University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Host South Carolina Sunday Afternoon
January 17, 2009 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
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| January 18, 2009 - 3:00 p.m. ET Thompson-Boling Arena (21,678) - Knoxville, Tenn. | |||
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GATES OPENING EARLY Based on ticket sales, the Thompson-Boling Arena doors will open for the game against South Carolina on Sunday 90 minutes prior to tip. Tip is scheduled for 3:00 p.m., so the doors will open at 1:30 p.m. THE GAME The #13/15-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols (13-3, 2-1 SEC) return home for the second of just three SEC games in Knoxville in the month of January taking on the South Carolina Gamecocks (8-8, 0-3 SEC) in Thompson-Boling Arena on Jan. 18 at 3:00 p.m. The game will be televised by SportSouth. LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols' 35th season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 996-185 overall record... Is just FOUR wins away from a remarkable 1,000 career victories... Collected her 900th 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 2006-07 and 2007-08 squads were crowned as the NCAA Champions producing the program's seventh and eighth titles...Last season, UT fi nished with a 36-2 overall record and were also the SEC Tournament Champions... This season, UT returned fi ve letterwinners, a redshirt freshman and welcomed a talented sixpack rookie class...The 2008-09 season marked the Lady Vol debut for freshmen: #1 Briana Bass, a 5-2 guard from Indianapolis, Ind., #10 Amber Gray, a 6-1 forward/center from West Chester, Ohio, #15 Alicia Manning, a 6-1 guard/forward from Woodstock, Ga., #25 Glory Johnson, a 6-3 forward from Knoxville, Tenn., #33 Alyssia Brewer, a 6-3 forward from Sapulpa, Okla. and #40 Shekinna Stricklen, a 6-2 guard/forward from Morrilton, Ark. -- all have seen their fi rst action in the Orange and White this season. A redshirt freshman, #52 Kelley Cain, a 6-6 center from Atlanta, Ga., restarted her rookie season after undergoing surgery in December 2007.OUR SCHEDULE THIS WEEK After picking up a hard-fought SEC road win at Mississippi State (63-56) on Jan. 15, UT returns home for a matinee match-up against South Carolina at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18 at 3 p.m. The contest will be aired on SportSouth. It will be a homecoming game for former Lady Vols Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee who are assistant coaches for the Gamecocks.NEXT UP The Lady Vols get back on the road for a Thursday-Sunday road swing traveling to Arkansas (11- 6, 0-2 SEC) on Jan. 22 and to #6/8-ranked and league leading Auburn (17-0, 2-0 SEC) on Jan. 25.ON THIS DAY IN LADY VOL BASKETBALL HISTORY UT is 10-3 all-time on January 18 featuring a 6-1 record at home, a 4-2 slate on the road and a 0-0 mark on neutral courts. The last time the Lady Vols were in action on this date, Tennessee took a 73-44 win over Mississippi State in Knoxville in 2007.LOOKING BACK Last year at this time, the #2-ranked Lady Vols were 15-1 (3-0 SEC) on the campaign after defeating Kentucky, 65-40, in Lexington.LADY VOLS ON TV Currently, 21 Lady Vol regular season games are slated for television this season. Upcoming TV games include: South Carolina (SportSouth), Auburn (CSS) and Ole Miss (ESPNU). Last season, UT had a school record 36 television appearances. UT is 8-3 in TV games this year.COUNTDOWN TO 1,000 The much anticipated countdown to Coach Pat Summitt's 1,000th career victory continues today with a game against South Carolina. Summitt (with 996 wins) now needs just four victories to hit the magic mark. Summitt started the year needing 17 victories to reach 1,000. Last season, UT grabbed win number 17 on Jan. 24 vs. Arkansas (98-55) and in 2006-07, win number 17 occurred on Jan. 18 with a victory over Miss. State. Traditionally, Tennessee has reached 17 wins in 20.5 games each season (on average).1,000 win milestone opportunities
