Pat Summitt/Lady Vols News

No. 13 Tennessee routs No. 7 Kentucky women 91-54

2012-02-14T01:01:00.000-05:00

Meighan Simmons scored a season-high 25 points and No. 13 Tennessee routed No. 7 Kentucky 91-54 on Monday night.

Shekinna Stricklen added 18 points for the Lady Volunteers, who shot 59 percent while holding Kentucky to 33.3 percent and held a 45-27 rebounding advantage.

Tennessee (18-7, 9-3 Southeastern Conference) never trailed. Simmons hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 10-2 and blocked a 3-point attempt by Keyla Snowden at the other end, one of six rejections by Tennessee in the first half.

The Wildcats (21-4, 10-2) pulled within 21-16 on a steal by Azia Bishop and a transition layup by Bernisha Pinkett with 9:20 in the first half, but they wouldn't get any closer. The loss marked the first time this season Kentucky has lost consecutive games.

Vicki Baugh scored on a putback and was fouled by Bishop. She missed the free throw but charged through the lane and converted the rebound that put Tennessee up 29-18.

Those baskets launched a 14-0 run by the Lady Vols across a 3:21 stretch. During that time, Kentucky missed two free throws and two shots from the field and turned the ball over four times.

Tennessee led 46-28 at halftime after shooting 60 percent. Both teams had 10 turnovers, but the Lady Vols had scored eight more points off giveaways than the Wildcats.

Tennessee's lead reached 40 points with 4:37 to play.

Bria Goss led the Wildcats with 15 points. A'dia Mathies, who scored 34 points in the last meeting with Tennessee, had 12 and Pinkett finished with 10.

Even with the loss, Kentucky, which hasn't played since a 61-51 loss at LSU on Feb. 5, remains alone in first place in the SEC and Tennessee is second with two weeks left in the season. The Lady Vols would have had a shot at pulling into a tie with the Wildcats but lost Thursday at Vanderbilt.

Kentucky snapped Tennessee's 36-game SEC winning streak with a 61-60 victory in Lexington on Jan. 12.

That game turned out to be part of an uncharacteristic 5-4 stretch for Tennessee. After losing to the Wildcats, the Lady Vols dropped games at Notre Dame and Vanderbilt and lost to South Carolina at home, their first SEC home loss in nearly four years.

During that stretch, Stricklen, a preseason All-America and Tennessee's leading scorer for the season, has shot just 41.8 percent while the usually sharpshooting Simmons has shot just 37.2 percent.

This time, Simmons was 10 of 17 from the field and had three 3s, while Stricklen was 8 for 12.

Lady Vols lack a loathing for losing

2012-02-10T22:35:00.001-05:00

Click here to read John Adams: Lady Vols lack a loathing for losing

As Pat Summitt’s role at Tennessee appears to diminish, No. 11 Lady Vols continue to struggle

2012-02-10T19:34:00.000-05:00

As legendary coach Pat Summitt’s role with Tennessee seems to be diminishing, her 11th-ranked Lady Volunteers continue to struggle.

In a matter of eight days, they’ve lost twice in the Southeastern Conference, a prospect backed off her longtime commitment to the program and they’re out of the top 10 for the first time this season.

It’s been tough to watch — and not just for the fans.

“They let us down,” Summitt said of her team on her radio show after the Lady Vols’ 93-79 loss at Vanderbilt on Thursday night. “As coaches, we’re not happy and (the players are) not happy. At least they better not be happy because we got more basketball to play. But this one, man this one hurts. It really does.”

Summitt announced in August that she was facing a diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type, after 37 seasons of coaching. The Hall of Fame coach said she would continue coaching as long as she was able to but would turn over more responsibility to her assistants.

Her decision to rely more on her assistants has become more and more evident as the season has gone on. The assistant coaches run most aspects of practice and associate head coach Holly Warlick takes the lead on the bench and in huddles during games while handling postgame news conferences.

“Pat is Pat. I’ll say this, she still gets up and has a voice when we need to make a point, and that’s what I love about her,” Warlick said after Tennessee beat Auburn on Sunday. “She may pick and choose when she does, but when she does, it’s pretty powerful.”

Though Summitt still gives referees or her players an earful in some games, she is completely removed from the team in others.

During a late huddle against South Carolina on Feb. 2 and with the game still in contention, Summitt stepped back as her team huddled without her. The Lady Vols ended up losing 64-60 as the Gamecocks got their first-ever victory in Knoxville.

Against Vanderbilt with a late tipoff, Summitt sat on the bench while her Lady Vols were manhandled on the boards, the type of poor play that in the past brought the coach to her feet with her withering glare forcing them to play better.

With each loss, Summitt is being watched even more closely during games.

Fans debated on Friday on the Knoxville News Sentinel’s website whether it was time for Summitt to retire. Kaela Davis, a high school junior from Buford, Ga., had been committed to playing at Tennessee for several years and announced last week she was looking at other colleges.

Davis’s parents did not respond to a request by The Associated Press seeking comment about the decision, but her mother, Kendra Davis, told ESPN.com she is reconsidering her decision because of concern over Summitt’s future with Tennessee.

“She’s not washing her hands (of Tennessee) or decommitting,” Kendra Davis told ESPN. “Nobody could have foreseen (Summitt’s illness), nor could the effects be foreseen.”

Summitt’s colleagues within women’s basketball have honored her request from the beginning of the season to keep the focus on basketball rather than her or her illness. Still, it’s been hard for her friends to watch her confront her condition.

“It’s been real tough on coach Summitt I know, so I hate to talk about how tough it’s been on me because that takes the focus off of Pat,” said Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell, who spent the 1999-2000 season as a Tennessee graduate assistant. “But I think all of us who are close to her or all of us who have had significant contributions made to our lives by her are struggling with this situation.”

The Lady Vols (17-7, 8-3) have struggled in record fashion this season. They scored the fewest points in program history in what was the second-largest margin of defeat in a 72-44 pounding at No. 2 Notre Dame on Jan. 23. Stanford’s Nnemkadi Ogwumike dropped 42 points on Tennessee on Dec. 20 — the second most by a player.

And Vanderbilt’s 93 points on Thursday were the most the program has ever scored against the Lady Vols.

In those losses, Tennessee has struggled with the style of play that Summitt made the hallmark of her program. The coach always has preached defense and rebounding wins national championships, and Summitt has eight to back her approach.

“Until these guys understand or these young ladies understand the importance of those two things, we’re going to continue down this road of going up and down,” Warlick said.

The road continues Monday night when Tennessee hosts No. 7 Kentucky (21-3, 10-1). Before the Lady Vols’ loss to the Commodores, the game was shaping up to be a contest for control of the SEC. Now the Wildcats are back in control of their own destiny, even as they come off a 61-51 loss at LSU.

Kentucky beat Tennessee 61-60 in Lexington on Jan. 12, and junior guard A’dia Mathies, who hit the winning shot, knows just how much another win against the Lady Vols would mean for the program.

“Being at the top and knowing Tennessee is usually at the top is a great feeling. It’s kind of like you’ve finally arrived, but we haven’t really, because if we lose the next ones, we won’t get the SEC championship,” she said.

The Lady Vols know their own chance to win any kind of championship this year could be slipping away. The pressure has been on Tennessee to return to the Final Four, a spot they haven’t been in since 2008, but it won’t happen without an attitude adjustment.

“We have to have discipline,” sophomore guard Meighan Simmons said. “We can’t play well one game and then come out and not play at all (the next).”

Pat Summitt loses grip on Lady Vols

2012-02-10T13:28:00.000-05:00

If you’ve been around Pat Summitt very long, you realize she’s unfailingly direct and unflinchingly blunt.

With that as background, I’ll get right to the point:

Was Thursday night Summitt’s last visit to Memorial Gym as coach of Tennessee’s Lady Vols?

Face it: Her future as Lady Vols coach is the elephant in the room. We can attempt to ignore this sensitive situation or steer our conversations elsewhere, but it’s not going away.

Read the article by clicking here.

Vanderbilt upsets No. 11 Lady Vols 93-79

2012-02-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb sprayed the student section with the ice water from her cup, then slapped high fives before finally heading off the court.

A win over Tennessee is something to celebrate no matter how much the Lady Vols might be struggling.

Tiffany Clarke scored 23 points, and the Vanderbilt Commodores upset No. 11 Tennessee 93-79 on Thursday night for their fifth straight win overall and a very rare victory over their in-state rival.

"It's a rival game, it's Vanderbilt against Tennessee," Balcomb said. "And it's about school pride, and you're still playing the orange. They're 11th in the nation. It's everything it's always been."

For the Commodores (19-5, 7-4 Southeastern Conference), this was their first win against Tennessee since Jan. 11, 2009, and they did it by scoring their most points ever against their rival. It was just Balcomb's second win in 23 games against Tennessee since coming to Vanderbilt.

Tennessee (17-7, 8-3) had won 23 of the last 24 in this rivalry and seven straight. The Lady Vols, who fell out of the top 10 on Monday, now have lost two of three.

Coach Pat Summitt spent most of the game watching from her seat either leaning forward with hands clasped or her legs crossed. She said the Lady Vols were very disappointed.

"I just didn't think we brought the energy early on, and we didn't sustain our runs. We didn't have a whole lot of runs to sustain. We brought the energy early on and we didn't sustain our runs. We didn't have a whole lot of runs to sustain ...," said Summitt on her postgame radio show. "Really just a big, big disappointment. Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79. That says everything."

Christina Foggie scored 22 points for Vanderbilt, and Stephanie Holzer added 19. Jasmine Lister had her first double-double with 19 points and a career-high 13 assists.

"We have an inside threat and an outside threat, and not very many teams can guard that," Lister said.

Tennessee sure couldn't.

"We weren't communicating, hands weren't high, we weren't contesting shots," Johnson said. "A lot of wide open 3- point that went in, and there was no one around. At a game like this, you've got to forget about the offense and focus on playing defense."

Glory Johnson led Tennessee with 19 points before fouling out with 5:59 left. Meighan Simmons had a team-high 20 points, and Shekinna Stricklen 17.

Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick was asked afterward if this was Summitt's last game at Memorial Gym. Summitt announced last August she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type.

“I don’t think so,” Warlick said. “I mean Pat is coaching, she’s still coaching and she’s going to continue to coach. So I hope it’s not the last time, and I have not heard if it is or isn’t. She’s still the head coach of this basketball team.”

The Commodores outworked, outshot and simply outplayed Tennessee from start to finish. They shot 55.7 percent (39 of 70) compared to 45.9 percent (28 of 61) for Tennessee as they drove past the Lady Vols time and again for easy layups with plenty of room to hit jumpers. They also outrebounded the Lady Vols 41-27.

The result was Vanaderbilt’s highest scoring half in this series for a 42-34 halftime lead. The Commodores built that to 48-36 on a layup by Kady Schrann with 17:00 left in the second half when Tennessee finally put together its best stretch.

Johnson hit a jumper starting a 16-4 run. Stricklen, held to two points in the first half, hit a jumper and added a 3-pointer and another jumper. Taber Spani hit a pair of free throws, then Cierra Burdick tied it up at 52 with 12:33 left.

That was the Lady Vols’ first lead since 6-5 and finally gave the fans wearing orange something to cheer. It didn’t last because Vanderbilt didn’t wither.

Foggie hit back-to-back 3s putting Vanderbilt ahead to stay, and her 3-pointer with 8:43 left made it a 65-56 lead with 8:43 left. The Commodores just kept scoring from there and went up by as much as 14 down the stretch. That prompted the home fans to get very loud.

Balcomb called the environment the best she’s seen since she’s been at Vanderbilt.

“There was more black and gold than there’s ever been,” Balcomb said. “Marketing did a great job, and the students coming out means everything to this program and to the environment and the atmosphere. And I can tell you, if the students came to every game like that, we wouldn’t lose a game.”

Tennessee led only twice in a first half where the Lady Vols struggled and bounced off the Commodores at times. The Lady Vols took far too many jumpers, especially early that came up short. Only Johnson scoring 15 points with Simmons adding 13 kept them from being blown out early.

Auburn women lose 82-61 at No. 8 Tennessee

2012-02-05T19:50:00.002-05:00

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Auburn coach Nell Fortner could see just enough mistakes in eighth-ranked Tennessee’s game to know that the Tigers had a chance. They just couldn’t do enough against the Lady Volunteers’ size and pressure to get the win.

The Tigers’ 23 turnovers led to 21 points for the Lady Vols, who got the 82-61 win on Sunday.

“I thought we had good looks at the basket,” Fortner said. “I don’t know how many layups we missed, but there were way too many. Tennessee has always been known as a good defensive team. We tended to find some gaps and seams in things they were doing but still had a difficult time finishing the shot. That comes from their size.”

Tennessee had shown plenty of defensive lapses in a rare SEC loss at home to South Carolina on Thursday night. The Lady Vols saw a late seven-point lead slip away in that game as they struggled to cover the Gamecocks’ guards and committed costly turnovers.

Frustrated with the passive effort, the Tennessee coaches went back to the pressure scheme that’s worked so well for the Lady Volunteers in the past.

It appeared to be more of the same early against the Tigers, who hit six of their first nine shots and jumped out to a 9-4 lead quickly.

The Lady Vols (17-6, 8-2) buckled down, coming up with steals and making shots more difficult. By the end of the game, Auburn had 23 turnovers that resulted in 21 points compared to 11 turnovers by Tennessee.

“Mainly it’s us mentally,” Auburn guard Morgan Jennings said. “We just have to slow things down and make good decisions.”

The miscues gave the Lady Vols more of a chance in transition, where the Tigers struggled to guard them. Tennessee finished with 16 points on the break compared to just four by Auburn (11-13, 3-8).

The Lady Vols also dominated the paint, outscoring the Tigers 52-28 there.

“Actually, after the game the kids said, `That was actually fun,”’ associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “When they think it’s fun, we’re going to do it more often, but they’ve got to buy into it. We got success, and when you have success with something you do, it seems to give you more energy.”

Glory Johnson, who had spent much of the South Carolina loss in foul trouble, led the way inside with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Ariel Massengale also scored 14 points, Meighan Simmons added 13 points and Shekinna Stricklen had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Simmons sank a 3 to knot the game at 14 points with 14:22 in the first half. The basket launched a 7-0 run that put Tennessee ahead for good, and the Lady Vols led 44-31 at halftime.

Tennessee outshot Auburn 50 percent to 37 percent after halftime. Stricklen stole the ball from Blanche Alverson, and Massengale got a layup on the break to make it 56-39 with 13:24 to play.

The Tigers fought back, finding a few paths to the rim as the Lady Vols eased up on their defense late in the game. A short jumper by Hasina Muhammad with 6:54 to play cut Tennessee’s lead to 61-53, but it was as close as Auburn would get.

“We play good for about 34 minutes and then kind of break down,” Fortner said. “It was an eight-point game with 6:51 left, and I think we only had eight turnovers in the half at that time, and it just kind of fell apart on us.”

Simmons answered with a layup. Massengale stole the ball from Muhammad on the next possession, and Johnson rebounded a missed shot by Stricklen and hit a layup to help Tennessee pull away again.

Camille Glymph scored 13 points to lead Auburn, which outrebounded Tennessee 42-39. Tyrese Tanner scored 11 before fouling out with 4:52 to play, and Muhammad finished with 10.

Turnovers cost the Tigers in the first meeting of the teams this season, a 73-52 victory by the Lady Vols at Auburn on Jan. 1. The Lady Vols forced 25 turnovers in that game with their pressure.

“We like that style,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot of hard work. You can see when everyone gets tired, but we talk to each other. We know that it shakes the other team, especially with our presence on the full court. It makes them change their offense, and we like that.”

South Carolina women beat No. 8 Tennessee 64-60

2012-02-03T00:18:00.000-05:00

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South Carolina honored Tennessee coach Pat Summitt pre-game with a $20,000 donation for Alzheimer’s research. The Gamecocks’ goodwill ended there.

With a career-high 27 points from Markeshia Grant and strong performances from the rest of the team’s guards, South Carolina beat No. 8 Tennessee 64-60 on Thursday night for its first win over the Lady Volunteers since 1980.

“I’m just glad our players got a chance to experience this experience, knowing the tradition of Tennessee,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “By far, this is the biggest win of my career.”

The Gamecocks (18-5, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) were down 60-55, when Ashley Bruner hit a layup with 3:18 to play. The basket launched a 9-0 South Carolina run to close out the game, and Ieasia Walker hit the go-ahead layup with 2:15 to play.

The Lady Vols had led 57-50 with 5:02 to play in the back-and-forth game, but a layup by Walker and a 3-pointer by Grant, one of seven by the senior, fired up the Gamecocks bench. Tennessee remained flat the rest of the way and missed five shots during South Carolina’s game-ending run.

