, the West Coast and Washington, D.C., over a two week period. QUICK HITTERS The No. 2/1 Lady Vols concluded their difficult stretch of five games in seven days to start the season with a 5-0 record, the14th 5-0 start to a season under Summitt, and their 30th in-season tournament title at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands...Tennessee took two of those wins over ranked foes, dropping No. 9/9 Michigan State, 83-55, and No. 10/10 Maryland, 80-75...This week will not be any easier, as UT defeated No. 16/18 Texas, 102-61, on Dec. 1 and travels to No. 12/11 Stanford for a Sunday showdown...UT has been much improved from the charity stripe, knocking down .830 (112-135) of its opportunities from the line... UT-STANFORD All-Time Series Meetings
STANFORD SERIES This marks the 22nd meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1988 season. UT and Stanford have developed a strong high-ranking intersectional rivalry in a series contested at least once annually for the last 17 years. UT has controlled the recent match-ups, amazingly having taken the last nine. Stanford has won consecutive meetings over the Lady Vols only once. AVERAGE SCORE The average score of a UT-Stanford game is a narrow margin -- 78.3 for UT and 71.4 for Stanford. Tennessee has scored 1646 points in the series while Stanford has totaled exactly 1500 points in 21 games. LOTS OF WINS Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer are a combined 1526-344 for a staggering .816 winning percentage. While Summitt is chasing 900 career wins, VanDerveer is 62 wins away from the 700 Club. Since the inception of the NCAA Women's Final Four in 1982, UT and Stanford have made a combined 22 trips and collected 8 NCAA titles. The Lady Vols have made 16 visits and grabbed six titles, while the Cardinal has two titles in six trips. ANOTHER SUMMITT MARK With the Lady Vols' win over Stanford in the 2004 NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game, Tennessee's Pat Summitt coached in her 100th NCAA Tournament game in her career. Currently, over the 24-year NCAA Tournament span, Summitt is an outstanding 89-18 (.837) in NCAA battles. GAME REPORT 7 - STANFORD Today's game against #12/11-ranked Stanford continues a fierce rivalry which dates back to Dec.18, 1988. Tennessee has taken control of the series recently with nine consecutive victories including last season's Shanna Zolman 28-foot buzzer beater to take a 70-67 win. In UT's last visit to Maples, the Lady Vols rallied for a furious, come-from-behind, 70-66 overtime win at Palo Alto in a jumping, jam-packed gym. LADY VOLS VS. CARDINAL STAT COMPARISON
OUR LAST MEETING VERSUS STANFORD With the game's final seconds ticking away, junior guard Shanna Zolman dribbled down the floor and sank a 28-foot three-pointer as the buzzer sounded, lifting the Tennessee Lady Vols to a 70-67 victory over second-ranked Stanford before a crowd of 13,209 at Thompson-Boling Arena on Dec. 21, 2004. Zolman's game-winning basket came just seconds after Stanford guard Kelley Suminski connected on a three-pointer of her own, evening the score at 67. The win was UT's ninth straight in the all-time series with the Cardinal. Despite having trouble at the offensive end of the floor early in the contest (hit just two of its first 10 shots), Tennessee kept it close before going on a 9-0 run to take a 12-5 lead following an Alexis Hornbuckle jumper with 13:26 remaining the half. The Lady Vols would push the margin to as many as nine points, 18-9, and still led by seven with less than two minutes showing, before Stanford closed out the opening session with a 9-0 spurt to take a 31-29 advantage into the locker room. Following the intermission, SU gradually extended the margin to eight points, forcing UT Head Coach Pat Summitt to call a timeout with 15:15 left. After regrouping, the Orange and White rattled off an 8-0 run to even the score at 42 after a pair of Shyra Ely free throws. With no signs of letting up, the Lady Vols continued to pour it on and pushed the lead to 11 points, 59-48, with less than seven minutes showing. The Cardinal answered the challenge, however, and steadily chipped away at the lead down the stretch. Senior Brittany Jackson had a chance to help seal the win and to put UT ahead by five points when she stepped to the charity stripe with 15 seconds left, but the 82 percent free throw shooter missed both attempts, which set up the last-second heroics. The Lady Vols were led by four players with double-figure point totals: Ely (16), Tye'sha Fluker (13), Hornbuckle and Jackson (11). UT HAS "ACE" AND SU HAS "ICE" Two sweet names will grace the floor at Maples Pavilion on Sunday - Tennessee's Candace (Parker) and Stanford's Candice (Wiggins). The two incredibly talented players joined forces prior to their rookie seasons in the summer of 2004 to help lead the USA Junior National Team to a qualifying berth for the U19 World Championships. It was there that their teammates dubbed them "ACE" (Parker) and "ICE" (Wiggins). While Parker had to sit out last season with a knee injury, Wiggins was named as a Kodak All-American, a Associated Press Second Team All-American, the USBWA Co-Freshman of the Year, the Pac-10 Player of the Year and Pac-10 Freshman of the Year. UT ROOKIE DOUBLE-DOUBLES When redshirt rookie Candace Parker picked up a double-double in her first collegiate start it was the first time it happened in ten years - well since another heralded Lady Vol freshman, Chamique Holdsclaw. All-time, there are just six Lady Vols who recorded a double-double in their first game in the Orange and White:
