University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOLS HOST VANDERBILT IN FEBRUARY FRENZY MATCHUP
February 11, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Feb. 11, 2006
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LADY VOLS HOST VANDERBILT IN FEBRUARY FRENZY MATCHUP
THE GAME The #5-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols (21-3, 7-2 SEC) will be looking to rebound from their first home loss of the season when they face #22/20-ranked Vanderbilt (17-7, 6-4 SEC) in a "February Frenzy" contest on ESPN2 on "The Summitt" in Thompson-Boling Arena. Earlier this season, then-#1 ranked UT defeated #19-ranked Vanderbilt, 80-68, in Nashville. LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols' 32nd season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 903-175 overall record...Collected her 900th career coaching win with a 80-68 decision over #19-ranked Vanderbilt on Jan. 19, 2006... She passed Dean Smith (879 wins) for most NCAA collegiate basketball wins of all-time with a 75-54 victory over Purdue on Mar. 22, 2005 ...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 this year...UT's team dropped to 10 players when starting sophomore point guard Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood left the squad on Dec. 19, 2005... THE 4-1-1 ON THE COMMODORES The #22/20-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores (17-7, 6-4 SEC) used a dominant inside presence to win its fourth straight Southeastern Conference game, defeating Arkansas, 64-59, on Feb. 9 at Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville. VU outscored the Lady'Backs, 38-12, in the paint, and never trailed in the game's final 33 minutes. Liz Sherwood led the Dores with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting. Carla Thomas added 11 points, while Dee Davis contributed 10 points. Vanderbilt outrebounded Arkansas, 41-33, and shot 49 percent from the floor (24-of-49). Sherwood led the Commodores with eight boards, with Davis grabbing seven rebounds. Playing from the high post for large chunks of the game, Thomas amassed a career-high seven assists -- most to Sherwood and Nicole Jules, who scored nine points. Vandy was aggressive offensively, getting to the line 23 times and made 13 free throws to just one for Arkansas (1-of-7). With the win, the Commodores move to 6-4 in the SEC and remain in a tie for fourth place in the conference with Florida and Kentucky. They travel to Knoxville this Sunday, Feb. 12, to face the Tennessee Lady Vols at Thompson-Boling Arena. OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK... The SEC routine continues this week with a Sun., Feb. 12 "February Frenzy" game at home against #22/20 Vanderbilt and a trip on Thurs., Feb. 16 to Athens, Ga., to face #13-ranked Georgia. Both games will be televised by ESPN2. LADY VOLS ON TV A record 21 Lady Vol regular season regional/national games are slated for television this season. UT is 13-3 on TV so far. TENNESSEE WENT OVER 150,000 IN HOME ATTENDANCE The Lady Vols home attendance eclipsed 150K against LSU with a 19,576 in attendance. This marks the Lady Vols' 10th consecutive season going over 150,000 at home. ON THIS DAY Tennessee is 13-2 in their history when playing on Feb. 12. The Lady Vols are 7-1 at home, 5-1 on the road, and 1-0 on neutral courts. Last time out on the 12th, the Lady Vols defeated Georgia, 70-67, in Athens in 2004. LOOKING BACK Last year at this time, the Lady Vols were 18-4 and had just lost to LSU, 68-58, in Baton Rouge on Feb. 10. PIVOTAL WEEK FOR THE LADY VOLS After facing 10 ranked teams to open the first half of the season, Tennessee went two weeks (a four-game hiatus) from playing ranked opponents. The break is over as three key SEC games against ranked opposition looms large for the Lady Vols. To kick things off, UT lost a heartbreaker to #3/4-ranked LSU, 72-69. The Lady Vols will entertain #22/20-ranked Vanderbilt at home and then travel to #13-ranked Georgia next week. TENNESSEE'S MISPLACED "MO-JO" Somewhere along I-40, maybe it was east, or perhaps west, the Tennessee Lady Vols misplaced their "Mo-Jo," swagger and orange bravado. Since the Jan. 19 meeting at Vanderbilt, Tennessee has struggled to a 3-3 record. Going into the first game with Vandy, UT was