In the final three minutes, the Gamecocks forced a turnover by point guard Ariel Massengale and tied the ball up twice. South Carolina gained possession on the second jumpball, preventing Tennessee a chance at a game-tying shot with 47 seconds left to play.

Tennessee outshot South Carolina 41.4 percent to 39.4 percent and held a 44-36 advantage in rebounding but had little answer for the Gamecocks guards. La’Keisha Sutton added 12 points, and Walker had 11.

“We didn’t have an answer for them the last four minutes of the game. We didn’t have an answer for their runs,” Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “We continue to let star players put up big numbers against us, and that’s been a focal point for us, but obviously it hasn’t been good enough.”

Glory Johnson scored 13 points in 26 minutes for Tennessee (16-6, 7-2), but foul trouble kept her from being the force in the paint the Lady Vols have come to rely on. Ariel Massengale scored 12 points, and Shekinna Stricklen grabbed 10 rebounds.

The Lady Vols hadn’t dropped a SEC game at home since a loss to LSU on Feb. 14, 2008, but have struggled in the first season since coach Pat Summitt announced she’d been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

“We have the fan support. We have home-court advantage. We’re sleeping in our own beds before the game. We’re having a great pregame meal. We’re completely prepared with the scouting report from our coaches, so this loss is on us. There are no excuses,” Johnson said.

It was the first victory for South Carolina in Knoxville and the Gamecocks’ first win against Tennessee since a 56-52 victory on Jan. 23, 1980, when Warlick was a point guard for Tennessee. The Lady Vols had won 40 straight meetings since then.

It was the second longest active winning streak by one opponent over another. Stanford has beaten Washington State 52 straight times.

South Carolina has been laying the foundation for one of its strongest seasons ever. It now owns the program’s best record since the 2001-02 season which saw the Gamecocks finish 20-3 and reach the NCAA regional finals.

The Gamecocks have managed the feat with the same kind of sharp focus on defense that has been the hallmark of so many Summitt-coached teams. They entered the game ranked second in the nation in limiting opponents to 47.5 points per game and top in the nation with 20.1 3-point shooting defense.

That defense frustrated the Lady Vols all over the floor. They struggled to get second-chance points, hit just one 3-pointer and turned the ball over 11 times.

The Gamecocks’ last win over a top 10 team came in a 71-52 decision over then-No. 6 Vanderbilt on Jan. 3, 2002, in Columbia. The highest ranked team the Gamecocks have defeated in Staley’s four seasons was then-No. 14 Georgia on Feb. 25, 2010, when South Carolina left Athens with a 52-42 victory.

“I really can’t put it into words because I don’t think it has hit me yet,” Sutton said. “I’m really happy for our team, coach Staley, our coaching staff for preparing us and just every player who ever put on a Gamecock uniform.”

During the team shootaround on Thursday, Staley, South Carolina assistant coach and former Lady Vol Nikki McCray and the rest of the Gamecocks presented to Summitt’s son Tyler a $20,000 check to the Alzheimer’s Association in honor of the Hall of Fame coach.

Soon after that, Staley’s own college coach, former Virginia coach Debbie Ryan, spoke to the Gamecocks about believing in themselves. With Staley as her point guard, Ryan’s Cavaliers beat Summitt’s Lady Vols in the 1990 NCAA regional finals.

“We had my college coach Debbie Ryan come talk to our team about everyone believing on one accord and being on one accord and anything is possible,” Staley said. “I think our team took that to heart.”

Path Is Found for the Spread of Alzheimer’s

2012-02-02T18:17:00.000-05:00

Good news for Pat Summitt and other people with Alzheimer's.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/02/health/research/alzheimers-spreads-like-a-virus-in-the-brain-studies-find.html?_r=2&hpw

No. 18 Georgia women fall to No. 7 Lady Vols

2012-01-29T22:14:00.003-05:00

ATHENS, Ga. — A strong finish to the first half seemed to leave momentum with Georgia against Tennessee.

That momentum quickly vanished after halftime.

Shekinna Stricklen had 24 points, including six in Tennessee’s 11-0 run to open the second half, and the No. 7 Lady Vols beat No. 17 Georgia 67-50 on Sunday for their second win over the Lady Bulldogs this month.

Georgia scored the final four points of the first half to cut Tennessee’s lead to 29-28 at halftime. A sellout crowd cheered as the Lady Bulldogs pumped their fists on the way off the court.

The upbeat mood quickly soured as Georgia missed its first five shots from the field in the half.

“It seemed like we went back out all of a sudden with no energy,” said Georgia coach Andy Landers.

“Defensively, I thought we stood around for the first two minutes of the second half. I didn’t see the intensity that I would have liked to have seen. We broke down and they got some driving, wide-open layups.”

Meighan Simmons opened the second half with a 3-pointer to spark the Lady Vols’ 11-0 run. Stricklen followed the 3-pointer by scoring on a drive and had a steal and basket later in the 11-0 run.

“They came out and hit some easy buckets which allowed them to get going,” said Georgia’s Meredith Mitchell. “We had some good shots. We just couldn’t knock them down.

“They built the lead a little bit and that got their confidence going and it swung the momentum to their side because at the end of the half we definitely had the momentum.”

The Lady Vols kept the lead in double figures the remainder of the game.

Mitchell had 13 points and Jasmine Hassell had 11 for Georgia, which has lost consecutive games and three of its last four.

Georgia (16-6, 5-4 Southeastern Conference) made only 5 of 25 shots (20 percent) from the field in the second half and made a season-low 28.8 percent of its shots (17 of 59) for the game.

“The readiness was missing,” Landers said, adding his players were “mentally not in it.”

Jasmine James, a preseason All-SEC pick and Georgia’s point guard, missed her fourth straight game with a sprained right knee.

Landers said James is “very close” to returning.

“We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do to get her well,” Landers said. “We need her. She’s important.”

Stricklen had seven rebounds, two steals and two assists for Tennessee (16-5, 7-1).

Ariel Massengale had 16 points, including 13 in the second half, for the Lady Vols.

Following a lopsided 72-44 loss at No. 2 Notre Dame on Monday, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt juggled her lineup in Thursday’s 86-56 win at Alabama. Stricklen, who had a streak of 121 consecutive starts, the longest in the nation, end earlier this month due to an injury, didn’t start against Alabama even though she was available.

Stricklen said she understood the message from Summitt and her staff.

“It was a challenge,” said Stricklen, a senior who started against Georgia. “I think it was a good decision by the coaches. I haven’t been playing to my ability and if I’m not playing to my ability I shouldn’t start. That’s what they did and I agreed with them.

“I wasn’t mad. I stayed positive and I was cheering on my team. This is not about me. It’s whatever best for the team.”

Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said the Lady Vols recovered from the loss at Notre Dame.

“We had a tough week,” Warlick said. “We played three games in seven days. They responded. We pushed them in practice and I’m proud of the way they responded.”

Forward Glory Johnson, who 22 points and 13 rebounds in Tennessee’s 80-51 home win over Georgia on Jan. 5, had five points and a team-leading eight rebounds as the Lady Vols completed the sweep of the regular-season series.

Tennessee, which committed a season-low eight turnovers against Alabama, had 19 turnovers, including 12 in the first half.

The Lady Vols led 53-37 before Georgia pulled to within 10 at 53-43. Massengale answered with a 3-pointer.

Georgia battled foul problems late in the game. Mitchell was called for her fifth with 1:19 remaining.

Attendance was 10,523, Georgia’s fifth sellout in school history and first since Jan. 14, 2007 against Tennessee.

No. 7 Tennessee women bounce back to beat Alabama

2012-01-27T13:11:00.000-05:00

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Alabama came into Thursday night's game against Tennessee riding a six-game losing streak. The fact Tennessee was fired up after the second-worst loss in program history only made matters worse.

Shekinna Stricklen scored 14 points and Glory Johnson added 13 to lead the No. 7 Lady Vols to an 86-56 win over the Crimson Tide.

"I'm really proud of our team for the effort that they gave," said Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. "I thought we competed and played awfully hard. We played a very good basketball team. ... I didn't see anything drastic."

Kamiko Williams and Isabelle Harrison chipped in 10 points apiece for the Lady Vols (15-5, 6-1 Southeastern Conference), who rebounded from a 72-44 setback at No. 2 Notre Dame on Monday.
"We were happy with the pace we played," said Tennessee assistant coach Holly Warlick.

"Obviously, we wanted to score. We wanted an up-tempo game. I thought the first half, Alabama hung tough with us."

Kyra Crosby had 15 points and five rebounds for the Crimson Tide (10-11, 0-7 SEC).

Tennessee jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the game's first 2 minutes and was comfortably ahead for most of the opening half. The Vols led by 15 points at the break.

"To have a good start, I think that helps our team a lot, gives us a lot of confidence and warns people for next time," said Johnson.

The Vols had only four turnovers compared to Alabama's eight. Tennessee also won the rebounding battle 24-17.

"What I thought happened in the first half is if we'd made some free throws, maybe kept the score a little bit closer, it might've been a different type basketball game," said Hudson. "But from the effort standpoint, Tennessee is a very good basketball team, and I thought we competed."

Tennessee scored 25 points off 22 turnovers, including 11 steals.

The Vols shot 45 percent from the field (32 of 71) but just 21 percent of its 3-point attempts (4 for 19). Alabama's performance from long range was much worse; the Tide went 1-for 14.

Tennessee Lady Volunteers: Time for Pat Summitt to Abandon the Bench

2012-01-25T16:14:00.000-05:00

Please read this story by Abacus Reveals (Correspondent) for Bleacher Report. Feel free to offer your opinions here.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1037964-tennessee-lady-volunteers-time-for-pat-summitt-to-abandon-the-bench

Diggins leads Irish women to rout of Tennessee

2012-01-23T21:54:00.000-05:00

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Skylar Diggins matched a season high with 27 points Monday night and No. 2 Notre Dame routed No. 7 Tennessee 72-44, holding the Vols to their lowest scoring output in school history.

Devereaux Peters had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Irish (20-1), who have won 17 straight. Tennessee (14-5) got 13 points from Meighan Simmons, but shot just 27.9 percent in the lopsided loss.

Notre Dame was 0-20 all-time against the Vols before a 73-59 victory in the NCAA regional finals last March in Dayton, Ohio. The Irish haven't lost since Nov. 20 to top-ranked Baylor and have now beaten both UConn and Tennessee on their home floor this season after toppling both in last year's NCAA tournament.

Leading at the half, the Irish jumped out early in the second as Diggins sank a 3-pointer and Peters had three inside baskets in an 11-3 run that opened up a 39-21 lead three minutes in. Tennessee continued to miss on everything, from both the field and the free-throw line.

Diggins made a nice strip of an inside pass, dribbled the length of the court, passed to Peters and then got it back for a layup to make it 44-26 with just over 14 minutes left. Then after picking up her third foul, Diggins hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to make it a 21-point lead. Diggins was 10 of 17 from the field and 5 for 7 on 3-pointers.

After Tennessee closed to within 16 with about seven minutes to go, the Irish went on one final run to put it away. Kayla McBride added 17 points for the Irish.

The Vols made just 17 of 61 field-goal attempts and were only 7 for 16 from the free-throw line.

Rebounding, including eight early offensive caroms, kept the Vols close in the early stages of the game because they could not make a shot. They missed 14 of their first 17 attempts from the floor and finished the first half 7 for 35 (20 percent). And the poor shooting extended to the line, where the Vols were only 4 for 10. The field-goal percentage and total points were first-half lows for the Vols this season.

McBride, showing an ability to break for the basket, had nine straight Notre Dame points at one juncture and scored 11 in the first half. Diggins ended up with 10 at the half, hitting two free throws with 2 seconds left to put the Irish up 28-18.

Tennessee's leading scorer, Shekinna Stricklen, who missed the previous game against LSU with a sprained knee, returned to the lineup and managed five points — five points under her average. And Vols guard Taber Spani, who has been sidelined with a bone bruise in her left knee since Dec. 26, was also able to play.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, received a nice ovation when she came on the floor before the game and waved to the crowd, most of which was dressed in lime green.

9th-ranked Lady Vols prove it can withstand LSU's force

2012-01-19T21:20:00.007-05:00

Physical game goes UT's way as Simmons, Burdick lead way

Meighan Simmons and Cierra Burdick's games have been one-sided enough in the past that Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick was concerned about relying on them to fill in for a couple of top players.

Simmons scored 19 and Burdick added 15 for No. 9 Tennessee. More importantly, both pleased Warlick with their sound defense as the Lady Vols got a 65-56 win in an especially physical game against LSU on Thursday night.

"We didn't need (Simmons) or Cierra to be a liability on the defensive end," Warlick said. "Those two young ladies have stepped up. They've put in extra time, and I think it showed tonight."

The Lady Vols (14-4, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) won without leading scorer Shekinna Stricklen, whose streak of 121 consecutive starts ended because of a sprain to her right knee suffered Sunday against Vanderbilt. They've also been without guard Taber Spani, who has been sidelined with a bone bruise in her left knee since Dec. 26.

Simmons has stepped up her offense in Spani's absence, and Tennessee turned to Burdick to help fill in for Stricklen, who was averaging 15.5 points. Before facing LSU, Burdick was playing just under 12 minutes per game but stayed on the floor for 31 minutes against the Lady Tigers.

"With Strick and Taber being out, I knew more minutes were going to be played by the bench, and I just tried to come into this game prepared," Burdick said. "I'm learning a lot from some great players ahead of me, so I'm just trying to use it and take it as positive and just really learn from this experience."

The score was tied 11 times and the teams traded the lead six times before Burdick hit a tiebreaking jumper with 6:22 left that put the Lady Volunteers ahead for good, 51-49.

Vicki Baugh rebounded a missed 3-pointer by LSU's Bianca Lutley on the next possession, and Simmons hit a layup on the break. Tennessee got two more transition baskets in the final three minutes and padded its lead with free throws, despite an uncharacteristic 18-of-31 performance from the line.

Meanwhile, the Lady Tigers only hit one more shot from the floor during the final stretch, a jumper by Adrienne Webb that made it 62-56 with 1:27 left.

Courtney Jones led LSU (13-5, 4-2) with 16 points, and Webb scored 12.

Baugh grabbed 14 rebounds and Glory Johnson added 10 points for Tennessee, which shot 42.9 percent in the second half compared to 34.5 percent by LSU.

The game pit first-year LSU coach Nikki Caldwell against her mentor and former coach, Pat Summitt. Caldwell won three combined national titles as a player and assistant at Tennessee and has mimicked Summitt's defensive focus at both UCLA and LSU.

"Coming in to play against Tennessee, you're always really hyped up and ready to play," LSU forward Theresa Plaisance said. "You just need to be mentally ready and physically ready to come in"

The Lady Tigers had entered the game leading the SEC and ranking second nationally in field goal percentage defense (30.3 percent) and ranked second in the SEC and third nationally in scoring defense (47.5 points per game).

The defenses took over for both teams in the first half, resulting in a physical and injury-filled game.

"Obviously it was a knock-down drag out type fight, but it was a very competitive fight," Caldwell said. "You saw two teams playing every possession like it was their last."

LSU starting point guard Jeanne Kenney left just two minutes into the game with a probably concussion.

Starting guard Destini Hughes took over at the point for Kenney, scoring eight points before she severely injured her right knee trying to catch and shoot off a long pass 3 seconds before halftime. Hughes was tended to by trainers from both teams and taken off the floor in a wheelchair.

Tennessee briefly lost Glory Johnson, who hurt her left shoulder after colliding with another player on a rebound a few minutes before halftime. Johnson headed to the locker room immediately but returned early in the second half, playing with a compression sleeve on the shoulder.

The cumulative effect of the Lady Vols' injuries could prove problematic. Tennessee heads to No. 2 Notre Dame on Monday night, and Warlick was unsure if Stricklen or Spani would be available for the game.

"I'll be fine on Monday," Johnson said. "I'll make sure."

No. 25 Vandy women lose 87-64 at No. 6 Tennessee

2012-01-16T00:46:00.002-05:00

Perhaps Vanderbilt could learn a thing or two from Tennessee about how to come out of halftime.

The 25th-ranked Commodores committed fouls and turnovers early in the second half as the No. 6 Lady Volunteers pulled away for an 87-64 victory on Sunday.

“They came out more inspired and intense on defense and took away passes and shot the gap and got offense and got us to turn it over,” Vandy coach Melanie Balcomb said.

“We’ve been struggling all year; we have not come out inspired after halftime the first 4 minutes, and I thought we helped feed into that. We didn’t come out the way we should have.”

The Lady Vols were coming off a 61-60 loss at No. 9 Kentucky, their first Southeastern Conference loss in nearly two years and seemed to carry their disappointment into a back-and-forth first half against Vanderbilt.

With Tennessee up 39-36, coach Pat Summitt, who before the season announced she had early onset Alzheimer’s, reminded the Lady Vols about the pride of wearing their orange jerseys—especially when playing the in-state rival Commodores, whom they face at least twice every season.