GRABBED 400TH SEC WIN The University of Tennessee Lady Vols' win over Mississippi State on Jan. 15 was the program's 400th all-time victory over an SEC foe. Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt has been on board for 398 wins and 59 losses. A 2-1 record versus South Carolina pre-dates Summitt's coaching tenure with the Lady Vols.TWOSIES The Lady Vols will face Kentucky and Mississippi State twice again this season and Vanderbilt twice as the "natural rival" in SEC play.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.EIGHT WAS GREAT Over the years, eight Lady Vols teams have gone undefeated in SEC play: 1993, `94, `95, `98, 2001, `03, `04 and `07.UT WINNING STREAKS VS. SEC TEAMS School Streak and last lossAlabama 33 in a row, since 3-3-1984 Arkansas 14 in row, since 12-29-1996 Auburn 16 in a row, since 3-2-1997 Florida 3 in a row, since 2-26-2006 Georgia 7 in a row, since 3-6-2004 Kentucky 4 in a row, since 1-26-2006 LSU 2 in a row, 2-13-2008 Mississippi 16 in a row, since 2-4-1996 Mississippi State 29 in a row, never lost to MSU South Carolina 35 in a row, since 1-23-1980 Vanderbilt no streak, 1-11-09 VANDY STOPPED THE BLEEDING The Vanderbilt Commodores halted the Lady Vols 16-game winning streak against them dating back to the 2002 season with a 74-58 dusting of Tennessee in Nashville on Jan. 11, 2009, in the fi rst SEC road game of the year. It also marked VU coach Melanie Balcomb's fi rst victory over Tennessee since becoming the Commodore coach.RARE SEC ROAD LOSS FOR SUMMITT Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt's teams rarely lose on the road in the SEC. The loss to Vanderbilt on Jan. 11, 2009 was the 30th SEC road loss suffered by a Summitt-coached Lady Vol team and halted a 17-game SEC road winning streak.AMAZING AT HOME VS. THE SEC Since Tennessee began contesting games with SEC opponents, the Lady Vols have produced a 165- 12 record in home games. Only six SEC teams have ever managed a victory over the Lady Vols in Knoxville - Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Ole Miss. Georgia has won three games on UT's turf while Auburn, Kentucky, Ole Miss and LSU have registered two wins each and Florida one win. Georgia was the only team to defeat UT at home in the 1990s (1991 & 1996). LSU and Florida are the only SEC teams to defeat UT at home in the 21st century.SEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Tennessee freshman Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton, Ark.) was named Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Week for the second time this season, after helping the Lady Vols to a pair of wins over Gonzaga, 77-58, and the come-from-behind win at Rutgers, 55-51. The explosive rookie scored 12 points and grabbed six boards, while dishing out a career-high fi ve assists and making four steals in the win over the Bulldogs on Dec. 30. On Jan. 3 against Rutgers, Stricklen notched her fi rst career double-double with team-highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds and was named the CBS Chevrolet Player of the Game. She was 4-of-8 for 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in leading the Lady Vols to a 20-point comeback win, the largest in school history.STRICK -- SEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Tennessee freshman Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton, Ark.) was named Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman of the Week (Dec. 15-22) for the fi rst time this season, after leading the Lady Vols to a 79- 69 upset overtime win over #3/4-ranked Stanford on Dec. 21. After missing the game at Old Dominion on Dec. 18 due to illness, the rookie came back strong to lead the Lady Vols over the Cardinal. She scored a career high 25 points including the fi rst eight of the Lady Vols 11 points in overtime. For good measure, she grabbed seven rebounds, snagged three steals and registered a career high four assists. Stricklen joins teammate Glory Johnson who has been named SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season.GLORY BE -- SEC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Lady Vol rookie Glory Johnson has picked up SEC Rookie of the Week honors twice this season. She received the award for the week of Nov. 23-30 after leading the Lady Vols to wins over Western Carolina (83-56) and DePaul (88-67). In each game, she scored a season-high 19 points. Johnson was also named SEC Freshman of the Week for the opening week of the new campaign after leading UT to a 68-39 