ranked number one with a 17-0 overall record and a 3-0 mark in the SEC. The Lady Vols were playing like they had "IT." When Vandy jumped on UT in that first meeting and led by as many as 14 points in the first half, the Lady Vols looked like it couldn't spell "IT." Halftime adjustments and Coach Pat Summitt's 900th career win on the line propelled the Lady Vols to a 30-point swing. UT grabbed the lead with 15 minutes to go in the contest and took as much as a 16-point advantage in the second stanza to win going away 80-68. However, UT's winning ways were halted in the next two games with back-to-back losses at Duke and Kentucky. JUST FIVE TO GO Tennessee is down to just five games in the regular season - at home versus #22/20-ranked Vanderbilt, on the road at #13 Georgia and Alabama, and back home for Auburn and Florida. Record Number Four Lady Vols Earn Academic Honors The College Sports Information Directors of America announced on Feb. 9 that four University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball players were named to the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District teams. Shanna Zolman received first team honors for the second straight year, while Sidney Spencer, Tye'sha Fluker and Nicky Anosike picked up third team honors, the first of their respective careers. No other university placed more than two basketball players on any of the district squads. Zolman earns first team honors for the second consecutive year, becoming the first Lady Vol since Kara Lawson to do so. The senior from Syracuse, Ind., has a 3.56 GPA in journalism and electronic media. During her career, Zolman has claimed Academic All-SEC honors (2004, 2005) and All-SEC honors (2004, 2005). Fellow senior Fluker has a 3.64 GPA in retail and consumer science. Junior Spencer has the highest GPA (3.71) on the team. A sports management major, the Hoover, Ala., native averages 8.9 ppg and 3.0 rpg this season and is shooting an incredible 53.0 percent from beyond the arc. From Staten Island, N.Y., Anosike owns a 3.64 in Arts and Sciences. A unanimous selection to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2005, Anosike was also named to the Academic All-SEC Freshman Team. She made a perfect 4.0 GPA in the fall. LSU TOOK CARE OF ENDING UT'S STREAKS Three Lady Vol streaks were halted by LSU's 72-69 win in Knoxville on Feb. 9, 2006. Streak #1: LSU won in Knoxville for the first time ever. UT now holds a 16-1 advantage over LSU in games played in Knoxville dating back to the first win on Feb. 6, 1978 in Stokely Athletics Center; Streak #2: LSU snapped the Lady Vols 22-game homecourt winning streak dating back Dec. 12, 2004, and Streak #3: The Lady Vols hadn't lost an SEC game at home -- won 64-consecutive -- in almost 10 years, 3,346 days to be exact. Before LSU defeated UT on Feb. 9, Georgia was the last team to beat the Lady Vols at home in an SEC game -- Dec. 8, 1996, the Lady Bulldogs prevailed 94-93 in overtime. LADY VOLS STILL BELOW 40.0 RPG Currently at 38.9 rebounds per game, this is the worst rebounding team in Lady Vol history inching below the 1977-78 squad who managed just 39.7 rpg in 31 contests. TENNESSEE-VANDERBILT All-Time Series Meetings
VU SERIES TIDBITS Tennessee and Vanderbilt have a storied past. This will mark the 53rd meeting between these SEC foes. UT has played Vandy 32 times since 1994. No other team has recorded as many back-to-back games with the Lady Vols in single seasons since UT played Old Dominion home-and-home and in the postseason (practically every year) in the late 1970s and early 80s. Though the Lady Vols possess a dominant 46-6 advantage in the overall series, the last several years have brought a more competitive match-up as UT has edged Vandy 12-2 in the past 14 meetings. Vanderbilt and Tennessee met in the SEC's tournament finals twice with UT winning in 1994 and VU triumphing in 1995. Overall, UT is 7-2 in postseason meetings with Vandy. FIFTY IS NIFTY Vanderbilt became the first opponent to face UT more than 50 times in a series. GAME REPORT 25 - VANDERBILT The "No Love Lost" SEC rivalry between Tennessee and Vanderbilt continues today for the 53rd time with a meeting at Thompson-Boling Arena on the UT campus. Earlier this season, the Lady Vols tagged a 80-68 come-from-behind win over then-#19-ranked Vandy in Nashville. Under the direction of coach Melanie Balcomb, the Commodores are 17-7 overall and 6-4 in the SEC this season. LADY VOLS VS. COMMODORES STAT COMPARISON