Tennessee (13-4, 4-1) responded by turning it up on the court.

“If you question that Pat Summitt does not have an influence on this team, at halftime she had a major influence,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “She challenged them the way Pat Summitt challenges them. They were inspired when they left the locker room.”

On the offensive end, they fought to get the ball inside to Shekinna Stricklen, Glory Johnson and Vicki Baugh.

Vanderbilt struggled to guard the pair in the post, with Tiffany Clarke picking up her third and fourth fouls within the first 1:17 of the second half and Stephanie Holzer fouling out with 8:07 left.

Stricklen scored 16 of her team-leading 20 points in the second half. Johnson finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds and Baugh added 16 points.

Tennessee held a 45-43 lead when Stricklen hit a layup with 15:17 to go, launching a 16-2 run that put the game out of reach for the Commodores (14-3, 2-2). Stricklen’s basket came off an assist by Ariel Massengale, one of her 12 in the game.

Isabelle Harrison stole the ball from Vandy’s Christina Foggie, and Massengale hit a layup on the break to make it 61-45 with 10:26 to play.

Balcomb called a timeout to give the Commodores a chance to regroup, but all they could do was keep pace as the Lady Vols hit 55.6 percent of their second-half shots.

Foggie and Holzer were the only Commodores who didn’t seem bothered much by the Lady Vols’ smothering defense. Vandy hit just 40 percent of its shots after halftime.

Foggie, whose 17.3 points per game ranks second in the SEC, tied her career high of 27 points for a third time this season, and Holzer scored 14 points before fouling out.

“In the first half I hit a few 3s, and after halftime they were more up in my space. That’s when I became aggressive and attacked the basket and got fouled a few times,” Foggie said. “It was just an adjustment of how to score after halftime.”

Tennessee finished with a 39-30 rebounding advantage, 18 more points in the paint and 21 points off 24 Vanderbilt turnovers in what turned into a physical, scrappy game.

Stricklen, a preseason all-American who leads Tennessee in scoring, gave her team a scare when she hit the floor clutching her right knee and screaming after going for a rebound with 3 minutes left.

Warlick said it appeared Stricklen had a knee strain, but would be fully evaluated on Monday.

“All I remember is going up for the ball, and I don’t know,” Stricklen said. I hit my knee, and I came down wrong. I probably hyperextended it, but I really don’t know.”

Johnson left the game with 1:50 before halftime after Vandy’s Elan Brown landed on top of her while the two went for a loose ball. She held ice on top of her right eye, but returned to start the second half.

“I’ll spend the majority of tomorrow since we have an off day in the training room getting treatments,” Johnson said. “I’m hurting today, and I know I’m going to wake up feeling worse.”

All 12 SEC schools will help raise awareness for Alzheimer's Disease and The Pat Summitt Foundation

2012-01-14T01:35:00.000-05:00

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina women's basketball's participation in the SEC-sponsored "We Back Pat" Week will be an extension of a fundraising effort the Gamecocks began in October when they took part in the Walk to End Alzheimer's at Finlay Park. In Sunday's game against Kentucky, South Carolina will bring even more awareness to the disease and the Pat Summitt Foundation.

The Gamecocks will wear special shooting shirts for the game, and special in-game PSAs and other information will help fans learn more about the disease, for which there is currently no cure, and the many Americans affected by it.

South Carolina women's basketball already raised over $8,000 dollars from its October Walk, and fans can still contribute to that effort. The Gamecocks' team, which was named "4 Coach Summitt," worked with the Alzheimer's Association to keep its team page active for contributions through the end of January. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley hopes to present Pat Summitt with a $20,000 check for her foundation when the Gamecocks take on the Lady Vols on Thu., Feb. 2

Fans can contribute to the Gamecocks' fundraising efforts by going to the "4 Coach Summitt" team page at walktoendalz.kintera.org/columbiasc/4coachsummitt.

During the week of January 15-22, all SEC member institutions will support the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund during their home basketball games. During the 17 women's and 12 men's games slated for the week, various efforts will be made to increase awareness of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. Twenty of these games will be televised.

The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund launched November 27, 2011 by Pat Summitt after her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type at the age of 59.

The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund will make grants to nonprofits that provide:
• Education and awareness of Alzheimer's, its onset and treatment
• Support services to patients, their families and caregivers
• Research to treat, prevent, cure, and ultimately eradicate this disease

About The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund
Pat Summitt and her supporters have entrusted The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to facilitate the charitable work of The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. The Fund was established to support Pat Summitt's dream of finding a cure for Alzheimer's disease. For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.patsummitt.org.

About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 800 charitable funds. In the past twenty years, The Community Foundation has distributed $530 million to community programs and institutions. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, #400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.

No. 6 Tennessee women’s 36-game SEC streak ends

2012-01-12T22:59:00.002-05:00

Glory Johnson will not focus on the last play when A’dia Mathies abruptly ended sixth-ranked Tennessee’s 36-game Southeastern Conference winning streak. Instead, she’ll dwell on all the little things the Lady Volunteers did wrong in a 61-60 loss to No. 9 Kentucky on Thursday night.

Mathies drove the lane and scored in traffic with 4.2 seconds left to finish with a career-high 34 points.

“Mathies did a great job of getting to the basket,” said Johnson, who had 17 points. “We’re not going to look at that one play, we’re going to look at missed layups and missed free throws and turnovers and everything that happened that shouldn’t have.”

With Kentucky trailing 60-57, Mathies followed her own shot to cut it to one with 46 seconds left.

After Tennessee (12-4, 3-1) was called for a charge and Kentucky (15-2, 4-0) used a timeout, Mathies took the ball at halfcourt, dribbled into the lane and hit a 7-foot floater.

“We didn’t have an answer for her tonight, it didn’t start with the last shot,” Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “She was outstanding. My hat’s off to her. She was outstanding.”

Tennessee’s Kamiko Williams drove the length of the floor, but missed an off-balance 16-footer as time expired. Tennessee rallied from 12 points down with 7:46 left to take a lead, but lost for the first time in the SEC since falling 53-50 at Georgia on Jan. 21, 2010.

“Our defense got us back in the game,” Warlick said. “We made a couple of runs.”

Vicki Baugh scored 16 points and Shekinna Stricklen 11 for Tennessee, but it wasn’t enough to keep Kentucky from winning its first four games in conference play for the first time in history to go with 15 straight at home.

Kentucky led 50-38 off two free throws by Mathies with 7:46 left when Tennessee used a 16-4 rally to tie it. Meighan Simmons and Stricklen hit 3s, while Ariel Massengale’s three-point play made it 54-all.

Then, after Mathies made two more free throws, Stricklen hit a layup, Kentucky’s Amber Smith threw a pass away that led to a free throw by Johnson and Mathies fell and lost the ball that started Tennessee’s 3-on-0 break that ended with a layup by Baugh to give the Lady Vols a 59-56 with 2:06 left.

At the timeout, the Kentucky pep band played “Don’t Stop Believin”’ with the game seemingly getting out of control.

Bria Goss made one of two free throws for the Wildcats and Johnson hit the second of two attempts to put Tennessee back ahead 60-57.

Goss then missed a 3 that would’ve tied it, but grabbed her own rebound and Kentucky got another possession. Mathies scored on a putback to cut it to 60-59 and Stricklen was whistled for a charge with 28 seconds to play, setting up the final possession.

“Credit Kentucky defensively, they made us play fast at times, they made us rush, so the combination of that and the tempo that the game was being played,” Warlick said. “We were playing too fast and we didn’t make plays.”

The last time these two teams played in the SEC Tournament, the Lady Vols routed the Wildcats by 25. This one looked to be different from the start between the two schools that have many ties on the coaching staff on both sides.

Tennessee used a 10-2 run midway through the first half to take a 20-18 lead before both teams went cold for the next five minutes, combining to miss 25 consecutive shots and commit 12 turnovers before Mathies grabbed an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to end the cold snap.

The Lady Vols’ struggles continued. Alicia Manning hit the second of two free throws, but a bucket by Keyla Snowden gave Kentucky a 25-21 halftime lead as Tennessee finished the half with 16 straight misses and eight turnovers.

Johnson’s 8-footer in the lane on the team’s first shot of the second half ended the span of nearly 11 minutes without a field goal, but Kentucky would still build a 50-38 lead behind Mathies and Snowden before Tennessee’s furious rally.

“We dug ourselves in a hole, we battled back and you can’t do that; you can’t do that against good teams,” Warlick said.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt learns to deal with devastating disease

2012-01-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

LEXINGTON, KY. - There is a lot of uncertainty around Tennessee these days.

The coaches and players would be lying if they said otherwise.

"We are in uncharted waters here," assistant coach Mickie DeMoss said on Tuesday night, two nights before the sixth-ranked Lady Vols face No. 9 Kentucky in Memorial Coliseum.

There is no tattered parchment map to point out how one works with a head coach battling the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, as Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt is.

There is no Google map to chart exactly how a team wins a ninth national championship while relying heavily on its assistant coaches to do much of the day-to-day work.

"I don't know that in the history of sports a head coach has ever gone public with early stages of dementia," DeMoss said. "We are really learning as we're going."

But DeMoss, who was the head coach at Kentucky from 2003 until she stepped down in 2007, has charted some of these rough waters before.

She watched her own mother battle this same disease that now threatens to slowly chip away at one of college basketball's greatest minds.

"I think about it all the time," DeMoss said. "I think about her as my friend, much more than as a coach. I went through this with my mom. ... It certainly has prepared me to deal with it with a lot more patience and compassion."

DeMoss doesn't believe in coincidences.

She believes everything happens for a reason.

So that day when Summitt called her to come back to Tennessee and be an assistant coach there again (she was there for 20-plus years before leaving for the UK job), it was meant to be.

"I knew Pat needed me," DeMoss said.

Then she paused.

"I knew there was a need for me to come back here," said DeMoss, who was then an assistant at Texas. "I couldn't quite put my finger on it at the time, but I knew I needed to come back."

Public battle

There were signs of Summitt's failing memory last season, DeMoss said.

Her assistants kept attributing her memory lapses to a bad mix of medication for the coach's silent struggle with rheumatoid arthritis.

But Summitt started to worry that it was something more. She received her early- onset dementia diagnosis last summer while being tested at the Mayo Clinic.

The 59-year-old coach told the world about her diagnosis in late August. She wanted to be open and honest. She wasn't scared to become the face of the disease.

"I feel better just knowing what I'm dealing with," Summitt told the Knoxville News Sentinel at the time. "And as far as I'm concerned it's not going to keep me from living my life, not going to keep me from coaching."

Since then, DeMoss and her fellow assistant coaches Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood have gone about the business of keeping Tennessee a national power.

Tennessee's assistants - with nearly 90 years of coaching experience among them - have divvied up much of the day-to-day coaching responsibility.

"We did not want our players to be confused," DeMoss said. "We did not want me calling out an offense and Holly calling out a different one. Or Dean calls a defense and I'm calling out a press."

So they split things up like a football staff, DeMoss explained, with Lockwood and Warlick taking over the defensive side of the ball and Summitt and DeMoss responsible for offensive play calling.

Summitt, who is exercising her mind and body religiously to fight off the dementia, isn't as hands-on at practices and in games as she used to be.

But the coach is still effective at getting her point across, in ways that only Summitt can.

"She can come in and pick and choose what she wants to tweak," DeMoss said. "When she gets on the kids now, it speaks volumes because she doesn't rant and rave for 40 minutes like she used to. ... When she really wants to make a point with someone now, it has more meaning."

Like everyone battling this disease, Summitt has good days and bad days, her friend said.

When the head coach has traveled and gotten in late or done long fund-raising or booster events the day before, she might not be "quite as sharp," DeMoss said, before adding.

"But again, she's handling this as well as anyone in her position could ever imagine."

'Not a pity party for Pat'

Summitt is a strong and sturdy tree trunk with branches reaching far and wide across the country.

Her fingerprints will be on women's basketball via her former players and assistant coaches long after she has left the game.

Kentucky Coach Matthew Mitchell is one of those coaches as are UK assistants and former Tennessee players Kyra Elzy and Shalon Pillow.

Mitchell, a former Vols graduate assistant, admitted that things will be different when Summitt comes to Memorial Coliseum for a battle of top 10 teams on Thursday night.

"I don't know how this is going to go," Mitchell said when asked about taking on Summitt. "I really don't."

"I think about her often and we try to stay in touch and try not to hound her because I know a lot of people are after her," he said.

Mitchell said UK will try to do what Summitt has asked and not make this season about her disease.

"She wants it to be about the players on the floor," he said. "So we're going to try to honor that and try to get prepared and beat them."

Tennessee and UK are in a battle for supremacy in the Southeastern Conference, so in some ways Summitt's condition will fade into the shadows, which is how the head coach wants it, DeMoss said.

"Pat wouldn't want anybody to not want to kick her butt like they always have," DeMoss said. "She'd be insulted. She doesn't want anybody's sympathy. She has said it's not a 'pity party for Pat.'"

No. 6 Tennessee women beat Arkansas 69-38

2012-01-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Shekinna Stricklen made sure she went out in style in her last performance in her home state.

Stricklen scored 19 points, and Glory Johnson recorded her fifth straight double-double, as No. 6 Tennessee routed Arkansas 69-38 on Sunday.

The win was the 36th straight in Southeastern Conference play for the Lady Volunteers (12-3, 3-0), who opened the game with a 25-3 run and never looked back.

Tennessee hasn’t lost an SEC game since a 53-50 loss at Georgia on Jan. 21, 2010, and it was in no jeopardy of doing so while holding the Razorbacks to a season-low point total.

“Our defense was just outstanding,” Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “We were swarming, and that’s the type of defense that a Tennessee team should always play.”

Arkansas, meanwhile, remained winless in SEC play. The Razorbacks (11-4, 0-3) hit only 3 of 30 shots in the first half, and their 10-of-55 shooting for the game (18.1 percent) was the worst in school history.

“I haven’t sat at the podium many times after playing a game where I felt like we were totally outplayed from beginning to end,” Arkansas coach Tom Collen said. “I promise you, it wasn’t much prettier from the seat that I had on the floor, and I’m sure it wasn’t real pretty from the stands.”

Stricklen, who starred in high school in Morrilton, Ark., scored what was a career-high 26 points in a win at Arkansas last season, and the Lady Volunteers’ leading scorer was equally impressive this time around. The senior scored six points early as Tennessee opened with a 14-0 run, including one of her two 3-pointers for the game.

“Shekinna, I know there’s a lot of pressure on her to come home and play,” Warlick said. “But she seems to thrive on playing in this gym. If we could take this gym back home for Shekinna, we would.”

She finished 8 of 12 from the field and had eight rebounds in front on a sizeable and vocal cheering section behind the Tennessee bench. The strong effort came after Stricklen had shot just 32 percent over her last four games.

“It felt great coming back home and playing in front of my family and friends and people from my community,” Stricklen said. “It’s just great to come back.

“… It felt good to come home and kind of get out of a slump.”

Stricklen’s performance was hardly the only dominant one.

Johnson, who entered the game only four rebounds short of 1,000 for her career, didn’t need long to reach that mark against the Razorbacks (11-4, 0-3). She grabbed her fourth rebound and scored on a putback late in the first half to put Tennessee up 31-8—finishing with 15 points and 14 rebounds.

The game was well out of hand at that point.

Arkansas didn’t score until Lyndsey Harris’ 3-pointer 6:24 into the game, and it opened 1 of 19 from the field. Harris, who finished with 14 points, hit two first-half 3-pointers, and the Razorbacks’ only other basket was a putback by Quistelle Wiliams.

Arkansas’ previous worst shooting half was a 3-of-26 performance against Wichita State in 1981. Its previous worst game was 8 of 41 against Louisiana Tech in 1978.

The Razorbacks entered the game shooting just 38 percent as a team for the season. The previous worst performance this season was a 17-of-53 effort against Florida State in November, but they managed to win that game 55-52.

They had no such chance against the suffocating defense of Tennessee, which held Arkansas’ leading scorer C’eira Ricketts to two points on 1-of-11 shooting. Harris didn’t fare much better at 4 of 14.

“I think eventually we did kind of get down on ourselves as the game went on and the shots weren’t falling,” Harris said. “I think we put a lot of pressure on each of us individually to kind of score.”

No. 6 Tennessee women beat No. 16 Georgia 80-51

2012-01-06T01:33:00.000-05:00

For Tennessee coaches, the evidence of Glory Johnson’s heart is in the senior’s rebounding totals. Her scoring is a bonus.

Johnson, who has 1,331 total points and needs four rebounds to reach 1,000 for her career, had season highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds to help the sixth-ranked Lady Vols beat No. 16 Georgia 80-51 Thursday night.