win over San Francisco with 17 points and 12 rebounds.SEC COACHES SELECT LADY VOLS AS #2 Vanderbilt was predicted to win the SEC women's basketball regular season championship. The Commodores were 25-9, 11-3 in the SEC last season. Vanderbilt tops the order of fi nish with Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Florida rounding out the top half of the league. Kentucky comes in at seven while Mississippi State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Arkansas and Alabama round out the bottom half of the conference. Auburn senior guard DeWanna Bonner was named SEC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year while three Lady Vols were selected to either the fi rst or second teams.. Joining Bonner, on the All-SEC First Team were Florida's Marshae Dotson and Sha Brooks, Georgia's Ashley Houts, LSU's Allison Hightower, Ole Miss' Shawn Goff, Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund, and Vanderbilt's Christina Wirth. Second team: Auburn's Whitney Boddie and Sherell Hobbs, Georgia's Angel Robinson, Kentucky's Victoria Dunlap, Mississippi State's Marneshia Richard, South Carolina's Demetress Adams, Tennessee's Vicki Baugh and Shekinna Stricklen, and Vanderbilt's Jennifer Risper.UT PICKED NUMBER TWO AT SEC MEDIA DAYS Tennessee was picked to fi nish second in the SEC race with 261 points by a vote of conference and national media members. UT sophomore Angie Bjorklund and freshman Shekinna Stricklen were each selected to the All-SEC Second Team. Vanderbilt was picked to fi nish fi rst with 273 points, followed by UT, Auburn, Georgia, and LSU. Auburn's DeWanna Bonner was tabbed as Player of the Year. Joining her on the All-SEC First Team was Vanderbilt's Christina Wirth, Florida's Marshae Dotson, Georgia's Ashley Houts and Ole Miss' Shawn Goff. Bjorklund, the 2007-08 SEC Freshman of the Year and Stricklen, were joined on the second team by Whitney Boddie of Auburn, Sha Brooks of Florida, Angel Robinson ofTHE 4-1-1 ON SOUTH CAROLINA In their last meeting before traveling to take on Tennessee, South Carolina senior guard Brionna Dickerson poured in a season-high 20 points, but it was not enough in a 77-63 loss to #19-ranked Florida on Jan. 15 in Columbia, S.C. The Gamecocks (8-8, 0-3 SEC) trailed by 10 at the half and saw the lead balloon to 21 points with under eight minutes to play. A 14-2 run brought the defi cit under double digits with just under a minute on the clock, but the Gators (16-2, 2-1 SEC) were solid at the free-throw line in the fi nal minute to seal the victory. South Carolina led early on taking a quick 12-5 lead at the 13:22 mark. Florida responded and after a see-sawing lead, the Gators jumped out to a 35-25 advantage at the break. In the second stanza, UF's Sha Brooks put up eight straight points for the Gators to increase the lead to 21 points (65- 44) with 7:46 left. USC fought back and whittled the lead to 68-59 with 54 seconds left to play.LAST MEETING WITH SOUTH CAROLINA Number two-ranked Tennessee turned things up with an intense press at South Carolina on Jan. 13, 2008, as the Lady Vols cruised to their 35th straight win against the South Carolina Gamecocks, 71-48. Shannon Bobbitt led Tennessee with 20 points, while Candace Parker added 15 as the Lady Vols started 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference for the 11th straight season. Bobbitt's performance matched her top scoring effort in an SEC game. Her fourth three-pointer of the game was the 100th of her career, making her just the 12th Lady Vol to amass that many buckets from beyond the arch. For the second game in a row, a pair of free throws by Nicky Anosike got the Lady Vols on the scoreboard. Parker scored the team's second basket in a 9-0 start and added another bucket and two foul shots as Tennessee broke on top 17-5 less than nine minutes into the contest. South Carolina never got closer than 10 points the rest of way. The Lady Vols forced four shot clock violations in the fi rst half and didn't have a turnover until after South Carolina's 11th cough up, holding the Gamecocks to just 14 fi rst-half points -- the sixth-fewest by a foe in school history. Ilona Burgrova led South Carolina with 16 points and a career-best 13 rebounds, helping the Gamecocks to a 41-33 rebounding