OUR LAST MEETING VERSUS VANDERBILT Tennessee coach Pat Summitt didn't have to wait long to get her 900th career victory. Shanna Zolman led five Lady Vols in double figures with 16 points, and top-ranked Tennessee rallied from its biggest deficit this season in beating No. 19 Vanderbilt 80-68 Thursday night, giving Summitt her 900th win in her first shot at the milestone. Tennessee (18-0, 4-0 Southeastern Conference) had never gone through a first half without leading at least once until this game, and the Lady Vols trailed by 14 late in the half. But the crowd of 13,127 with lots of Tennessee orange got to serenade Summitt by chanting "9-0-0" in the final minute as the Lady Vols won for the 10th straight time in the series. Vanderbilt (13-5, 2-2) looked ready to end that skid and get its first victory against the Lady Vols since Feb. 2, 2002. As well as the Commodores shot, they couldn't stop Tennessee from turning their turnovers into 25 points. Alexis Hornbuckle had 15 points for Tennessee with Candace Parker adding 14. Sidney Spencer and Nicky Anosike each had 10. The Lady Vols outshot Vandy 54 percent (31-of-56) to 46 percent (27-of-58). The Lady Vols, who trailed 33-19 in the first half, didn't take their first lead until 45-44 with 14:53 left on a pair of fast-break lay-ups by Hornbuckle coming off a Parker block, then a Zolman steal. Vanderbilt last led 50-49 on a 3-pointer by Cherish Stringfield. Then Tennessee scored 19 of the next 21 points in taking its biggest lead at 68-52 with 5:47 to go on a pair of Anosike free throws. The Commodores came into the game as the nation's fourth-best shooting team, and they shot 54 percent in the first half. They finished 10-of-22 from 3-point range en route to a 33-19 lead over the Lady Vols, the biggest Tennessee deficit of the season. Tennessee struggled with Zolman missing her first five shots, and Hornbuckle played only seven minutes after picking up her third foul in the first half. But they finished the half with a 13-2 spurt that included a steal and a layup by Parker and capped by Zolman's first bucket, a 3-pointer, with 26.1 seconds left. Still, they trailed 37-32 at halftime for only the second time this season. Vanderbilt tried to muster some mojo before tipoff by showing highlights from the football team's 28-24 victory last November over Tennessee -- the school's first in the rivalry since 1982. It didn't help, and Summitt got to walk off the court with a wave and a thumb's up to the fans gathered behind her bench. UT AND VANDY RANKED MEETINGS IN 2005-06 The Lady Vols game against #22/20 Vanderbilt will mark Tennessee's 12th game versus a ranked team this season. UT is 9-2 when facing the nation's best teams. Meanwhile Vanderbilt will be meeting its fifth ranked opponent in #5/5 Tennessee. UT defeated #9 Michigan State, #10 Maryland, #16/18 Texas, #12/11 Stanford, #22/21 Temple, #12/11 Notre Dame, #7 Connecticut, #13/17 Georgia and #19 Vanderbilt. UT lost to #2 Duke and #3/4 LSU. Vanderbilt is 0-4 against ranked teams this season falling to then #5/5-ranked North Carolina, #20/18-ranked Arizona State, then-#1 Tennessee and then-#4/5 LSU. UT-VANDY SERIES RANKINGS Typically, going into the Tennessee versus Vanderbilt match-up, the Lady Vols have entered the contest as the higher ranked team. In fact, in the last 33 meetings dating back to Jan.30, 1993, the Commodores have been ranked higher just six times. Going into that memorable oversold game on the Nashville campus in 1993, Vanderbilt was ranked number one while the Lady Vols were a step behind at #2. TURNSTILE HEAVEN Tennessee and Vanderbilt love to attract the crowds on their campuses when the two teams meet. Here are all of the attendance averages dating back to 1986-87 season. KNOXVILLE TOTAL (AVG.) --15 games - 225,062 (15,004); NASHVILLE TOTAL (AVG)--18 games - 206,624 (11,479); NEUTRAL TOTAL (AVG)--8 games- 60,168 ( 7,521). Largest gatherings: 21,968 in Knoxville 2/22/01, 15,317 in Nashville 1/30/93 and 11,182 in Memphis 3/3/01. LAST TIME FACING VANDY IN KNOXVILLE Playing in front of the largest home crowd in 