“You look at Glory and you see her points, but she plays with a lot of heart,” Tennessee associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “How you determine that, to me, is how many rebounds she gets, how many hustle plays she got. She was all over the floor tonight. She was an All-American tonight.”

The Lady Vols (11-3, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) used 52 percent shooting in the first half keep in front of the Lady Bulldogs, who hit just 36 percent of their shots from the field. Tennessee has now won 16 of its last 18 against its top SEC rival.

Johnson hit the first basket of the second half to give Tennessee a 38-27 lead. Jasmine Hassell answered with a short jumper, Jasmine James sank a free throw and Anne Marie Armstrong hit a layup on the break to cut the margin to six points.

“I just knew it was going to be a quick game, and we all know that Georgia loves to run in transition every time we play them,” Johnson said. “We just wanted to let them know that we’re a team that can run in transition too, and so it’s going to be a game.”

It didn’t take long for it to stop being much of a game. Shekinna Stricklen was fouled on a layup and hit her free throw to launch a 14-4 run that helped the Lady Vols pull away. Johnson scored six points during the stretch.

Cierra Burdick put back a shot with 3:57 to play to make it 76-45, Tennessee’s largest lead of the game, and the reserves ran the show the rest of the way.

“They did what they do, and we didn’t affect it very well,” said Georgia coach Andy Landers, whose 15 career wins against Tennessee is more than any other head coach. “I’m not real pleased with that. Not pleased at all. They did what they do. That sums it up. They played the way they played. Georgia didn’t do one thing to change it.”

Ariel Massengale scored 19 points for a second game to tie her career high at Tennessee. Stricklen added 12 points, Meighan Simmons had 10 and Vicki Baugh grabbed 10 rebounds.

Though the Lady Bulldogs (12-3, 1-1) have had four players put up double-digit scoring in the past three games, Meredith Mitchell was the only one to do it against Tennessee with 14 points. Hassell, who had averaged 16.1 points in Georgia’s 10 previous games, had just eight.

The Lady Vols finished with a 52-32 rebounding advantage, outscored the Lady Bulldogs 42-12 in the paint and hit 20 of 28 at the free-throw line.

“We just didn’t do what we were supposed to do,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t get back. We didn’t rebound. We didn’t fight, and that’s where the game turned for us for the worse.”

Massengale took control for the Lady Vols early. When she wasn’t driving to through the lane for a layup or shooting 3s she was dishing the ball to her teammates for layups of their own. Massengale scored at the hoop with 13:36 in the first half to give Tennessee a 17-6 lead.

Armstrong answered with a 3-pointer and a jumper for Georgia, and James hit a shot a few minutes later to cut the margin to 20-16.

Massengale responded, pulling up at the free-throw lane to hit a shot, and Simmons sank a 3 in front of the Georgia bench to push Tennssee’s lead back to eight points, where it would hover for most of the rest of the half.

Tennessee hasn’t dropped an SEC game since a 53-50 loss at Georgia on Jan. 21, 2010. Since then the Lady Vols have won 35 conference games, sweeping last year’s league schedule, and have earned two SEC regular season and tournament titles.

“I didn’t realize we’d won 35 games in a row,” Warlick said. “This team, we put a lot of value on going to the Final Four and competing for a national championship. Sometimes what we do in the SEC gets kind of put aside, but it’s amazing to me that this group has done what they’ve done.”

No. 6 Tennessee women rout Chattanooga 90-47

2012-01-03T22:42:00.000-05:00

Tennessee athletic trainer Jenny Moshak told Kamiko Williams over the summer that if she wanted to return from ACL surgery before the 2011-12 season ended, she would have to keep a positive attitude and push through a tough rehabilitation process.

Fortunately, Williams has no problem keeping her spirits up.

“I’m happy-go-lucky anyways,” Williams said. “With J-Mo just kicking my butt every day and (conditioning coach) Heather Mason doing her thing, I just got it done. I had no choice. If I wanted to come back, I had to do it.”

The junior guard surprised everyone by making her first appearance for the season in No. 6 Tennessee’s 90-47 rout of Chattanooga on Tuesday night, just five months after the July 22 surgery on her left knee.

Williams finished with two points, three rebounds, four assists and two steals in 16 minutes. Primarily, the Lady Volunteers are thrilled for what her return means as they enter a tough month that includes games against No. 16 Georgia, No. 11 Kentucky, No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Notre Dame.

“You see what we missed,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “We were concerned. Kamiko had never been injured. An ACL injury is obviously a very serious injury, and we were concerned about how she would rehab, but she’s been unbelievable. She hasn’t missed a day with Jenny, and her knee is so much stronger.”

Tennessee (10-3) just needed for her to get comfortable being back on the floor against Chattanooga (8-4). Her teammates took care of the rest.

Ariel Massengale made all six of her shots from the floor, including four 3s, to finish with 19 points—a new career high. Glory Johnson added 10 points and 13 rebounds, Isabelle Harrison scored 13, Meighan Simmons added 10 points.

Every Lady Vol that played sank a bucket.

Whitney Hood hit the first basket of the game for Chattanooga, and the Lady Mocs kept it close for the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game.

Faith Dupree, who signed with Tennessee but transferred after sitting out her freshman season with back problems, hit a jumper to cut Tennessee’s lead to 10-8 with 16:34 to play. Dupree finished with a team-leading 17 points, and Hood had 10.

“Coming back to this atmosphere I knew that I should step up,” said Dupree, a Knoxville native. “I was anxious at the beginning, definitely.”

Chattanooga wouldn’t score again for 12 minutes, and Tennessee scored the next 30 points. The Lady Vols sank four 3s, scored 12 points off nine Chattanooga turnovers and hit 56.3 percent of their shots during the first half. They held a 50-16 lead at halftime.

Williams entered the game during the run and immediately went to work, grabbing the rebound on a missed 3-point attempt by Cierra Burdick and putting it back up for a layup to make it 38-8. She dished the ball on the next possession to Burdick, who hit a jumper.

The Lady Mocs finished the half having hit only 6 of 29 shots from the field and missing all eight of their 3-point attempts while being outrebounded 28-12 by Tennessee.

By the end of the game, the Lady Vols held a 55-28 rebounding margin, which they turned into 30 second-chance points. They had 19 points off 17 Chattanooga turnovers and blocked nine shots.

The Lady Vols have outscored the Lady Mocs by an average 28.5 points during coach Pat Summitt’s 38-year tenure, and Tennessee won last season’s meeting 103-43. The Lady Vols had a 19-0 run in that game to take control and finished with a school-record 15 3-pointers.

“I told our team at halftime that we have to get back to competing in games like this,” Chattanooga coach Wes Moore said. “There was a time, even when Tennessee was winning national championships, we could compete with them. We are going to try our best to get back to that point.”

SEC Launches "We Back Pat" Week

2012-01-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

The Southeastern Conference in cooperation with its 12-member institutions announces “We Back Pat” Week, a week-long initiative focused on bringing awareness and recognition to the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and its fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

During the week of January 15-22, SEC member institutions will support the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund during their home basketball games. During the 17 women’s and 12 men’s games slated for the week, various efforts will be made to increase awareness of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. Twenty of these games will be televised.

“Pat Summitt is a leader both on and off the court. The establishment of the Pat Summitt Foundation only reiterates this point.” said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “We are pleased that the Southeastern Conference can play a small part in helping Pat reach her goals for The Foundation today and in the future.”

The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund launched November 27, 2011 by Pat Summitt after her diagnosis of early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type at the age of 59. In a videotaped statement shown during the announcement of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund, Pat Summitt said, "Tyler and I have decided to join this battle, not just for us, but also for the millions of families affected by this disease. I have always told our players, our greatest opportunities are disguised as our greatest obstacles. It is time to treat this obstacle as an opportunity and a stepping stone to a cure."

The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund will make grants to nonprofits which provide:
• Education and awareness of Alzheimer's, its onset and treatment
• Support services to patients, their families and caregivers
• Research to treat, prevent, cure, and ultimately eradicate this disease

About The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund
Pat Summitt and her supporters have entrusted The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to facilitate the charitable work of The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. The Fund was established to support Pat Summitt’s dream of finding a cure for Alzheimer’s disease. For more information or to make a donation, please visit www.patsummitt.org.

About The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee oversees more than 800 charitable funds. In the past twenty years, The Community Foundation has distributed $530 million to community programs and institutions. It is located at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue, #400, Nashville, Tennessee 37215. For more information, call 615-321-4939 or visit www.cfmt.org.

COMPLETE LIST OF GAMES DURING ‘WE BACK PAT WEEK’

Women’s Games
15 (Sunday)
*Ole Miss at Alabama, 2:00 p.m.
*Auburn at Arkansas (FSN), 1:30 p.m.
*LSU at Florida (CSS), 1:00 p.m. ET
*Georgia at Mississippi State, 2:00 p.m.
*Kentucky at South Carolina, 3:00 p.m. ET
*Vanderbilt at Tennessee (SECN), 2:00 p.m. ET

19 (Thursday)
*Alabama at Florida, 7:00 p.m. ET
*Vanderbilt at Arkansas, 7:00 p.m.
*South Carolina at Auburn, 6:00 p.m.
*Kentucky at Georgia, 7:00 p.m. ET
*LSU at Tennessee (CSS), 7:00 p.m. ET
*Mississippi State at Ole Miss, 7:00 p.m.

22 (Sunday)
*Arkansas at LSU (FSN), 2:00 p.m.
*Auburn at Mississippi State, 2:00 p.m.
*Florida at Kentucky (SECN), 2:00 p.m. ET
*Georgia at Ole Miss (CSS), 2:00 p.m.
*South Carolina at Vanderbilt (ESPNU), 12:30 p.m.

Men’s Games
17 (Tuesday)
*Auburn at LSU (ESPNU), 6:00 p.m.
*Arkansas at Kentucky (ESPN), 9:00 p.m. ET

18 (Wednesday)
*Tennessee at Georgia (SECN), 8:00 p.m. ET
*Mississippi State at Ole Miss (CSS), 8:00 p.m.

19 (Thursday)
*Vanderbilt at Alabama (ESPN/2), 6:00 p.m.

21 (Saturday)
*Alabama at Kentucky (CBS), Noon ET
*South Carolina at Auburn (SECN), 12:30 p.m.
Michigan at Arkansas (CBS), 1:00 p.m.
*Ole Miss at Georgia (SECN), 4:00 p.m. ET
UConn at Tennessee (CBS), 4:00 p.m. ET
*LSU at Florida (FSN), 6:00 p.m. ET
*Mississippi State at Vanderbilt (ESPN2), 6:00 p.m.

No. 7 Tennessee tops Auburn 73-52 in SEC opener

2012-01-01T18:58:00.000-05:00

The Tennessee Lady Vols won going away in a game when their shots weren’t falling. Hounding Auburn into mistakes helped.

Meighan Simmons scored 20 points and the seventh-ranked Lady Vols closed on a big run in opening Southeastern Conference play Sunday with a 73-52 victory over the Tigers.

Tennessee (9-3, 1-0 SEC) came into the game last in the league in scoring defense, giving up 63.5 points a game, but forced 25 turnovers and had 12 steals.

It was more than enough to earn the Lady Vols a 34th-consecutive SEC win— and a ride back to Knoxville.

“In the first half, our offense affected our defense,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “We missed a lot of easy layups, and that in turn affected our defense. (Coach Pat Summitt) had a pretty stern talk with them at halftime and basically said they need to get their act together or they’re walking home, in those condensed words.

“The second half we played hard on defense, got easy layups off of our turnovers, and that’s what we need,” she said. “We need to score off of our defense.”

The Lady Vols closed the game on a 19-6 run to turn a tight contest into a blowout and win for the 27th time in the last 30 meetings with the Tigers (8-6, 0-1).

Shekinna Stricklen added 17 points for Tennessee but was disgusted with her 5-of-18 shooting performance.

“I was so frustrated,” Stricklen said. “It was like I was so wide-open, but they kept hitting the front of the rim. It was something I adjusted to in the second half. I feel like I should have attacked the ball a lot more.”

Glory Johnson had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Alicia Manning scored 10 points.

Simmons had 13 in the second half.

Camille Glymph led Auburn with 21 points, making 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

“Once I hit the first one I just tried to keep shooting,” Glymph said. “They kept falling for me.”

The Lady Vols struggled from the field, shooting just 32 percent (21 of 65) after coming in as the SEC’s second-best shooting team. However, they gave Auburn troubles on the boards and with a trapping defense that often forced the Tigers into hurried shots with the shot clock ticking down.

“That gave us fits the entire second half,” Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. “I thought their pressure was very good. It slowed us down. By the time we got it broken and tried to run something, there’s 14 seconds left on the shot clock.

“Now, you’re really out of whack,” Fortner said.

Tennessee also dominated in rebounding 49-31. The Lady Vols turned a 31-29 halftime lead into a 14-point cushion midway through the second half.

Johnson also boiled down the essence of Summitt’s halftime message.

“Basically, if we don’t get it together, we’re walking home,” she said. “And it’s a long walk. I figured this isn’t the way Tennessee plays. We know how to play and we’re not playing to our standards. When we’re not rebounding and settling for good shots instead of great shots, that’s what happens.”

Auburn managed to cut the 14-point deficit in half with Glymph hitting back-to-back 3s to make it 53-46 with 8 minutes to play.

Then, Tennessee hit 7 of 8 free throws over the next 3 minutes to spark a 9-0 run and all but put the game away.

The Lady Vols went 28 of 31 from the line to help overcome the poor shooting night.

They were coming off a 90-37 win over Old Dominion to rebound from a 17-point loss to No. 4 Stanford. It’s the first time Tennessee has entered January with three losses since the 2004-05 season.

Auburn was playing its third game in four days after going 1-1 at the Sun and Fun Classic in Miami. The Tigers have lost all three games against ranked teams and are 2-6 in SEC openers under coach Nell Fornter.

“They went into halftime feeling good about themselves and we were not really happy,” Warlick said.

No. 7 Tennessee routs Old Dominion 90-37

2011-12-28T22:32:00.000-05:00

With an ugly loss behind them and an overmatched opponent in front of them, the seventh-ranked Tennessee Lady Volunteers turned their attention back to the basics.

The Lady Vols spent their practices since last week’s 17-point loss at No. 4 Stanford focused on regaining the defensive excellence that coach Pat Summitt expects of them. The result was a near perfect effort in a 90-37 win over Old Dominion on Wednesday night.

“Tonight, it was about Tennessee,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “It was about what was across our chest. We focused on getting better. I think what we did today was indicative of how hard we’ve practiced on the defensive end.”

Warlick estimated the team had spent all of two minutes total working on offense during practices on Monday and Tuesday. The coaches and players used the rest of the time to work on rebounding, pass deflections and preventing transition baskets—all things that haunted them in the 97-80 loss to the Cardinal on Dec. 20.

The Lady Vols (8-3) outrebounded the Lady Monarchs 54-32, limited them to 25 percent shooting, forced 23 turnovers and gave up just one basket on the fastbreak.

Tennessee now has won 16 straight and 31 of the last 32 against the Lady Monarchs, whose 37 points was the lowest total scored by either team in the 45-game annual series.

“We’ve put a lot of time in in the last two days,” Warlick said. “They responded, we got after it, we were aggressive. We were not aggressive in the Stanford game on the ball. I thought we did a total 180 as far as what we can do as far as pressuring the ball and taking people out of how they play.

“That’s the type of defense and that’s the type of Tennessee team we have to be to win, regardless of our opponent.”

Tennessee appeared a bit rusty on the offensive end early against Old Dominion (3-10), which scored the first two baskets of the game.

The Lady Monarchs were leading 8-7 when Alicia Manning hit a jumper with 16:14 in the first half that launched a 14-2 run to give the Lady Vols control of the game. Ariel Massengale, who hadn’t started a game since dislocating her left middle finger in practice Dec. 8, hit back-to-back 3s in the span of 28 seconds during the stretch.

“I was really happy with our play at the very beginning because Tennessee is such a big place to play and it’s really big-time,” Old Dominion guard Jackie Cook said. “I was really proud of how we stepped up and played from the very start. We just couldn’t finish.”

Tennessee took a commanding 50-20 halftime lead against Old Dominion by shooting 50 percent from the field and hitting 6 of 12 from 3. The Lady Vols turned the ball over just twice and posted 15 assists before the break.

Their improved defense led to balanced offense, with Glory Johnson logging 16 points and 11 rebounds. Vicki Baugh, who lost her starting job after poor play at Stanford, had 11 points and 12 rebounds. Meighan Simmons added 12 points, Massengale scored 11, Isabelle Harrison had 10 and Alicia Manning grabbed 15 rebounds.

“I like a game like this because we’re working on ourselves,” Johnson said. `We’re working on ourselves as a team and we’re trying to get better and work on our defense. We have so many things that we have to work on outside of the big games. We only have so much time.”