edge. South Carolina scored the fi rst three baskets of the second half to cut Tennessee's 23-point lead to 37-20. But the Lady Vols went on a 7-0 run capped by a basket by Parker to restore control. The Gamecocks haven't beaten Tennessee since a 56-52 victory on Jan. 23, 1980.STALEY WAS MVP -- LADY VOLS WON THE TITLE At the 1991 NCAA Final Four in New Orleans. La., the Tennessee Lady Vols and the Virginia Cavaliers squared off in the NCAA Championship game on March 31, at the Lakefront Arena. The Virginia point guard at the time was Dawn Staley, currently South Carolina's head coach, who helped her team stage a furious comeback to tie the game at 60-all in regulation. Staley scored 28 points before fouling out and was named the MVP - except the ballots were counted in the fi nal three minutes during regulation. UT guard Dena Head also scored 28 points and led the Lady Vols in the overtime stanza to a 70-67 victory over UVA. It was the fi rst OT championship game ever in NCAA women's hoops.SUMMITT COMMENTS ON STALEY'S CAREER "I think it's tremendous. My staff and I paid a visit to Dawn when we were trying to recruit her to come to Tennessee. I remember she pretty much single-handedly beat us to deny us a chance to come back to our home court to play in the NCAA Final Four (1990). I have tremendous respect and admiration for Dawn's playing ability and her competitiveness. You could see her leadership then on the court, and now you see it on the sidelines as a coach. I believe that what allowed her to be a special basketball player has also allowed her to be a successful coach. She possesses the knowledge of the game and has great composure. She obviously knows the game, and with the communication and leadership skills gained from her playing days, she now shares that with her team. It's great to see players coaching the game and giving back to help build on the success of our sport."FACING FORMER LADY VOLS Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt will be facing two more former players turned coaches this afternoon on the South Carolina sideline. Lady Vol Olympians Nikki Mc- Cray (1991-95) and Carla McGhee (1986-90) are assistant coaches on Gamecock Coach Dawn Staley's staff. McGhee was a teammate of Tennessee assistant coach Daedra Charles-Furlow on the 1989 Lady Vol NCAA title team. Charles-Furlow and Staley faced each other in the 1991 NCAA title game in New Orleans as both fouled out as the game went into overtime. In her fi nal collegiate game, Charles tossed in 19 points and grabbed 12 boards while Staley was the MVP with 28 points and 11 rebounds. This season, Summitt has faced a number of former Lady Vol players and staffers in the coaching ranks: Tanya Haave and Abby Conklin (San Francisco), Angel Elderkin (Virginia), Kellie Jolly Harper (Western Carolina), Mickie DeMoss (Texas), Matthew Mitchell and Kyra Elzy (Kentucky).SUMMITT VS. STALEY Hall of Famers Pat Summitt and Dawn Staley have met twice before when Staley was head coach at Temple. Her Owls were 0-2 vs. Tennessee. The #1-ranked Lady Vols narrowly won in Knoxville, 52-48, in 2004, and then took a 75-50 win in Philadelphia in 2005.The UT-USC Series Tennessee leads 39-2
USC SERIES Tennessee leads the series with South Carolina, 39-2. The UT Media Relations Offi ce recognizes all recorded games played with newspaper accounts and/or box scores. The series with USC indicates two wins and a loss pre-dating the Pat Summitt years yielding a 39-2 record. The Summitt era has only found UT on the losing end to the Gamecocks once -- Jan. 23, 1980 in Columbia, 56-52. It happened when the Carolina Pep Band positioned itself behind the UT bench and played its amplifi ed drums, electric guitars, etc. for all 40 minutes of the game. UT huddles, held practically at the free throw line, did little good. Shortly thereafter, a ban on bands playing during the game and disallowing electronic amplifi cation, was instituted by the AIAW.HEADING INTO THE GAME... UT and USC meet today for the 42nd time in the series. The Lady Vols have recorded 35 consecutive victories over the Gamecocks dating back to the 1979-80 season when UT associate head coach Holly Warlick was the starting point guard. Warlick was quarterbacking the team the only time UT lost to USC in the Summitt