2005 (18,643), the fifth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols defeated intrastate rival No. 21/20 Vanderbilt, 72-63, at Thompson-Boling Arena on Feb. 13, 2005. The win was UT's second against the Commodores during the `04-05 season, as the Orange and White were victorious, 79-65, in Nashville on Jan. 16. Additionally, the Lady Vols extended their SEC regular season home winning streak to 59 games. While it was VU that struck first with a three-pointer by Abi Ramsey, the Lady Vols responded with a 9-0 run that forced the Commodores to take their first timeout less than three minutes into the contest. Tennessee would extend the lead to seven points, 12-5, following a layin by Shanna Zolman off an assist by Loree Moore, but Vanderbilt answered with a 10-0 spurt to go ahead by three. Unfazed by the opposition's rally, the Big Orange charged back with an 11-0 run to lead by eight points, 23-15, with 8:49 remaining in the opening half. Shortly thereafter VU narrowed the margin to just one point, 28-27, but the Lady Vols closed out the half with a 10-2 run to take a nine-point lead into the locker room. Following the intermission, UT scored six unanswered points to take its biggest lead of the game, 44-29, forcing the Commodores into a timeout. With Head Coach Pat Summitt's squad still leading by double digits with less than five minutes to play, Vanderbilt utilized an 11-4 spurt during a three-minute span to cut the margin to just four with 1:55 showing on the clock. However, the Lady Vols went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to seal the triumph. Individually, Tennessee was led by a trio of players who posted double-digit scoring totals: Shyra Ely (18), Tye'sha Fluker (14) and Zolman (14). As a team, UT shot 50 percent from the field and held the opposition to 44.6 percent shooting. Additionally, the Big Orange won the battle of the boards, 36-27. ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES . . . UT and Vandy have met three times in a season on eight different occasions. VANDY HAS NEVER WON IN K-TOWN Four of Vandy's wins in the series have come at Memorial Gymnasium on the Nashville campus, while two of the Commodores six victories over UT have come on neutral courts in the SEC Tourney. The closest Vanderbilt has come to claiming a win in Knoxville in 20 meetings was a two-point loss on Feb. 26, 1984, 74-72, in Stokely Athletics Center on the UT campus. Other near misses include a three-point loss in 1996 and a four-pointer on 2-22-01. HOW MANY GAMES? There will be some discrepancy in the game notes as to the records for UT and Vandy in the all-time series. The Lady Vols records show that the first game between the two teams was played on Jan. 18, 1976 in Nashville. Tennessee won the contest, 96-27. Counting that game, UT has a 46-6 lead over the Commodores in the all-time series CAREER STATS VS. VANDERBILT Returning Lady Vol career statistics versus Vanderbilt can be found on p. 68 in the 2005-06 Tennessee media guide. Senior Shanna Zolman has proven that she enjoys playing against Vanderbilt, as she owns an 14.0 points per game career average versus the Commodores and hits on 44% of her treys against the SEC rivals. Sophomore Alexis Hornbuckle is the second-leading scorer (12.0 ppg) and has connected at a .583 clip against the instate rivals. Hornbuckle also busts the boards for 5.7 rpg against the Black & Gold. ON UT's RADAR SCREEN - GEORGIA - AGAIN Georgia had a bye this week on Thursday, Feb. 9, and will face #3/4 LSU today. In their last outing, it was a Super Sunday for the Georgia women's basketball team as the Lady Bulldogs dispatched Alabama 84-59 at Stegeman Coliseum on Feb. 5. The 14th-ranked Lady Bulldogs improved to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in the SEC, while Alabama slipped to 8-14 and 2-7. In addition, Georgia moved to 13-4, including seven straight wins, on Super Bowl Sundays. Cori Chambers paced the Lady Bulldogs with 18 points. Tasha Humphrey added 16 points and 12 rebounds, giving her five straight double-doubles, 11 this season and 25 in her career. Sherill Baker added 15 points and three steals, moving into the Top 20 on the NCAA's all-time list in the latter category. Janese Hardrick came off the bench to provide 14 points