Cook led Old Dominion with 13 points, as the Lady Vols managed to frustrate Old Dominion’s top player, Tia Lewis. Lewis entered the game averaging 18.1 points and 9.7 rebounds but finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four fouls.

By the end of the game, Tennessee had scored 46 and had 26 points off turnovers. Old Dominion only scored eight points inside and had just a single point off the Lady Vols’ 11 giveaways.

“Right now we have a lot of young players, but we’re very confident,” first-year Old Dominion coach Karen Barefoot said. “ODU has a great tradition, and I really have a lot of respect for Pat Summitt. I’m really excited about getting this program built to the top, and we as a staff are going to continue to work hard. I thought it was a great experience for a lot of our younger kids tonight.”

No. 4 Stanford women top sixth-ranked Tennessee

2011-12-21T00:30:00.011-05:00

Nnemkadi Ogwumike scored a career-high 42 points and dazzled in what might have been the most meaningful home game of her senior season, and No. 4 Stanford beat sixth-ranked Tennessee 97-80 on Tuesday night in one of women's basketballs best rivalries.

The Cardinal extended their school-record home winning streak to 68 games at Maples Pavilion, where a sellout crowd of 7,329 waved red "We Back Pat" rally towels in support of Hall of Fame Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who revealed in August she has early onset Alzheimer's.

Toni Kokenis scored a career-high 26 points with five 3-pointers and Ogwumike dominated for Stanford (8-1) in another physical, back-and-forth game like those that have defined the storied series with Tennessee (7-3).

Shekinna Stricklen scored 27 points to lead the Lady Vols, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Glory Johnson added 18 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals and Meighan Simmons scored 13 for Tennessee on a night Ogwumike put on a show for national television.

With her father, Peter, in the stands fresh off a business trip to his native Africa, Ogwumike hit from long range and aggressively drove to the basket for layins. She jumped for joy after powering in for one score and drawing a foul. She jumped for 17 rebounds, too.

After coach Tara VanDerveer called for her other players to do more after a Saturday win against Princeton, it was all Ogwumike yet again. She scored six straight points for the Cardinal to open the second half.

VanDerveer hugged Ogwumike after her spectacular night.

The performance marked Stanford's first 40-point scorer since Jayne Appel went off for a school-record 46 in a win against Iowa State in the NCAA tournament regional finals at Berkeley on March 30, 2009. Candice Wiggins had a 44-point game.

Ogwumike's basket that hit the rim and bounced in with 10:59 left gave the Cardinal their first double-digit lead of the game at 65-55 — and they only built on that the rest of the way. Ogwumike's two free throws with 3:49 left topped her previous best outing of 38 points on April 4, 2010, against Oklahoma.

Her sophomore sister, Chiney, added 14 points as the Cardinal shot 53.6 percent.

Tennessee shot a sizzling 61.5 percent in the first half to stay within 48-41 at the break before going a cool 37 percent in the second half to finish at 49.1 percent.

The Cardinal, riding a streak of four straight Final Fours without a championship, haven't lost on their home floor at raucous Maples Pavilion since falling to Florida State in the second round of the NCAA tournament on March 19, 2007.

Stanford has beaten Tennessee three times during that span — also a 73-69 win on Dec. 22, 2007, and a 67-52 victory on Dec. 19, 2009. There also was that monumental 71-59 victory last Dec. 30 that snapped top-ranked Connecticut's record 90-game winning streak.

Summitt walked onto the court a few minutes before tipoff to a rousing standing ovation from the sellout crowd.

Fellow Hall of Famer VanDerveer was shown on the main elevated center-court scoreboard offering her support to Summitt while acknowleding how much Stanford cherishes the rivalry and regular non-conference meetings with the Lady Vols.

VanDerveer said Stanford's program "is behind her 100 percent." Summitt was not yet on the court with her team to see the presentation.

"Pat, we love you, we care about you and we wish you the very best in your battle with Alzheimer's," said the video with VanDerveer, who walked to the opposite bench to greet Summitt. They posed for a few photos together.

Stanford freshman starter Jasmine Camp missed the game with a left foot injury sustained in Sunday's practice. Kokenis played in her place and made back-to-back baskets midway through the opening half to get her team back within 16-13.

Stanford scored 40 or more in the opening 20 minutes against the Lady Vols for the first time since getting 41 on Nov. 27, 1999.

The Cardinal began the game 3 for 13 to 6 of 8 for Tennessee, which jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the opening 2:50.

The Lady Vols were whistled for a technical foul at the 11:18 mark of the first half for having six players on the court. Stanford converted both free throws to cut Tennessee's lead to 16-15.

Tennessee freshman guard Ariel Massengale, who had missed last three games nursing a dislocated middle finger on her left hand that required minor surgery, entered the game for the first time with 10:45 left. The Lady Vols beat DePaul and won at both Rutgers and UCLA without her. Massengale practiced Monday in the Bay Area.

Stanford football coach David Shaw and some of his players atteneded the game and men's basketball coach Johnny Dawkins sat courtside. Four-time Olympic luger Brian Martin participated in a halftime hoop shoot.

Pat Summitt faces down Alzheimer’s by fighting and laughing

2011-12-18T01:02:00.000-05:00

By Sally Jenkins

Pat Summitt and the Tennessee Lady Vols travel with an uninvited guest. Alzheimer’s crouches in a corner of the locker room, and sits at the end of the bench. Everyone wants to know, How is she doing with it? I’ll tell you: She refuses to be a good hostess. She’s ignoring the guest.

Pat is still Pat. She gets tired more easily than she used to, but frankly, as a friend who talks with her almost daily, I can report that what really wears her out is all the premature sympathy. She’s still here, and still coaching, and when you ask her why she doesn’t take a day off from work, here’s what she says: “I don’t want to be a sissy.”

On the court, she’s enjoying one of her fightingest teams in some time. Last week, the No.6 Lady Vols beat two ranked opponents away from home in the space of four days: No. 20 DePaul at Madison Square Garden by double digits, followed by a bruising comeback victory at No.11 Rutgers. In the same exhausting week she also power-shopped at Macy’s, ran up a couple of impressive tabs at Manhattan restaurants, and accepted Sports Illustrated’s Sportswoman of the Year award.

The last was a lovely honor, but it was not the most solemn occasion of her life. Her staff begged her to give the following acceptance speech: “When I got the call that Sports Illustrated wanted to photograph me, I was so excited and so honored to think that I finally made the swimsuit issue.”

Pat giggled at the idea, but was too well-mannered to say it. So Tennessee’s director of basketball operations, Kathy Harston, doctored a copy of the magazine by superimposing a swimsuit model reclining in a thong, and pasted Pat’s head on it. She showed it to the entire squad on the team plane. There was a momentary shocked silence: Harston’s artwork was so good they thought it was real. Then came the shrieks and squeals and stamping feet. “We busted out,” guard Shekinna Stricklen says. Summitt threw back her head and laughed helplessly as a schoolgirl.

Assistant Holly Warlick said, “You need to get that framed, Summitt.”

Pat replied: “I think I will. I never looked so good in a bathing suit.”

Not every day is a comedy, of course. There are undeniable difficulties, and obvious changes, times when their hearts feel like anvils. Back in August when Pat first accepted the diagnosis, she realized she needed to redistribute her in-game coaching duties. She struggles to follow rapid shifts in schemes, and her perceptions are a beat slower.

“She doesn’t multitask like she used to,” Warlick says.

In practices, Warlick handles the defense, while Pat and her assistant of 28 years, Mickie DeMoss, handle the offense, and third assistant Dean Lockwood manages the post players. During games they consult in timeouts, and Warlick delivers the instructions to players with the clipboard. It’s an experiment that could work only on a staff made up of the closest friends, and it’s not without problems and glitches. But for the most part, it’s operating well enough.

“The only thing that’s different is the messenger,” Warlick says. “The message hasn’t changed.”

Just because Pat doesn’t hold the clipboard, it would be a mistake to suppose that she is not an acute presence. “She still has a huge imprint on this team,” junior forward Taber Spani says. But it’s in a different way. In certain respects, she is as perceptive on the floor as ever. In the pressured final minutes against Rutgers she was intensely aware, not without amusement, that Warlick was sweating so hard it soaked her blond hair dark. Pat watched the droplets trickle down her neck.

Pat, by contrast, was uncharacteristically cool. When sophomore guard Meighan Simmons nailed consecutive three-pointers to finally put the Lady Vols ahead, Pat merely leaned over and said with a sardonic mildness to her staff, “That helps.”

The demeanor, partly a result of the need to manage stress for her health, is a startling role reversal. It used to be that Pat was the most intense member of the bench and her assistants softened her blows. Now it’s Pat who is the softer presence. “More motherly,” Spani says. “Obviously she still gives us the stare when we need it, but she’s had a very calming effect.”

It was Pat, the Lady Vols say, who restored the confidence of Simmons, a frenetic young guard who was in the grip of a bad slump. In the days before the Rutgers game, Pat corrected her shooting motion in individual teaching sessions and kept a consistently comforting arm around her — while refusing to tolerate any pouting. The result was a timely, explosive performance.

“Pat had a lot to do with those shots,” Spani says. The light went on for Simmons just in time. “Hallelujah,” Pat says.

Yet, these Lady Vols are one of Pat’s most characteristic teams in the way they battle, too. After they overcame a five-point deficit in the final minutes in front of a roaringly hostile crowd, Rutgers Coach C. Vivian Stringer remarked ruefully, “They’re playing in her image.”

It was a gratifying comment. Pat has worked for four years to instill her brand of fight in the senior class, a group led by Stricklen that has failed to reach a Final Four, and in the past exhibited a lazybones quality, but no more. Pat used to tease Stricken about her lack of intensity and complained she would rather sit by a pond with a fishing pole back in Arkansas. But against Rutgers, Stricklen went 40 minutes without a blow, led the team in scoring, provided lockdown defense grabbing three steals, and played so hard her calves cramped in the final minute.

“I love who they’ve become,” Pat says. “We were on our toes instead of our heels. Aggressive. I haven’t always seen that from them.”

The uninvited guest that is Pat’s diagnosis isn’t going away, and the Lady Vols know that.

“It’s become a part of our lives,” sports information director Debby Jennings says. But they can try to chase the intruder into a corner with winning, and laughter. Spani says, “She’s not making light of it. But she’s making it something positive.”

Pat’s way of going about this will disconcert some. It’s not comfortable. There are those who wish she was frozen in time, 20 years younger, her eyes flashing bright as her diamond championship rings, her high heels clattering on the hard wood like machine guns, her mouth open and shouting fire. But Pat is 59, and she’s been doing this for 38 years, and with or without Alzheimer’s, she was going to experience some diminishment. We all do. It’s our fate.

“She’s fighting, and she stands strong,” Stricklen says. “And the best thing we can do for her is go out there and play hard like that, play the way she wants us to.”

Pat is always tearing down with one hand and building up with another. She has always torn down conventions, ideas of appropriate conduct for women, and built up a different version with her other hand.

Now she’s tearing down the stereotype of what it is to have Alzheimer’s and building up a new version and the new version is that you don’t crawl into a hole. You don’t disappear from public view. You don’t be afraid of somehow looking less than totally in command. You don’t retire and go to bed and act sick. You live and you work and you fight. And you laugh.

Hot-shooting Tennessee women beat UCLA 85-64

2011-12-17T22:00:00.000-05:00

Tennessee set a new standard in the first 16 minutes Saturday when it comes to hot shooting.

The No. 6 Lady Vols stunned the UCLA women by making 18 of their first 20 shots—many from long range—in rolling to an 85-64 triumph over the dazed Bruins before a sellout crowd of 2,025 at the John Wooden Center.

As might be expected, Tennessee cooled off a bit, shooting just under 70 percent (36 of 52) behind a balanced attack in which all five starters scored in double figures.

“Obviously we shot the ball really, really well,” coach Pat Summitt said after the Lady Vols threatened to break the school record of 72.1 percent shooting against Old Dominion on Jan. 4, 1989 before cooling off. “When you shoot like that, you feel good. I think that gave them a lot more energy and a lot more confidence.”

Meighan Simmons scored 18 points; Glory Johnson added 17; Vicki Baugh had 14 points and 12 rebounds; Taber Spani scored all 14 of her points in the first half; and Shekinna Stricklen added 11 despite dealing with an illness for Tennessee.

“It was awesome, it was exciting to see,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “It was a special day for everybody. We got stops when we needed to, we played well together, we distributed the basketball.

“They took great shots. I really don’t recall as a coach them taking a bad shot. We took good shots. I can’t say enough about that.”

Rebekah Gardner scored 15 of her career-high 24 points in the first half for UCLA (5-4). Markel Walker had 11 points and eight rebounds and Thea Lemberger added 11 points and six assists for the Bruins, who outrebounded Tennessee 31-28 and had 19 offensive rebounds to only four for the Lady Vols.

Of course, when a team shoots like the Lady Vols did, there aren’t many offensive rebounds to be had.

“When we’re on, it brings the team together,” Simmons said. “Today, it got our momentum going. When it mattered, we really hit some good shots.”

The win was the fourth straight for the Lady Vols (7-2) and their 18th in 19 meetings all-time against UCLA. It also raised Summitt’s career record to 1,078-201.

The 59-year-old Hall of Famer, in her 38th season at Tennessee, is the only coach in NCAA men’s and women’s basketball history to reach 1,000 wins. She remains on the job despite having been diagnosed last May with early onset Alzheimer’s.

First-year UCLA coach Cori Close was upbeat afterward despite the one-sided loss.

“We’re going to learn a lot from this,” she said. “Our goal as a defensive team is to force them to take one hard shot. They made them. I give them all the credit in the world for the hard shots.

“We didn’t get rewarded by the win today, but it’s a step in our process.”

The Lady Vols never trailed, making their first eight shots, including three 3-pointers, for a 19-8 lead. The Bruins went on a 10-3 run to draw within four points before Tennessee had a 21-9 burst to make it 43-27. The Lady Vols then missed five of six shots, leaving them shooting 19 of 25 (76 percent) and with a 45-34 lead at halftime.

Tennessee outscored the Bruins 9-2 to begin the second half for a 54-36 lead. UCLA wasn’t closer than 13 points after that. A layup by Baugh with 7:29 remaining made it 74-52, with Tennessee shooting 32 of 43 (74.4 percent) from the field at that stage.

There were only four fouls called and just one free throw in the first half, and 17 fouls and 18 free throws in the game.

“It was like a college men’s game. It’s crazy,” Gardner said of Tennessee’s hot shooting. “If we take what we learned from this game, we’ll do good things in the Pac-12.”

The Lady Vols conclude a two-game trip through California on Tuesday night against No. 4 Stanford (7-1), an 85-66 winner over Princeton earlier Saturday.

Tennessee played its third straight game without starting point guard Ariel Massengale, who dislocated her left middle finger during practice earlier this month. Warlick said she believes Massengale will return to action soon.

The game was supposed to pit former Tennessee star Nikki Caldwell against her former team and mentor, but that changed when Caldwell quit as UCLA coach last summer to take the LSU job. The Bruins lost to Caldwell and the Tigers 58-41 last Tuesday night in Baton Rouge.

UCLA, ranked 22nd in the preseason AP poll, is playing without senior forward Jasmine Dixon, its second-leading scorer and top rebounder last year. Dixon tore her Achilles tendon before the season.

Johnson leads No. 7 Tennessee women over DePaul

2011-12-11T16:32:00.000-05:00

Glory Johnson scored 16 points and Cierra Burdick added 15 to help No. 7 Tennessee beat No. 20 DePaul 84-61 on Sunday in the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Shekinna Stricklen added 12 points while Alicia Manning had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Lady Vols (5-2), who saw their 12-point halftime lead cut to 41-37 before using an 15-4 run to take control. Stricklen had six points during the burst.

Her layup made it 56-43 with 11:19 left and DePaul (8-2) couldn't get within single digits the rest of the way.

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt was honored during No. 1 Baylor's 73-59 victory over St. John's with the Maggie Dixon Courage award. Summitt announced in August that she had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Both the Lady Bears and Red Storm came out of their timeouts to applaud the winningest coach in college basketball.

Jasmine Penny scored 16 points and Keisha Hampton added 14 for DePaul.

It was the second time Tennessee played in the Classic named for the former Army women's coach. The Lady Vols beat Rutgers two years ago. The Scarlet Knights had played in all four of the previous Garden events. Army hosted Ohio State at West Point the first year.

The 28-year-old Dixon died April 6, 2006, of arrhythmia, probably caused by an enlarged heart. Her death came three weeks after she finished her first season as Army coach. She won the admiration of the academy and all of college basketball for leading Army to its first NCAA berth, where the Cadets lost in the first round to Summitt's Lady Vols.