Era. The day after the loss, the Lady Vol players wore their game uniforms in practice -- since (then) Coach Pat Head said her team "had only played for about 20 minutes in them."UT'S OFFENSIVE OPPORTUNITIES In all games, this is how Tennessee has shot from the fi eld: 60% FG: none; 50%FG: MTSU (.517), Gonzaga (.500); 40%FG: WCU (.475), LaTech (.429), DePaul (.427), Virginia (.413), Stanford (.403), San Francisco (.400), Rutgers (.400); 30%FG: Vandy1 (.393),ODU (.386), KY1 (.361), GWU (.353), UT-Chattanooga (.344), Miss St. (.339), Texas (.333); 20%FG: none.DEEE ----- FENSE In all games, this is how the opposition has shot from the fi eld: 50%FG: Virginia (.500), 40%FG: Vandy1 (.462), KY1 (.455), MTSU (.412), GWU (.404), Rutgers (.404); 30%FG: ODU (.385), DePaul (.373), Gonzaga (.371),Texas (.369), UT-Chattanooga (.365), Miss. St. (.362), Stanford (.362),LaTech (.313), 20%FG: WCU (.298); 10%FG: San Francisco (.186)2008-09 WON-LOSS DIFFERENTIAL Wins: +35 (1), +29 (2), +27 (1), +21 (1), +19 (1), +12 (1), + 10 (1), +7 (1), +5 (2), +4 (1) +3 (1)Losses: -16 (1), -14 (1), -1 (1) BAUGH WILL SEE MINUTES UT sophomore starting post Vicki Baugh is expected to be available for the Lady Vols versus South Carolina. The starting sophomore post missed four consecutive games after being injured in the Lady Vols practice at Rutgers Prep on Jan. 1, 2009. Baugh went down and grabbed her left knee -- the same knee she injured (torn ACL) in the 2008 NCAA title game against Stanford last April. Baugh was taken to the hospital for x-rays which were negative. When UT returned home following the shocking come-from-behind win over Rutgers, Baugh's knee was re-examined. According to Jenny Moshak, Lady Vol Associate Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, "Vicki suffered a sprain of the lateral collateral ligament in her left knee. She will be treated accordingly and is listed as dayto- day." Since the injury, she missed games with Rutgers (1-3-09), Kentucky (1-8-09), Vanderbilt (1-11-09) and Mississippi State (1-15-09). She returned to the practice fl oor on Friday, Jan. 16.BLINK AND WE'LL BE GONE Today's game with South Carolina is the second of just three home dates in the month of January for UT. The Lady Vols opened the SEC slate with a home win over Kentucky (69-64) on Jan. 8... play at home versus South Carolina today (Jan. 18)... and fi nish the month with a home game versus Mississippi (Jan. 29).SEND OUT A SEARCH PARTY UT coach Pat Summitt needs to send out a search party to look for accurate shooters. The 2008-09 Lady Vols are shooting a program worst 40.4 percent from the fi eld eclipsing the 2004-05 team which only connected on 41.6 percent of its shots for the season. UT's 33.9 shooting percentage vs. Mississippi State was the worst of the season in a win.CRASH CART AT MISS STATE Tennessee was already without the temporary services of sophomore post Vicki Baugh (injured knee on Jan. 1) and the premature ending to point guard Cait McMahan's career (announced Jan. 10) when the team rolled into Mississippi State on Jan. 15. For the second year in a row at State, three UT players were injured. Last year, it was a broken nose for Angie Bjorklund, a hyper-extended knee for Candace Parker and a biceps strain for Alberta Auguste. This year, Kelley Cain came down hard on her surgically repaired right knee in the fi rst half and did not return... Alex Fuller's eye was scratched and Shekinna Stricklen received a rib contusion.STRICK FOUND A WAY Rookie Shekinna Stricklen was having a challenging night from the fi eld (1-10) against Mississippi State on Jan. 15 when she connected on a three-pointer with 1:45 to go to put the Lady Vols ahead for good, 59-56. Strick also cashed in on 10-10 free throws to fi nish with a team high 15 points on the night.CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME In three SEC games, freshman Shekinna Stricklen has hit all 18 of her free throws.NO SUCH THING AS FRESHMEN WITH OUR SLATE Yes, yes... we all know Tennessee has a young team facing a typically tough slate. How tough?? Currently, UT has the number one strength of schedule (SOS) followed by Maryland and Oklahoma. The Lady Vols RPI is third behind UConn and Maryland. |
Players Mentioned
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