and a career-high eight steals. Georgia led Alabama for the entire game and had its largest lead of 28 points with 2:41 to go. Alabama got 23 points and 12 rebounds from Navonda Moore and 10 points from Lauren Hill. Dee Meriweather pulled down 10 rebounds for the Crimson Tide. Georgia built a 44-23 lead at halftime as Chambers (16) and Baker (11) combined for 27 points. Chambers drilled three 3-pointers before the break and Baker was 5-for-5 on free throws. Hardrick gave Georgia a boost off the bench with six points and four steals. The Lady Bulldogs' biggest lead of the half was 25 at 44-19. Georgia will return to action next Sunday at LSU. The Lady Bulldogs' next home game will be Feb. 16 against Tennessee. RECENT QUICK HITTERS
TWO STEPS FORWARD - THREE STEPS BACK After making a couple of big steps forward, the struggling Lady Vols took more steps backwards in dropping a key SEC game to #3/4 LSU on Feb. 9. UT dug a quick hole against the Lady Tigers trailing 11-1 in the opening minutes but battled back to lead by as many as five in the second stanza before losing 72-69. Tennessee's outstanding showing against Arkansas on Feb. 5 finally looked more like the Lady Vols prior to the loss against Duke. UT rolled up 77 points and held UA to just 37 points. Over the final 11:12 of the game, UT went on a 31-3 run and held Arkansas without a field goal over the final 8:35 pf the game. The Lady Vols were rebounding and running. A week earlier, Coach Pat Summitt and her staff came away from the 89-54 win over Alabama on Jan. 29 feeling a little bit better about the play of the fifth-ranked Lady Vols. However, the following game at Ole Miss on Feb. 2 produced a first half which was 360 degrees in the opposite direction. The Lady Vols trailed the Lady Rebels, 28-26, shot only 34% FG and was getting beat on the boards, 21-16, in some very lackadaisical play. After a stern halftime message, UT came out firing and hunkered down on "D", shot 61.5% (16-26), nailed 50% from the arc (4-8), connected on 80% FT (16-20) and outrebounded Ole Miss 22-14. Summitt had praise for the leadership of seniors Shanna Zolman and Tye Fluker in the second half turnaround. Ever since then-top-ranked UT came away from the thrashing at Duke (Jan. 23) and the upset loss at Kentucky (Jan. 26), the team has been playing like it lost its "Mo-Jo." Uninspired and soft defense along with shoddy board play and a lack of leadership has haunted this team and staff. Summitt had been concerned since the UConn and Georgia games that her team had been "living on the edge defensively." Against Vandy, UT was down by 14 points in the first half due to not defending the 3-ball and a lack of rebounding effort. The Lady Vols still managed to win those key games (often in spite of themselves) but were "exposed" against Duke and ran into a buzz-saw at Kentucky. It comes as no surprise that defense and rebounding, Summitt staples for 32 years, will continue to be points of emphasis for the 2005-06 team. In fact at the Jan. 27 practice (following the loss at Kentucky), former Lady Vols Shelley Sexton Collier and Melissa McCray Dukes talked to the squad about the pride it takes to play Lady Vols defense and how a lack of effort in rebounding is not acceptable. UT'S OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER In all games, this is how Tennessee has shot from the field: 50%FG: Princeton (.597), Alabama1 (.574), Georgia1 (.565), Vanderbilt1 (.554), Texas (.549), ODU (.520), Temple (.509), Miss State (.500); 40%FG: Arkansas (.483), Chattanooga (.477), Ole Miss (.473), LaTech (.466), GWU (.462), Mich. St. (.460), South Carolina (.455), Duke (.451), Stetson (.446), LSU (.438), Maryland (.415), Stanford (.413), Gonzaga (.406), 30%FG: UConn (.397), Kentucky (.393), Notre Dame (.328) DEEE ----- FENSE In all games, this is how the opposition has shot from the field: 50%FG: Duke (.536), 40%FG: UConn (.491), Stanford (.481), Vanderbilt1 (.466), ODU (.459), LSU (.458), Texas (.448), Georgia1 (.446), Kentucky (.438), Maryland (.434), Gonzaga (.426), Alabama1 (.413), 30%FG: Ole Miss (.389), LaTech (.385), Miss. State (.377), South Carolina (.365), GWU (.348), Temple and Mich. St. (.333), Chattanooga (.322), Notre Dame (.306), 20%FG: Princeton (.293), Stetson (.283), Arkansas (.264) 