While this was DePaul's first appearance in the Classic, the school has played in the Maggie Dixon Surf'N Slam Classic in San Diego. The Blue Demons have also hosted a tournament in honor of the coach the past few seasons. She got her start as an assistant coach at DePaul under Doug Bruno before she went to Army.

Both Tennessee and DePaul will stay in the Tri-State area after the game. On Tuesday night, the Lady Vols play at No. 11 Rutgers while DePaul visits Princeton.

It will be the Blue Demons' fourth game in seven days. The roster has been depleted by injuries and DePaul had nine players available against the Lady Vols.

Deanna Ortiz was sidelined with a right ankle sprain suffered in Friday's win over SIU-Edwardsville. Taylor Pikes is still recovering from an ACL injury last season. Freshman Shenise Johnson has an injured left foot and classmate Alexa Gallagher hasn't played this season because of knee issues.

Tennessee was playing its first game without freshman point guard Ariel Massengale. She had started every game averaging 7.2 points and 5.8 assists.

She injured a finger on her left hand while diving for a loose ball at the end of practice on Thursday and will be sidelined for a few weeks.

Pat Summitt to receive 2012 NCAA Gerald Ford Award

2011-12-07T01:37:00.002-05:00

The NCAA will honor Tennessee coach Pat Summitt with the 2012 Gerald R. Ford Award.

The award recognizes a person who has been an advocate for college athletics over the course of his or her career. Summitt has won eight NCAA titles in her 37 seasons as Lady Volunteers coach, and her 1,075 victories is the most by any college basketball coach.

Summitt announced in August that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She pledged to continue coaching and show others they can live their lives with the disease.

NCAA President Mark Emmert says the award honors Summitt for "the positive example she continues to set.''

Summitt will be recognized during a Jan. 12 session at the 2012 NCAA Convention in Indianapolis.

Pat Summitt - 2011 SI Sportswoman of the Year

2011-12-05T14:43:00.000-05:00

‎2011 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year -- Pat Summitt! She shares the honor with Coach K of Duke. On the cover this week...

3s & Rebounding Lift #8 Lady Vols Past Texas, 73-57

2011-12-04T18:44:00.000-05:00

KNOXVILLE - Clutch 3-point shooting and powerful rebounding lifted #8 Tennessee to a 73-57 victory over #21/22 Texas on Sunday afternoon.

From 3-point range, Tennessee shot 52.4 percent, making 11-of-21 led by Shekinna Stricklen (20 points) and Meighan Simmons (10 points), who combined to make 8-of-16 from behind the arc. Stricklen made a career-high 5-of-9 from 3-point land. The Lady Vols (4-2) outrebounded the Longhorns (5-2), 49-38 led by Vicki Baugh's 11 boards.

Baugh (17 points) and Glory Johnson (11 points and 10 rebounds) both posted double-doubles. Ariel Massengale also scored in double-figures with 10 points while handling out five assists.

The Longhorns were led by Ashleigh Fontenette, who tallied 22 and Chassidy Fussell, who had 14 points.

Stricklen's fifth 3-pointer of the game was the final dagger as it put Tennessee up 64-53 with 6:15 with a trey as the shot clock was winding down.

The Lady Vols held Texas scoreless for 6:20 late in the game as the Lady Vols went on a 10-0 run while forcing the Longhorns into five turnovers during the spurt. Texas ended the draught on Fontenette's jumper with 2:40 left in the game, as the Longhorns had fallen behind by 16.

Down by as many as 14 early in the second, the Longhorns cut the deficit to six at 59-53 on a 3-pointer by Chelsea Bass with 8:50 left in the second half. That would be Texas' final points for more than six minutes. The Lady Vols answered as Johnson scored on a lay-up to start a run of 10 consecutive points.

Tennessee forced Texas into a 30-second shot clock violation with 6:41 left in regulation with furious defensive pressure.

The Lady Vols picked up their shooting early in the second half and began to pull away, taking a 52-38 lead on a Baugh lay-up with 15:31 left in the game.

Tennessee led 41-32 at halftime thanks to some strong shooting from 3-point range as UT knocked down 7-of-13 (54 percent) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes led by Simmons, who was 3-of-5 with 10 first-half points. Baugh added 11 points in the first half along with five rebounds as the Lady Vols held a 29-18 rebounding edge at intermission.

UT expanded a 27-26 lead with 5:19 left to as big as 11 (38-27) with 1:28 left in the first half. Texas had drawn within one on a 3-pointer by Fontenette before the Lady Vols went on an 11-1 spurt.

The Lady Vols return to action next Sunday as Tennessee takes on #22/21 DePaul in the Maggie Dixon Classic played at Madison Square Garden in New York. Tip-off is set for 1:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.

Summitt receives Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award

2011-11-30T18:30:00.000-05:00

University of Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt has received the Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award this year, according to ESPN.com.

U.S. Sports Academy director of communications Duwayne Escobedo presented Summitt with the award before the third-ranked Lady Volunteers' 89-57 victory over Pepperdine Nov. 13.

Summitt, 59, revealed in August that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. She said she revealed her diagnosis to hopefully help others understand they could still live their lives after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Lady Vols rip Middle Tennessee, 82-43

2011-11-29T23:37:00.000-05:00

With two losses behind them and a stretch that includes games against four ranked opponents ahead, the eighth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols needed a bit of a boost.

An 82-43 rout of Middle Tennessee on Tuesday night definitely helped with that.

Cierra Burdick had 14 points and 10 rebounds, Ariel Massengale also scored 14 points and Shekinna Stricklen contributed 12 points for the Lady Vols.

"It's a good thing to break that two-game losing streak," coach Pat Summitt said. "We played with high energy, and it came from the players. They challenged each other to come into the game with lots of high energy, and it's obvious that they did that."

The Lady Vols (3-2) were 2-2 for the first time since 1990 and were determined not to have a "letdown game" two days after losing at home to No. 1 Baylor. They already logged one when they lost in overtime at Virginia on Nov. 20.

Tennessee's December schedule will test just how well all of the Lady Vols have responded from the loss to the Cavaliers. The Lady Vols host No. 21 Texas before facing No. 22 DePaul, No. 11 Rutgers, UCLA and No. 5 Stanford on the road.

"This was a big game for us," Stricklen said. "We really needed to win and get back on a winning streak. Coming out with energy like that creates energy for the whole team for the whole game. It's something we have to do for every game."

Stricklen got the energy going when she took an inbounds pass, spun around and sank a jumper with 17:14 left in the first half, launching a 17-0 run. The Lady Vols stole the ball on four consecutive Middle Tennessee possessions in that stretch and got a basket in transition after each one, three of the shots coming from Massengale.

MTSU (4-3) cut the margin to a single digit just once more on a layup by Ebony Rowe that made it 27-18 with 7:13 in the first half.

Tennessee shot 59.3 percent in the first half, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range.

The Blue Raiders struggled to get clean looks at the basket against the Lady Vols' defense and hit just 28.6 percent in the first half, and Tennessee pushed the lead to 48-24 just before halftime.

Kortni Jones led MTSU with 16 points, and Rowe added 10.

"They're better than us, bottom line," MTSU coach Rick Insell said. "They're more athletic at every position, and we've got to learn from this and grow from it."

The bench went to work after the break and finished with 37 points. Burdick and Harrison took control of the boards, each grabbing eight rebounds after halftime. Tennessee finished with a 53-30 rebounding margin.

Pat Summitt announces foundation to help Alzheimer's disease research

2011-11-28T15:19:00.000-05:00

Dottie Lowe said Sunday would be one Lady Vols game she didn't want to miss. No, not because her team was against #1 ranked Baylor.

"Everyone wants to get in on this," she said. Instead, she wanted simply to "Back Pat." In fact, her orange "We Back Pat" shirt proved it.

In fact, those shirts were worn by thousands of UT fans. In turn, those shirts raised thousands of dollars for the newly formed "Pat Summitt Foundation Fund." It made its debut Sunday at the game.

"What's happening today is inspiring," said Angela Geiger with the Alzheimer's Association. "To see this many people coming together for their coach, their cause and her bravery coming out against her diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease."

Lady Vols Head Coach Pat Summitt was diagnosed of early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type in August. Her namesake fund gives grants to organizations connected to Alzheimer's Disease and research.

Alzheimer's Tennessee and the UT Medical Center are the first two beneficiaries of the foundation- each receiving $75,000 each Sunday.

The organization has been getting support by many fans. Even, Governor Bill Haslam was on the sidelines to see the foundation's kickoff.

"Who Pat is makes it easy to support her and understand how serious this early Dementia is. If it could happen to Pat, it could happen to anybody," the Governor said.

Organizers feel the fund is off on the right foot with the big check presentation.

"I think there will be lots of big things ahead," Geiger said.

As fans, like Dottie Lowe, continue to "Back Pat."

"It's something we're already dealing with," Lowe said. "But any little thing that we can do to help them find out and cure this is going to be wonderful."

For more information on the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund, visit the organization's website.

No. 1 Baylor defeats No. 6 Lady Vols, 76-67

2011-11-27T17:17:00.000-05:00

Brittney Griner scored 26 points as No. 1 Baylor beat sixth-ranked Tennessee 76-67 on Sunday for its second win of the young season over a Top 10 opponent.

The preseason All-American had nine first-half points but came alive in the paint after halftime.

The Lady Volunteers took a 39-31 lead on Glory Johnson's free throw with 17:39 left, but Griner had a pair of layups in an 11-2 run for the Lady Bears. The second gave Baylor a 42-41 lead with 15 minutes left.

Another Griner layup with 8:32 to play gave Baylor its ultimate lead, and the Lady Bears (6-0) relied on smothering defense to limit Tennessee to just 29.3 percent shooting.

Another preseason All-American, Shekinna Stricklen, led the Lady Vols with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Vicki Baugh added 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Odyssey Simms added 23 points for the Lady Bears.

Tennessee (2-2) outrebounded Baylor 55-42.

No. 1 Baylor aims for rare 3rd consecutive victory against No. 6 Tennessee

2011-11-26T16:35:00.002-05:00

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey phoned Tennessee’s Pat Summitt recently to check on the Hall of Fame coach and to ask if it was still OK for her Lady Bears to try and beat the Lady Vols.

“My last comment to her was, ‘Am I supposed to come up there and try to beat you?’ And she laughed and said, ‘You better,’” Mulkey recalled. “And that’s what Pat expects from all of us. She knows that we’re all competitors, and she’s still Pat Summitt.”

Summitt has been diagnosed with early onset dementia but has said she wants the focus on basketball.

It will be Sunday when the top-ranked Lady Bears (5-0) visit Knoxville looking for a third consecutive victory against No. 6 Tennessee (2-1).

Few teams have managed three wins in a row against Tennessee during Summitt’s 37 seasons at the helm, and that significance isn’t lost on Mulkey.

“They’ve done a heck of a lot more in women’s basketball than we have at Baylor. And we’re trying to do what they’ve done over a long period of time, and we’re just getting started,” Mulkey said.

Baylor is aiming for the national championship that eluded it a season ago as a top-seeded team. A national title would mark the second for the program, a feat achieved by just five other teams, including the eight-time national champ Lady Vols.

The Lady Bears solidified their early grip on the top spot of the AP Top 25 with a win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame and are coming off a 109-59 rout of Yale on Tuesday night.

With the way returning starters Brittney Griner, Destiny Williams, Odyssey Sims and Jordan Madden are playing, the Lady Vols know nothing will come easy for them.

Griner “does not give you anything easy in the paint,” Tennessee assistant coach Mickie DeMoss said. “She can stand over on one block and block a shot on the other block. They’re just very talented. They’ve got some very talented guards. ...

“They don’t really have a weakness.”

The Lady Vols showed some weaknesses of their own in a 69-64 overtime loss at previously unranked Virginia on Nov. 20. They couldn’t get the ball inside to the post and struggled to hit shots.

Tennessee shot 40.7 percent against the Cavaliers and hit just 5 of 24 from 3-point range. The Lady Vols no longer have the kind of height inside to compete with the 6-foot-8 Griner.

“We’re going to have to stretch them a little bit,” Summitt said.

DeMoss added: “There are some games where you say you want to go inside and then outside. This is probably one game that you’re probably going to say you’ve got to hit some outside shots. (Griner) can stand over on one block and block a shot on the other block.”

Tennessee is just as hungry for a national title this season as Baylor. The Lady Vols’ current senior class hasn’t even made it to a Final Four, let alone a national championship game, and the players have said they’re even more determined to “cut down nets” since they learned of Summitt’s dementia diagnosis in August.

The Lady Vols are encouraging fans who attend Sunday’s game to wear “We Back Pat” T-shirts in honor of Summitt. Sales of the shirts have raised more than $150,000 for Alzheimer’s research programs, and the Tennessee athletic department will present checks to Alzheimer’s Tennessee and UT Medical Center before the game.

The Tennessee players know if they want to honor Summitt with her ninth championship, they need to first prove themselves against a tough schedule of opponents. They’ve already claimed over ninth-ranked Miami but have 10 more games against currently ranked opponents after facing Baylor.

“Coming to a program like Tennessee, we play one of the toughest schedules in the game. I’ve always wanted to play against the best, and to play the best you’ve got to beat the best, and that’s our goal,” Tennessee freshman point guard Ariel Massengale said.

Cavaliers stun No. 3 Lady Vols, 69-64 in OT

2011-11-20T22:25:00.001-05:00

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — There's nothing like a reward to reinforce that hard work is paying off.

Chelsea Shine and Virginia learned that on Sunday afternoon, outlasting No. 3 Tennessee in overtime to give new coach Joanne Boyle a big victory in just her fourth game as coach. Could be that a national ranking is just around the corner, too.

"This goes to show that the hard work and the program that we're buying into is worth it and it's real," Shine said after scoring 18 points, including a basket early in overtime.

"Everyone on this team is totally sold out on what the coaches want us to do."

The Cavaliers (4-0) came into the game allowing just over 42 points a game, and dictated the pace against a Lady Vols team averaging 90.5 points and accustomed to playing at a fast pace.

And in the overtime, it was Virginia that dominated, scoring 11 consecutive points to answer an opening 3-pointer by the Lady Vols' Taber Spani. With each turnovers forced, rebound secured or added points to their tally, the crowd of 6,450 loudly expressed its appreciation.

"I just saw us mature in those last five minues," Boyle said of the overtime, saying seniors Ariana Moorer and Shine took over, with some help from junior point guard China Crosby. "They punched and we punched back. They played a chess match and we played a chess match."

Moorer scored 10 points, but had a driving try at the end oif regulation slapped away. She finished 3 for 16 from the field, but said the rejection did nothing to alter her approach.

"It's all about the next play," she said. "I got my shot blocked. That's fine, but you still have to be in attack mode."

In the extra period, she hit a pair of free throws, then put Virginia ahead to stay with a jumper from the free throw line.

Taber Spani led the Lady Vols (2-1) with 22 points, including a 3-pointer 59 seconds into overtime that gave Tennessee a 61-58 lead, but by the time she hit another one, only seconds remained and the Cavaliers were celebrating their third victory in 16 tries in the series.

Crosby had 13 points, Ataira Franklin 12 and Lexie Gerson 10 for Virginia.

Shekinna Stricklen had 16 and Glory Johnson 15 for the Lady Vols.

In the overtime, after Spani's 3-pointer, Moorer hit a pair of free throws, and then a foul-line jumper. Shine followed a turnover the Tennessee with a short baseline jumper, and Crosby hit 3 of 4 free throws to make it 67-61.

The Lady Vols never had an answer, and each time they failed to score and Virginia came away with the ball, the crowd of 6,450 at John Paul Jones Arena got louder and more excited.

Stricklen had a chance to give the Lady Vols the lead near the end of regulation when she was fouled while scoring, but she missed the free throw, one of 10 misses in 21 tries for Tennessee. The Lady Vols also had 24 turnovers that the Cavaliers turned into 27 points.

Crosby broke a 56-all tie with 36.6 seconds to go in regulation, hitting a desperate shot from the baseline with the shot clock running down. After a timeout, Spani calmly swished a 12-footer from the left baseline with 22.8 seconds to go, pulling Tennessee even again.

The Cavaliers tightened their defense and Tennessee continued to be sloppy early in the second half as Virginia opened the half on a 14-6 run. The Cavaliers led by as many as nine and by 47-40 when the Lady Vols began asserting themselves on the offensive glass and rallied.

Tennessee scored eight straight points, taking its first lead since the first half, but Shine scored inside and Crosby's three-point play boosted the Cavaliers' edge back to 52-48.

The Lady Vols pulled even three times, but only led once thereafter.

It was the first road game for Tennessee since coach Pat Summitt announced in the offseason that she has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. She received a warm welcome when she came out onto the floor just before the game.

Virginia used a 12-2 run to take a 24-20 lead in a sloppy first half. The Lady Vols turned the ball over at least seven times in the drought, and went almost 5 minutes without scoring.