OUR LAST MEETING AT STANFORD The #2-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols pulled one out of the fire at #6/5-ranked Stanford on Dec. 14, 2003, winning an overtime thriller, 70-66. Both teams were knotted at 56-all at the end of regulation after UT staged a furious second half rally coming back from 14 points down. Sophomore Shanna Zolman led the Lady Vols in scoring (for the first time in her career) with 18 points, as junior Shyra Ely and senior Ashley Robinson each chipped in 16 points. A capacity crowd of 7,319 was on hand and the atmosphere was March-like at Maples Pavilion as the two teams crept out to an early 6-6 tie at 12:46. A series of Stanford mini-runs culminated in a 10-point advantage, 20-10 with 6:36 showing. The Cardinal would eventually lead by 13 in the opening stanza before taking an 11-point lead into the locker room at the break, 29-18. UT's 18 halftime points was the third fewest scored in Lady Vol history. Calmly confident going into the second stanza, UT would eventually trail by as many as 14-points, 41-27 with 15:09 to go, before eventually whittling down the Cardinal lead. A huge trey by rookie Dominique Redding at the 5:50 mark cut SU's lead to eight points. UT senior LaToya Davis completed the comeback with a steal and a lay-up with 19 seconds to go to knot the score at 56-all. In the overtime, Zolman led the Lady Vols with five points as a team who struggled to 18 points in the first 20 minutes of the game tallied 14 in a five-minute OT. Ely turned in a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. For the game, the Lady Vols shot just 39 percent FG and a horrific 55 percent FT. SU outrebounded UT, 45-44, but the Lady Vols collected 13 steals and committed just 11 miscues. UT VS. PAC 10 Tennessee has taken on nine teams from the Pacific 10 all-time and sports a 48-12 record. Only three teams have claimed victories over UT - Southern California (seven times), Stanford (four) and UCLA (once). The Lady Vols have not lost to a team that currently competes in the Pac-10 since Dec. 15, 1996, when Stanford came away from Knoxville with an 82-65 win over UT. Tennessee's last meeting with a Pac-10 opponent came on Dec. 21, 2004, against Stanford in Knoxville. The Lady Vols pulled out a 70-67 win. In NCAA postseason play, the last meeting with a Pac 10 opponent was also the Cardinal on Mar. 30, 2004, in Norman, OK. The #2/3-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols advanced to their then-record-setting 15th NCAA Final Four with a 62-60 victory over sixth-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Midwest Region final. Tennessee has played nine of the 10 basketball playing schools in the Pac-10. UT has yet to face California. HALL OF FAMERS Tara VanDerveer joined Pat Summitt in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as she was inducted in April 2002 in Knoxville, Tenn. OLYMPIC GOLD Tara VanDerveer served as head coach of the 1996 United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team that won the gold medal in Atlanta, Ga. She guided the Olympic Team to an unblemished 60-0 record from 1995-96 and owns an all-time international head coaching record of 88-8 (.917), while coaching a pair of Lady Vols (Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee) on the squad. Meanwhile, Pat Summitt boasts an all-time international record of 63-4 (.940) during her time at the helm of the national squad. She served as head coach of the 1984 United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team that won the gold medal in Los Angeles, Calif. UT AVERAGES VS. STANFORD Alexis Hornbuckle holds a double-digit career scoring average against Stanford with 11.0 ppg. She is followed by Shanna Zolman with 9.8 ppg in four career games against the Cardinal. Sophomore Nicky Anosike leads in rebounding with 6.0 rpg, while junior Sidney Spencer has a 4.0 rpg mark. ON UT'S RADAR SCREEN The Lady Vols will go from Stanford's frying pan into the fire at George Washington University on Dec. 7 at 7:00 p.m. at the Smith Center in Washington, D.C. On Dec. 1, the Colonials' Kimberly Beck scored a career-high 20 points to lead GWU (2-2) over previously-undefeated Villanova (4-1) with a 68-60 victory at the Pavilion. GW led by as many as 10 and had a late 10-0 run sparked by Sarah-Jo Lawrence's 11 second half points to hold off the Wildcats. The Colonials scored 10 unanswered points in a span of 2:01 and defeated Villanova for the second straight season. GW now returns for a five-game homestand starting with #2/1 Tennessee who beat #18/16 Texas by 41 points on Dec. 1. GW lost to Texas by five in the Junkanoo Jam Championship over the Thanksgiving break. After UT, the Colonials play Stony Brook, SMU, Maine and Yale at home before the holidays. The Colonials will have played three-top 20 opponents out of their first five games, while other opponents -- Virginia and Villanova are both receiving votes. DECEMBER SUCCESS The Lady Vols have enjoyed a great deal of success in the month of December over the years. UT has produced a 160-42 all-time record during the 12th month of the year. The Lady Vols are 52-10 at home, 61-23 away and 47-9 at neutral sites. JUST ANOTHER TYPICAL UT SCHEDULE - 5 GAMES in 7 DAYS By the time Saturday, Nov. 26 rolled around, the Tennessee Lady Vols had 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 defeated #9-ranked Michigan State (83-55) on Thanksgiving night, defeated Gonzaga (79-65) on Nov. 25, and concluded with a win over #10-ranked Maryland (80-75) on Nov. 26 to win the Paradise Jam Championship. BEST JAMMERS Lady Vol redshirt freshman Candace Parker was the MVP of her very first collegiate tournament -- the Paradise Jam - and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Shanna Zolman. ELITE COMPANY When Pat Summitt started freshman forward Candace Parker against Stetson on Nov. 20, 2005, it marked only the 10th time in her coaching career that a freshman started her very first game at Tennessee. The list of opening day rookie starters: Shyra Ely 2001, Ashley Robinson 2000, Gwen Jackson 1999, Semeka Randall 1997, Kyra Elzy 1996, Chamique Holdsclaw 1995, Tiffani Johnson 1994, Bridgette Gordon and Sheila Frost 1985.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