2005-06 WON-LOSS DIFFERENTIAL Eighteen out of 20 Lady Vol wins in 2005-06 have different margins of victory ranging from 68 points (Princeton) to five points (Maryland). UT's overall margin of victory is 19.9 ppg. Wins: +68 (1), +50 (1), +42 (1), +41 (1), +40 (1), +35 (1), +28 (1), +25 (1), +24 (1), +23 (1), +16 (2), +15 (2), +14 (1), +12 (1), +11 (1), +9 (2), +7 (1), +5 (1). Losses: -22 (1), -3 (2) LADY VOL STARTER/BENCH SCORING & REBOUNDING In 24 games, UT starters have outscored opponent starters in 20 games and opponent starter rebounders 17 times. The UT bench has outscored the opponents 16 times and outrebounded them 14 times. AP POLL NOTES The first Associated Press poll of the 2005-06 season marked the 500th all-time poll and the 30th year of the women's basketball rankings. The AP women's Top 25 basketball poll released on Jan. 1, 2001, marked the 400th appearance by the Lady Vols. Since the poll was started in 1976, UT has failed to appear in just 14 polls through the years. Currently, UT has been ranked in 371 consecutive polls and since the 1986-87 season and the Lady Vols have been in the top 10 for all but one poll. UT is the only team to have been ranked every year for the last 30 years of the poll. UT has appeared at least once per season over the poll's history. UT HAS NCAA'S BEST RPI The University of Tennessee Lady Vols once again top the NCAAs Ratings Percentage Indexes (RPI) released by the NCAA on Feb. 7. The RPI rankings -- which can be found at www.ncaasports.com -- include all games played through Feb. 5. The official RPI is used as one of many tools to select teams to participate in the championships. Developed in 1981, the RPI provides supplemental data in the evaluation of teams for at-large selection and seeding of the championship bracket is only one of many pieces of information available to the committees. Qualitative factors such as games missed by student-athletes or coaches and a team's performance in the latter portion of the season cannot be reliably measured by a statistical model. However, such factors are among the details of each team considered by the committees.
DROPPED TO #5 IN BOTH POLLS As anticipated after the loss to #2 Duke and to unranked Kentucky, the Lady Vols dropped to number five in both polls on Jan. 30/31 and remained there on Feb. 6/7. The Tennessee Lady Vols last held the No.1 spot in the Associated Press poll on Jan. 23 - in voting held before UT's loss to #2 Duke. The poll of Dec. 26 marked the 100th time in Head Coach Pat Summitt's career that the Lady Vols were ranked number one. In the Dec. 5 AP poll, the Lady Vols were voted #1. It marked the first time since the second poll of the 2004-05 season that Tennessee has held the top spot in women's college hoops. The AP poll, now in its 30th year, celebrated poll number 500 in the first week of this season. Tennessee is on a run of 369 consecutive appearances in the poll. The 13th week of the 1984-85 season marked the last time a Summitt squad was not ranked. The Lady Vols have been unranked only 14 times in 510 polls. Summitt has guided the program to a poll-best 371 top-five appearances. Louisiana Tech, with 279 weeks in the top-five, ranks second. In the Nov. 28 poll, Duke led by seven points even though Tennessee had a 22-21 edge in first-place votes. THE ESPN/USA TODAY POLLING PLACE In the first USA TODAY/ESPN poll of the year on Nov. 1, the Lady Vols began the 2005-06 season as the number one ranked team in the country. It marks the 25th time in 30 years that UT has started the season in the top five in the nation. With the loss to Duke, Tennessee dropped to #3 and dropped again to #5 after losing to unranked Kentucky. 498 GAMES VERSUS RANKED TEAMS Tennessee's game versus #3/4 LSU on Feb. 9, 2006 was the Lady Vols' 498th all-time versus a ranked team since the inception of the polls in 1976. UT is an amazing 354-144 (.703) versus ranked teams. This year, Tennessee is 9-2 versus ranked teams. In 2004-05, the Lady Vols were 10-5 vs. ranked teams. SEC STANDINGS