Spani, who hit the floor hard at one point and went back to the locker room, led Tennessee with 12 points in the half, and Gerson led the Cavaliers with eight.

Pat Summitt recipient of AARP Inspire Award

2011-11-17T22:55:00.002-05:00

Tennessee's Pat Summitt is among a dozen recipients of AARP The Magazine's Inspire Awards in the wake of the coach's announcement that she has dementia.

According to AARP, the awards pay tribute to people who inspire action in others.

Summitt, 59, has said she decided to reveal she'd been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, because she wanted others to understand that they could continue to live their life with the disease.

Coach Summitt has led the Lady Volunteers to eight national championships and says she is determined to continue to coach as long as she is able.

Other Inspire Awards recipients include: conservationist Jane Goodall, late Apple Inc. founder Steve Jobs, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and country music singer Toby Keith.

Third-ranked Tennessee holds off No. 7 Miami 92-76

2011-11-15T22:57:00.002-05:00

Pat Summitt has fielded plenty of questions about her health lately. Certainly nothing has changed about her ability to grill her players at halftime when she’s disappointed in their performance.

The third-ranked Lady Vols came into halftime tied at 42 with seventh-ranked Miami after being manhandled on the boards. Summitt got onto them hard during her halftime speech, and they responded with a 92-76 victory on Tuesday night in the State Farm Tip-Off Classic.

“If you ever doubt if Pat Summitt is still coaching, look at how our team responds coming out in the second half,” associate head coach Holly Warlick said. “She got on them pretty hard. We all did as a staff about our rebounding effort, our hustle plays that weren’t there. We challenged them for 20 minutes, and I think they responded.”

It was the first big test of the season for two veteran teams, and the matchup lived up to its billing in the first-ever meeting for the programs.

Though the game pitted preseason All-Americans Shekinna Stricklen and Shenise Johnson against one another, the spotlight was stolen by Taber Spani and Meighan Simmons, who together hit 7 of 13 from 3-point range.

The Lady Vols (2-0) came out after intermission and unleashed an 18-4 run to take control. Glory Johnson, who struggled in the first half against Miami’s inside defense, hit a layup that made it 60-46 with 16:19 to go.

The Lady Vols got sloppy, committing three turnovers that helped the Hurricanes charge back with nine unanswered points to cut the margin to seven, and with 7:31 to go, Shenise Johnson hit a jumper to cut the Lady Vols’ lead to 73-68.

Miami (1-1) would get no closer. Two possessions later, Spani took an inbound pass with 10 seconds on the shot clock and launched a 3-pointer that hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.

“I thought that was the turning point of the game, as we were struggling kind of to get back in it,” Miami coach Katie Meier said.

A couple of minutes later, Spani rebounded a missed 3-point attempt by Shenise Johnson and launched the ball across the court to Simmons, who charged to the basket for a layup to make it 84-68. The basket capped an 11-0 run that began with Spani’s trey and sent the orange-clad crowd into a frenzy.

“I think it’s more mental than anything else,” said Spani, who played 39 minutes. “Obviously all of us have shot millions of shots throughout our careers, so it’s just a mindset going in and knowing that you can knock down shots.”

Simmons scored 18 points, Glory Johnson finished with 16 and nine rebounds, Stricklen added 15 points and Ariel Massengale had 11 points and nine assists.

“I thought across the board, everybody contributed in certain ways,” Summitt said. “It’s just a matter of who’s coming in. At any given moment, we’ve got enough people that somebody’s going to step up.”

The Tennessee coaches expected a strong rebounding effort by the Lady Vols, so they instead asked the players to focus on not turning the ball over. By halftime, Tennessee had just six turnovers but had 13 fewer rebounds than Miami.

By the end of the game, the Lady Vols had put enough an effort on the boards to trail the Hurricanes 45-38 in rebounding, and it was Miami that was struggling to hang onto the ball. The Hurricanes turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 23 points for the Lady Vols—10 more than Miami got off giveaways.

Riquna Williams, who led the Atlantic Coast Conference in scoring a season ago, sank 24 points for Miami. Shenise Johnson added 17 and Morgan Stroman scored 11.

The stingy defensive play by both teams forced the ball to the hands of the outside shooters during the first half, leading four lead changes and two ties.

Miami took an early edge after scoring eight unanswered points. Williams and Stefanie Yderstorm each had a 3, while Stroman hit a pair of free throws to take an 8-2 lead, their largest margin of the first half.

A few minutes later, Tennessee went on an 8-0 run of its own, capped by a 3-pointer by Simmons off a dish by Massengale. The basket gave the Lady Vols an 18-16 lead—their first since the opening basket. They slowly built their margin to 38-31 on a jumper in the paint by Alicia Manning with 4:52 in the first half, but Miami scored the final five points of the half to tie it at the break.

“Our confidence was high,” Shenise Johnson said. “(The score) was zero-zero.”

The teams launched a flurry of long shots during their streaks, and the Lady Vols hit 7 of 13 and Miami 6 of 14 from behind the arc in the first half. Tennessee finished 11 of 22 from long range, while Miami missed all nine of its second-half attempts.

The Lady Vols have now won 38 straight games at home on the court named for Summitt, dating to a 62-54 loss to Duke on Feb. 16, 2009. They travel to Virginia on Sunday before hosting No. 1 Baylor at The Summitt on Nov. 27.

No. 3 Tennessee beats defensive Pepperdine 89-57

2011-11-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has been waiting for the season to start, ready to get the attention off her dementia diagnosis and back on her Lady Volunteers.

The Lady Vols are determined to bring home the program’s ninth national title in honor of their coach. First they’ve got to get through a blistering nonconference schedule, which began with an 89-57 win against a tough Pepperdine team on Sunday in both teams’ season opener.

The focus was still on Summitt briefly before the game as U.S. Sports Academy director of communications Duwayne Escobedo presented Summitt with the Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award.

The award is presented annually in honor of an individual who demonstrates courageous action in overcoming adversity to excel in sport. Summitt disclosed her diagnosis in hopes of helping others understand they could still live their lives after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

“It’s a tremendous honor. Obviously, I appreciate it, and I’m humbled by it,” Summitt said.

Summitt didn’t address the media after the game and plans to rely on her longtime assistants to handle postgame news conferences among their other expanded duties this season.

Associate head coach Holly Warlick channeled Summitt easily during her interview, criticizing the Lady Vols’ defensive efforts.

“I thought today we played in spurts,” Warlick said. “We came out in the second half and shot the ball really, really well, but I’m really disappointed in our one-on-one defense. We put a lot of time in on that, and we just weren’t very good.”

Like Summitt and Warlick, Pepperdine coach Julie Rousseau stresses defense to her team, which returned 10 letter-winners and all five starters from last year’s team, which reached the WNIT tournament. The Waves, who finished fourth in the nation last year in turnover margin and fourth in steals per game, smothered the Lady Vols, keeping them uncomfortable on every single shot and forcing 22 turnovers.

“We leave here with a great experience that I think sets the table for us for the rest of the season,” Rousseau said.

It took over two minutes for the first shot to finally fall. Pepperdine never led, but kept within two baskets until an 8-0 run capped by Meighan Simmons’ jumper with 10:32 left in the first half gave Tennessee a 20-9 lead.

The Waves got a pair of free throws followed by a layup from Skye Barnett to get the margin within seven points with 7:23 before halftime, but it was as close as they would get. Tennessee went on another 8-0 run before the break and scored 18 unanswered points early in the second half to put the game out of reach.

“Something we talked about at halftime was having that constant high energy at all times, and we just got committed to that. We came out and fired,” point guard Briana Bass said.

Summitt played her entire bench in the first half, including freshmen Cierra Burdick and Isabelle Harrison, and the Tennessee reserves scored 20 points.

Glory Johnson led the Lady Vols with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Shekinna Stricklen and Simmons each had 13 points, Taber Spani contributed 11 points and Briana Bass had 10.

Pepperdine’s tough defense came at a cost. The Waves had 14 personal fouls in the first half, though the Lady Vols were uncharacteristically sloppy at the charity stripe, making just two of six foul shots before halftime.

Still, it forced Rousseau to go deep into her bench, which was responsible for just four points in the first half and 19 total. Jazmine Jackson had 17 points for the Waves, who shot 28.4 percent to the Lady Vols’ 49.2 percent shooting.

“I feel like we attacked them fairly well, but I also think that we settled for a lot of outside shots,” Jackson said.

Tennessee outrebounded Pepperdine 54-34, but couldn’t turn them into points. The Lady Vols gained control of the game with their 20 fast-break points and by sinking eight of their 10 3-point baskets in the second half.

Summitt gave a starting nod to point guard Ariel Massengale, making her just the 14th Lady Vol to start her very first career game. The coach was so convinced of Massengale’s talent and frustrated by a lack of a bona fide point guard last season that she dubbed Massengale a starter back in March.

Massengale sat for more than 13 minutes in the first half after picking up two fouls and finished with just one field goal, but had five assists to just one turnover and came up with two steals and three rebounds in 20 minutes.

The Lady Vols, who were visited by former standouts Chamique Holdsclaw and Kara Lawson, have a quick turnaround with a Tuesday game scheduled against No. 7 Miami.

“We’ve got to get a whole heck of a lot better before Tuesday,” Warlick said.

Summitt hopes new season will be about hoops

2011-11-10T21:19:00.000-05:00

Pat Summitt wants her 38th season at Tennessee to be all about the Lady Vols and not her public battle with dementia.

Considering what the Hall of Fame coach means to so many, it may be difficult for her to fully get her wish.

"That's what I want to talk about, basketball, not dementia," Summitt said. "I don't want a pity party, because it is what it is."

Summitt is sure to get rousing ovations of support when the Lady Vols are on the road, not to mention when they play at home beginning with Sunday's opener against Pepperdine.

The women's basketball season starts Friday for 14 of the preseason Top 25, including No. 1 Baylor and Brittney Griner. It ends in Denver _ the first time the Final Four will be held in the Mountain time zone.

Tennessee is clearly the sentimental choice to make it there and her Lady Vols players seem focused to win a ninth national championship for their coach.

"She's taking care of me as far as making me become a better person, a better athlete," Tennessee sophomore Meighan Simmons said. "I feel like now it's our turn to return a favor to her."

To reach Denver, the Lady Vols will have to end a three-year Final Four drought _ long by Rocky Top standards. This talented group of seniors, led by preseason All-America Shekinna Stricklen, is trying to avoid being the first Tennessee class to not make the Final Four in their careers.

The class of 1995 came the closest, as they didn't reach it until their senior season when they fell to Connecticut _ the first of Geno Auriemma's seven titles.

UConn's group this year is still a major contender despite the graduation of four-time All-America Maya Moore. Auriemma is happy to head into a season and not have to talk about streaks any more after the Huskies' NCAA record 90-game run came to an end last season.

"Could you imagine if they had kept that thing going?" Auriemma said. "It would have been so unfair to this new group to have to worry about that. Now we can just focus on basketball."

Auriemma has a talented freshmen class to complement the four returning starters, and a fifth straight trip to the Final Four isn't out of the question. He feels, for the first time in a few years, there's no obvious favorite to win it all.

"Clearly Baylor, Tennessee, and Notre Dame all have a lot of talent back," Auriemma said. "But everyone has some question marks. It will make the regular season more interesting and exciting."

It's already the first time in five years that neither UConn or Tennessee sits atop the preseason Top 25 poll. That honor falls on Baylor. The Lady Bears are led by junior phenom Griner. The 6-foot-8 star worked hard in the offseason to improve her game, spending 12 days with the U.S. women's national team, which is coached by Auriemma.

"She is definitely a unique talent," he said. "She's so hard to guard in so many ways, and she's just beginning to tap her ability."

Baylor has a tough schedule early with a potential matchup against No. 2 Notre Dame in the Preseason WNIT final in mid-November. The Lady Bears also play the Lady Vols and Huskies before the New Year. With Griner, coach Kim Mulkey feels her squad is ready.

"If you have a team capable of playing them, go play them," Mulkey said. "This schedule's extremely tough _ the toughest since I've been at Baylor."

One team that Mulkey won't play after this season is Texas A&M. The defending national champions are the biggest name in women's basketball to change conferences, with the Aggies heading to the SEC next season.

Mulkey said at the Big 12 media day that she won't play them anymore. That's unfortunate given the two rivals had four riveting games last season, including a NCAA regional final game that drew more than 11,500 fans.

The Pac-10 has undergone a major change this season, growing to the Pac-12 with the addition of Colorado and Utah. The new conference name probably won't effect the standings much as Stanford is the favorite to win its 12th straight league title.

Stanford will be looking to tie Connecticut and LSU with a fifth straight trip to the Final Four. The Cardinal have made it to the title game twice and lost in the semis twice.

While Stanford has been a Final Four mainstain the last few years, the Big Ten has been absent. No team from the conference has made the national semifinals since Michigan State lost to Baylor in the 2005 title game. It's the longest drought of any of the six major conferences.

Notre Dame fell just short of winning its second national championship last season, losing to Texas A&M in the title game. The Irish became the first team to beat both Tennessee and UConn in the same NCAA tournament.

Sensational junior guard Skylar Diggins became a fresh face for the sport during the Irish's tournament run, gaining nearly 100,000 followers on Twitter.

With Diggins return along with stars Devereaux Peters and Natalie Novosel, Notre Dame was picked to win the Big East for the first time in a decade.

The Fighting Irish have bigger goals in mind.

"It definitely still hurts," Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw said. "I think that when we look at the last game, we decided then that we had to get ready for next year. We've got some unfinished business is the way we're looking at it. It's a different type of chip on our shoulder."

Spani's 25 leads No. 3 Lady Vols past Union, 93-45

2011-11-08T22:55:00.001-05:00

Junior guard Taber Spani scored 22 of her 25 points in the first half and the Tennessee women's basketball team cruised to a 93-45 exhibition win over five-time NAIA champion, Union, Tuesday evening at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Spani set the tone early, draining two of her seven three-pointers to open the game's scoring. Averaging 13 points per game last season, Spani shot 8-of-12, including a 7-of-10 mark from downtown. Her 22 first-half points outscored Union (16), while her seven treys were more than the Lady Bulldogs had combined (5). The Lady Vols never left this one in doubt, heading into halftime with a 51-16 lead. In two exhibition games, UT allowed an average of 15.5 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Tennessee's offense flowed smoothly early and often, as the Lady Vols shot 55.2 percent from the field and had four players in double-figures. Senior preseason All-American Shekinna Stricklen scored 17 points, while freshman Isabelle Harrison had 11 and sophomore Meighan Simmons chipped in 10.

But for as good as the Lady Vols were offensively, it was their defense that led the way.

Tennessee's full-court pressure was disruptive all night as it forced 31 turnovers and took advantage, scoring 37 points off of those opportunities. Four Lady Vols had at least three steals: Alicia Manning, Harrison and Spani all had four, while senior Glory Johnson recorded a trio.

Freshman Ariel Massengale stepped in for her first opening tip as a Lady Vol versus Union. The true point guard, who was announced as Tennessee's starting point guard while she was still in high school in March, dished out a game-high six assists with four points and a steal.

UT pulled down 39 boards, led by Johnson's game-best 11, to the Lady Bulldogs' 23. Lavanda Ross led the Lady Bulldogs in virtually every statistical category with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Union came to Knoxville unbeaten in two regular-season contests this season and ranked second among NAIA schools.

Tennessee will open the regular season Sunday, Nov. 13 when it welcomes Pepperdine to Thompson-Boling Arena. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Pat Summitt: From Tow-Headed Tot to Women's Basketball Powerhouse

2011-11-02T15:46:00.002-04:00

Pat Summitt, the winningest coach in college basketball, sat down with Robin Roberts to talk about her toughest opponent yet -- Alzheimer's. Take a look at rarely seen photos of Summitt throughout her childhood and early career. Watch the full story on "20/20" Friday at 10 p.m. ET.

Lady Vols crush Carson-Newman in exhibition opener

2011-11-02T00:46:00.002-04:00

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (UT) - No. 3-ranked Tennessee women's basketball team used a 27-2 run across the end of the first half and start of the second to pull away from Carson-Newman in a 105-40 exhibition win at Thompson-Boling Arena on Tuesday evening.

"I thought we did some good things tonight," head coach Pat Summitt said. "It's always good when you get to play everyone. Exhibition games are great to get the kinks out and to get some game footage you can use in teaching. Our players will learn a lot from watching the tape (Wednesday). Across the board, I was pleased with the way we played."

Led by senior Alicia Manning's 23 points, the Lady Vols had six players in double-figures: Cierra Burdick (15), Meighan Simmons (14), Taber Spani (13), Shekinna Stricklen (12) and Vicki Baugh (10).

Leading 31-15 with 6:13 remaining in the opening half, the Lady Vols scored the final 17 points of the first period to take a 48-15 lead into intermission. The scoring spree was bolstered by seven points from Manning, who shot 10-of-14 from the floor.