SEC TWOSIES The SEC plays a 14-game regular season schedule with each team playing everyone in the league once, a natural rival twice and designated rotating teams from the SEC East and West once extra time. The Lady Vols face Vanderbilt twice each season as its natural rivals and this year faces Georgia and Alabama twice. AGAINST THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE Tennessee owns a 357-56 record all-time record vs. 12 teams from the Southeastern Conference. The Lady Vols maintain a winning record against every team in the SEC. UT IS AMAZING AT HOME VERSUS THE SEC Since Tennessee began contesting games with Southeastern Conference opponents, the Lady Vols have produced a 148-10 record in all games played at home. Only five SEC teams have ever managed a victory over the Lady Vols in Knoxville - Auburn, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Ole Miss. Georgia has won three games on UT's turf while Auburn, Kentucky and Ole Miss have registered two wins each and LSU one win. Georgia was the only team to defeat UT at home in the 1990s - the Lady Bulldogs turned the trick in 1991 and 1996. LSU is the only SEC team to defeat UT at home in the 21st century. WOW--12 SEASONS OF AT LEAST 10 SEC VICTORIES In the win over South Carolina on Feb. 17, 2005, Tennessee claimed its 10th SEC victory of the year. The Lady Vols have now registered double-digit victories in conference play an incredible 12 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, 2003- 14 games, 2004-14 games and 2005- 13 games. SNAPPED AT 42 -- CONSECUTIVE SEC WINS With the loss to LSU on Feb. 10, 2005, the Lady Vols 42-game consecutive regular season SEC win streak was halted. Until the loss to LSU, the Lady Vols had not lost an SEC regular season game since at Vanderbilt on Feb. 2, 2002, 76-59. 64 CONSECUTIVE SEC HOME WINS BROKEN BY LSU The loss to LSU on Feb. 9, 2006 snapped the Lady Vols 64 consecutive SEC home court winning streak. Prior to the loss to LSU, the last SEC loss at home was to Georgia on Dec. 8, 1996, 94-93 (OT). SEC LEAGUE PLAY UT owns a league best record of 235-32 against all SEC teams dating back to 1983. THIS IS AMAZING From 1980-1997, the Lady Vols claimed a total of six SEC regular season titles in 17 years. From 1998-2004, Tennessee captured seven consecutive SEC regular season crowns producing an amazing 109-4 record. UT's only league losses were to Vandy, Georgia and LSU (twice) during this stretch. LADY VOL STREAKS The last time the Lady Vols lost at home was against LSU, 72-69 on Feb. 9, 2006 -- since then, UT has not played a home game. The last time UT lost on the road was on Jan. 26, 2006 at Kentucky, since then, UT has won one road game. 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 won three games on a neutral court. LAST LOSS TO AN UNRANKED TEAM? Before unranked Kentucky turned the trick with a 66-63 win over #1/3-ranked Tennessee on Jan. 26, 2006 at Rupp Arena, it had been four years since an unranked team upset the Lady Vols. So before Kentucky, when was 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. 100 POINT GAMES Since 1974, the Lady Vols have gone over the century mark 71 times. This season, UT has eclipsed 100 points in two games - Princeton 107 and #16/18 Texas, 102. 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. DEMOSS JOINS PECK The roll call goes like this: Sylvia Hatchell, Sharon Fanning, Jane Albright, Lea Henry, Nancy Darsch, Trish Roberts, and Mickie DeMoss. etc., UT coach Pat Summitt has faced many former players and assistant coaches in a variety of games thru the years but Mickie DeMoss of Kentucky and Carolyn Peck at Florida, are the only two to record a victory over their former boss. While at Purdue, Peck handed Summitt a 78-68 loss on Nov.15, 1998 in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic in West Lafayette, Ind. The defeat snapped UT's 46-game consecutive winning streak (that was second only to Louisiana Tech's all-time 54-game winning streak). DeMoss, a Summitt assistant for 18 years, turned the trick in Lexington on Jan. 26, 2006, with a 66-63 victory over then #1/3 Tennessee in Rupp Arena. ALL TV, ALL THE TIME There's no excuse not to catch the Lady Vols over the next five games. All remaining games will be televised. 100th NUMBER ONE RANKING The Associated Press poll of Dec. 26, 2005, marked the 100th #1 ranking all-time for the Lady Vols. UT has produced a 71-21 record when ranked number-one. When ranked #1, the Lady Vols are 33-17 against the top 10 teams and 38-4 against teams ranked in the 11-25 spots in the AP poll. FEBRUARY SUCCESS The Lady Vols have enjoyed a great deal of success in the month of February over the years. UT has produced a 234-32 all-time record during the second month of the year. The Lady Vols are 124-12 at home, 87-17 away and 23-3 at neutral sites. NO KIDDING, LET'S GO SEE THE CIRCUS Lady Vol basketball has that "circus charm" to it again this season. Every road team---George Washington, Stanford, Temple, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Duke, Kentucky and Ole Miss (UT's 10 road games) have posted new attendance records or season high attendance records. The coffers have fared well - ticket prices when UT came to town almost doubled the price of a normal ducat at many venues. Duke and Notre Dame announced advance sell-outs weeks before the game. A normal ticket at Vanderbilt for women's hoops is $10.50 for anyone but Tennessee - the Commodores charged $20.50 to see the Lady Vols play. Most recently, Kentucky drew a record crowd of 13,689 at Rupp Arena when they defeated the Lady Vols, 66-63. ONLY ONE LOSS EVER The unranked Temple Owls almost pulled off a shocker in Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 28, 2004, losing 52-48 to the #1-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols. Tennessee has never lost to an unranked team at home in the 18-years that the team has been playing in Thompson-Boling Arena. In fact, since the Associated Press polls started in 1976, the Lady Vols have only lost one game ever to an unranked opponent at home. The Dawn Staley-coached Temple Owls almost accomplished (practically 20 years to the day) what the unranked Cincinnati Lady Bearcats pulled-off when they waltzed into Stokely Athletics Center on Nov. 26, 1984, and hung a 72-69 loss on the 12th-ranked Lady Vols. Cincinnati's Cheryl Cook had a field day against UT and tossed in 34 points in 33 minutes of action in the upset. Tennessee has lost just 14 games all-time at TBA - all to ranked opponents and comprised of just seven teams. UT has never played a game at TBA when they were not ranked. UT lost 19 games all-time at Stokely since the rankings started in 1976. Eighteen losses were to ranked opponents and just one to an unranked team. UT was not ranked at the time of three of the losses to ranked teams. THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA 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. 200 WINS IN THE BAG Tennessee recorded its 200th win in Thompson-Boling Arena when the Lady Vols defeated the University of Southern California on Nov. 18, 2001, 106-66. UT has now amassed a 263-15 (.946) record since the Orange and White moved into the Thompson-Boling Arena to start the 1987-88 season 18-years ago. Along the way, the Lady Vols have produced nine 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), 2000-01 (15-0) and 2002-03 (16-0). UT also registered an NCAA record 69-game home court-winning streak from Feb. 1, 1991 thru Jan. 2, 1996. JUST 15 LOSSES The Tennessee Lady Vols rarely lose at home. In fact, since moving to the Thompson-Boling Arena for the 1987-88 campaign, UT has lost two games in one season just five times. UT lost two games in TBA during the inaugural 1987-88 campaign, 1996-97, 1999-00, 2001-02 and the 2003-04 seasons. The 15 all-time losses at Thompson-Boling Arena have come at the hands of just eight teams: LSU (2006), Duke (2004), Connecticut (2004, 2002, 2000, 1996), Louisiana Tech (1999, 1989), Georgia (1996, 1991), Texas (2003, 2002, 1987), Stanford (1996) and Auburn (1988). HOME SWEET HOME -- 400th HOME WIN The victory over Georgia on Jan. 31, 2005, was the Lady Vols 400th home win since Pat Summitt took over as head coach in 1974. Summitt has won 91.4 percent of all home games in 32 years producing a 416-39 overall record. Home losses (in the Summitt era) include: six in Alumni Gym from 1974-76; 18 in Stokely Athletics Center from 1976-87; and 15 in Thompson-Boling Arena since 1987. 213 OF 225 AT HOME UT has won 213 of their last 225 games in Thompson-Boling Arena dating back to 2-1-91. UT's 12 losses during this time have been to LSU, Duke, Louisiana Tech, UConn (four times), Stanford, Texas (three times) and Georgia (OT).
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