Tennessee came out of the locker room continuing its run, scoring 10 of the second half's first 12 points, cumulating in an overall 27-2 spurt as UT led 56-17. In her Tennessee debut, Burdick took advantage of her opportunities at the free-throw line to record 15 points as UT's second-leading scorer.

Outrebounding Carson-Newman 65-30, Tennessee was led by Baugh, who pulled down a game-high 14 boards.

Tennessee never allowed the Lady Eagles to get into an offensive flow, forcing 34 turnovers and blocking 10 shots. Manning also led the Lady Vols with five steals, while freshman Isabelle Harrison was disruptive in the paint with half of UT's rejections (five).

Freshman Ariel Massengale also made her UT debut, draining one of Tennessee's four three-pointers to score five points off the bench.

As a whole, UT's freshman class combined for 25 points and 16 rebounds in its debut.

"These three freshmen are so passionate about the game," Summitt said. "They are going to help this team. They listen...they want to improve daily and they are invested in everything we do. At the same time, I have to credit the upperclassmen for taking them under their wing and getting them prepared."

The Lady Vols' scoring started early as they took the lead before the opening tip with a free throw on a Carson-Newman technical foul. The Lady Eagles were late turning in their starting lineup and Spani took advantage, sinking one-of-two free throws for the 1-0 advantage.

The final score, 105-40, was Tennessee's largest lead. The advantage ballooned to 50 (80-30) with 9:28 remaining in the game on a pair of Glory Johnson free throws. Tennessee will play its second exhibition game next Tuesday, Nov. 8, against Union at 7 p.m., before beginning the regular season by hosting Pepperdine on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 4 p.m.

Lady Vols No. 3 in preseason AP women's basketball poll

2011-10-29T22:23:00.002-04:00

Tennessee hasn't experienced a Women's Final Four since 2008. Still, the Lady Vols have enough experience in their lineup to receive a No. 3 ranking Saturday in the Associated Press' preseason women's basketball poll.

The Lady Vols, who finished 34-3 last season, were ranked behind only No. 1 Baylor and second-ranked Notre Dame, which thumped UT, 73-59, in the Dayton Regional final last March.

"I think it's because of our seniors, our veterans,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said of her team's ranking before adding, "We're not going to focus on (being No. 3)."

Tennessee has five seniors on its roster and three others with at least a season's worth of experience. Sophomore guard Meighan Simmons started 36 games last season.

Baylor, led by 6-foot-8 center Brittney Griner, received 33 of 40 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Lady Bears became the first Big 12 school to be ranked No. 1 to start the season since Texas in 1985 and 1986.

Notre Dame drew six first-place votes and was second. After UT, Connecticut and Stanford rounded out the first five. The No. 2 ranking is the Irish's best since the final poll of 2001 when they also were ranked second. The other first-place vote went to defending national champion Texas A&M, which is ranked sixth.

Baylor could meet Notre Dame in the Preseason WNIT final in mid-November. The Lady Bears also play the Lady Vols on Nov. 27 in Knoxville and UConn before the New Year.

Tennessee, meanwhile, plays 11 teams that are in the preseason poll, including every other top five team but Connecticut. UT's gauntlet begins with No. 7 Miami (Fla.) in the State Farm Tipoff Classic on Nov. 15 at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Hurricanes' ranking is the best since they were sixth in the final poll of 1992.

Duke, Louisville, and Georgetown round out the first 10. It's the highest ranking ever for the Hoyas.

There are three other SEC teams in the poll: No. 13 Georgia, No. 18 Kentucky and No. 21 LSU. Georgia and LSU were not ranked at the end of last season.

The Big East has seven teams in the Top 25 with the ACC next at five. The Big 12 joins the SEC with four teams. The Pac-12 has three and Big Ten two. It's the first time there was no team outside the BCS conferences in the Top 25.

On battling dementia, Summitt says, 'you've got to have a game plan'

2011-10-28T14:45:00.000-04:00

Vols coach stays active in practice

With Associate Coach Holly Warlick sitting protectively by her side, Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt spoke with reporters Thursday about the Lady Vols and, more importantly, her ongoing battle with early-stage dementia.

"You've got to have a game plan in everything you do," Summitt said.

Summitt's plan is to wake up each morning, drink coffee and work 12 puzzles on her I-pad.

"They really attack your brain," Summitt said of the daily puzzles. "But that's the purpose."

Warlick, who took the SEC basketball Media Day microphone whenever Summitt hesitated, said the coaching icon challenged her staff to puzzle competitions. "We won't do it," Warlick said.

Summitt said she has gotten her mother to also work puzzles.

After the puzzles, Summitt goes to her UT basketball office. She no longer answers fans' email nor performs other mundane coaching chores.

"She's vocal in practice," Warlick said. "... She does a great job in recruiting."

Lady Vols player Vicki Baugh said that she took it as a good sign when Summitt chewed her out for a practice mistake.

"It was a relief," Baugh said. "Then again, I need to get my stuff together. She shouldn't be yelling at a fifth-year senior."

The diagnosis of early-stage dementia came earlier this year. Summitt called a team meeting to inform the players.

"She told us like we were having a casual conversation," Baugh said.

A Hall of Fame coach and winner of 1,071 games in 37 seasons, Summitt decided to continue coaching.

"I love it," she said. "... What I want everyone to know is I'm doing great. Every day I want to get up and I want to go to work. That keeps me going."

Another UT assistant, former UK women's head coach Mickie DeMoss, watched from the periphery of the crowd of reporters listening to Summitt. DeMoss acknowledged her concern.

"It wears on her, the fatigue of it all," DeMoss said of the trip to SEC Media Day and the round of interviews. "She's better in short intervals."

Then DeMoss added, "You know she's a fighter."

UK women's coach Matthew Mitchell noted how Summitt hired him as an assistant in 1999.

"She could have hired any of 5,000 high school coaches," he said. "She just gave me the opportunity because she sensed I have passion and some work ethic."

Summitt made the hire to help Mitchell rather than herself or UT basketball.

"That's an indication of what kind of person she is," Mitchell said. "... She's a tremendous giver."

Summitt's SEC peers rooting for iconic coach

2011-10-28T14:42:00.002-04:00

HOOVER, Ala. - Pat Summitt still has a powerhouse team at Tennessee, and she's not going anywhere just yet.

That's good news even to the Lady Vols icon's coaching rivals after Summitt revealed in August that she had been diagnosed with dementia.

"Every day I can't wait to get on the court," the 59-year-old Summitt said Thursday at Southeastern Conference media day. "I'm not ready to retire. I may be old as dirt when I'm still trying to win games."

Winning games probably won't be a problem this season. Summitt's Lady Vols are unanimous favorites to defend their SEC championship.

Summitt would much rather talk basketball than about her illness, but she amiably fielded questions about her fight condition, sitting at a podium next to associate head coach Holly Warlick.

If anything, Warlick said, battling dementia has made Summitt even more focused and conscious of time management.

"She is fine, she is at every practice, she is heavily recruiting," Warlick said. "She is still our head coach, and she is doing a heck of a job."

Summitt's SEC coaching peers have rallied around her.

She's still just "Coach" to Nikki Caldwell, a former Lady Vols player and assistant who is now heading LSU's program.

"I see her as coach. I don't see her any different than that," said Caldwell, part of one Tennessee national championship as a player and two as an assistant. "I see her as somebody who is still hungry as a teacher for the game, someone who still loves the game, someone who is still passionate about preparing her team for greatness.

"You're going to literally have to put coach in a wheelchair and get her out of there. ... Only she'll know when it's time."

And that time doesn't seem to be anytime soon.

Summitt is every bit the coach when she talks about her "gameplan" for dealing with dementia.

"It doesn't really feel any different," Summitt said. "You get your gameplan and you go at it every day. You mix up things that you want to do day in and day out and go to practice, doing regular stuff.

"I don't think it's something that's slowing me down," she said. "I think if anything, it's revving me up."

She works brain teasing puzzles on her iPad for an hour or two in the mornings to keep her mind sharp, and Warlick said she even did a couple on the plane ride to Hoover. The daily business of coaching helps, too.

"It's not just doing puzzles, it's yelling at those players when they're not doing things the right way," Summitt said. "It keeps me involved."

Summitt smiled when asked if the experience of facing the microphones and TV cameras is as stressful as coaching, which she's done with the Lady Vols since 1974.

"I expected everybody to ask me about it," she said. "It is what it is. We will move on."

Her coaching peers and proteges would expect nothing less.

Georgia's Andy Landers said he went through shock and sadness when he learned of Summitt's diagnosis, then started the adjustment period. Talking to her, he said, "you realize that she's comfortable."

"She understands what the challenges are," Landers said. "She has excellent guidance and advice on how to meet the challenges. She's determined to do that, so all of the sudden you find yourself being a supporter, a fan if you will, in this fight, in this competition that she has going on with herself.

"But it's something that, it falls under the category of things you thought would never happen to you. I feel really good now about where she is and what's she's done."

Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell got his start in college ball as a graduate assistant for Summitt's 2000 Final Four team. He calls that "the opportunity of a lifetime."

"The thing that people probably don't realize because you only see her maybe through the lens of a camera on the sideline when she's in the heat of competition, is she is such a generous person," Mitchell said. "She could've put me in a corner and said don't open your mouth for a year, and I would've been happy doing that, but she didn't do that. She really gave me responsibility and always made me feel included. That's what she's done for anyone that's ever worked for her."

In some ways, it's business as usual for the Lady Vols. They're the unanimous picks to repeat as SEC champions and is still one of the sport's statesmen.

"You think about what's she's done for the game of women's basketball," Mitchell said. "She's carried the banner by herself, singlehandedly for so long, we just all owe her a lot."

One group that shouldn't expect Summitt to ease up: Game officials.

"Don't worry about it," Summitt deadpanned. "I know those referees."

Summitt focuses on hoops while managing dementia

2011-10-26T16:46:00.000-04:00

Pat Summitt has handled the talk about her dementia diagnosis the same way she manages Tennessee basketball and her life: with control and determination.

The Hall of Fame coach dictated how news of her condition was revealed in August and has made it clear since that she wants the focus to be on basketball, not her.

She's stuck to that plan, speaking reluctantly at practices about her illness while steering conversations to Tennessee's chances at a ninth national championship this season.

On Thursday, she'll be faced with more questions about dementia and Alzheimer's, as she makes her first major public appearance in Birmingham, Ala., for the annual Southeastern Conference media day.

Her message about dementia is clear. She wants others to know they can manage their life with the condition.

Country star Campbell to perform in Maryville, TN as part of farewell tour

2011-10-08T15:22:00.000-04:00

Country music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell will perform 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15, at the Clayton Center for the Arts as part of the “Glen Campbell Tennessee Homecoming” tour and in honor of UT Lady Vols Basketball Coach Pat Summitt.

The concert will benefit Alzheimer’s Tennessee Inc., a local nonprofit that was chosen by the UT Athletic Department and Pat Summitt as one of the beneficiaries of the “We Back PAT” campaign featuring T-shirts and billboards.

Campbell is now on the road for the last time. “I still love making music,” the 75-year-old Campbell said. “And I still love performing for my fans. I’d like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin.”

Four of Campbell’s children are expected to play backup during his “Tennessee Homecoming concert.”

Campbell and his wife Kim of 29 years have shared about how he finds fulfillment through performing during what he is calling his “Goodbye Tour.”

Campbell also released his final studio album, “Ghost On The Canvas,” at the end of August.

Proceeds from the concert will benefit families and research supported by Alzheimer’s Tennessee Inc.

“I’m really not worried about anything,” Campbell said during a recent interview with The Associated Press. “You know those people who say, ‘Oh, geez, I wonder what’s going to happen tomorrow?’ Tomorrow’s cool. Just don’t mess it up. It’s just wonderful. I think where I am at right now in this universe, I wouldn’t want to be anything else than what I am.”

In the past month, Campbell has performed on “The Tonight Show” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and appeared on the “Tavis Smiley Show.”

On Thursday he played at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and is set to perform Sunday at the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, Calif.

On Tuesday he tapes “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” in Los Angeles and, on Nov. 9, he’ll be honored during a five- to six-minute segment on the 45th annual CMA Awards show.

Pat Summitt happy to be back

2011-10-05T20:39:00.002-04:00

Pat Summitt is glad to be back at practice with her Tennessee squad after revealing during the offseason that she's been diagnosed with dementia.

"That's what I want to talk about, basketball, not dementia," a fully-engaged Summitt said Wednesday after the Lady Volunteers' first practice of the 2011-12 season.

Summitt revealed to her team and the rest of the world in late August that she had been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type, over the summer. The 59-year-old Hall of Fame coach said she wanted to go ahead and deal with the news then so she could focus on basketball when the season arrived.

The timing seemed to have a positive effect for the Lady Vols, who have failed to reach the Final Four for three straight seasons after winning back-to-back national championships in 2007 and 2008.

"I think it motivated this team. Once they heard about it, they were like, 'We're cutting down some nets,'" said Summitt, who was her usual intense self on the sidelines. "When I gave them the diagnosis, I think it really motivated them. I wanted to sit down with my team and tell them what was going on. They've been great.

"I think they really are motivated for a championship."

Sophomore guard Meighan Simmons said she cried when Summitt shared the news but feels she's becoming even closer to her coach now.

"I feel like I will be able to hug her more and tell her I appreciate her because I really feel like she really needs that," Simmons said. "With Pat, she's one of the best coaches in the country, and I think to be playing for her I really feel like it touches me because I'm playing for her and she's taking care of me as far as making me become a better person, a better athlete. I feel like now it's our turn to return a favor to her."

Summitt sought a diagnosis after struggling both mentally and physically during the 2010-11 season, which ended with a 34-3 record for the Lady Vols and a loss in the regional finals.

"Back in August after she told us she was going to make that announcement, she came to us and said, 'OK, now that we've got that out of the way, now everyone knows and now we're back to business,'" freshman point guard Ariel Massengale said.

There's been an outpouring from former players, fans and casual observers ever since she revealed she was struggling with dementia. This week alone, Summitt has been named the recipient of the Maggie Dixon Courage award and the Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage award. Former Lady Vol standout Kara Lawson announced she was working to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association in Summitt's honor.

Summitt struggled for several months with the news that she was facing dementia before her son, Tyler, encouraged her to share her diagnosis with the world. Tyler Summitt helps her keep her days organized by making to-do lists for her.

On the list for Wednesday in addition to practice was a book club meeting with the Lady Vols. At their coach's encouragement, they're reading "Good to Great" by Jim Collins, a book about what makes some companies more successful than others.

"We have two players that present anytime that we go in," she said. "It's really been good because they have to explain it. It doesn't come from the coaches, it comes from the players. I think they're learning a lot. It's a good focus for them."

Tamika Catchings is named WNBA's MVP

2011-09-22T16:35:00.000-04:00

Finally, Tamika Catchings has a Most Valuable Player award. Tonight, she resumes pursuit of a more compelling quest: winning a WNBA championship with the Indiana Fever.

“I don’t want us to get sidetracked on me winning MVP,” said Catchings, whose award was announced today by the league. "I don’t want me to get sidetracked.

“If anything, it needs to give us more fire.”

The top-seeded Fever will open the best-of-three Eastern Conference finals against the No. 3-seeded Atlanta Dream at 7 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

The East champion will play the Minnesota Lynx or Phoenix Mercury in the WNBA Finals, which open Oct. 2.

After a decade of coming close, the 32-year-old Catchings was a decisive winner in voting by a media panel. She received 21 first-place votes, followed by centers Tina Charles of Connecticut and Sylvia Fowles of Chicago with six each.

In total points, Catchings had 292, Charles 209 and Fowles 148.

Catchings finished second in voting in 2003, 2009 and 2010, and was third in two other years.

She was rewarded for all-around impact. She finished 10th in the league in scoring (15.5), ninth in rebounds (7.1), 13th in assists (3.5) and fourth in steals (2.03). She has also been honored as Defensive Player of the Year four times.

No MVP had ever finished lower than fourth in scoring or averaged fewer than 17 points.

Catchings acknowledged that she pushed aside thoughts of becoming MVP because she reasoned that she didn’t score enough. She was not going to amend her approach so she could influence the voting.

“That is probably the biggest thing about it, being able to change that trend and being able to change how people look at the MVP,” Catchings said. “Not necessarily looking at the player that scores the most points being the MVP, but the player who makes the biggest overall impact for the team.

“So hopefully, it does start a trend,” she said. “And not just in professional basketball and this arena, but in all arenas.”

Kelly Krauskopf, chief operating officer of the Fever, said she was moved to tears when she learned Catchings had won. It was the decision of Krauskopf and then-coach Nell Fortner to select Catchings with the No. 3 pick of the 2001 WNBA draft.

Catchings has subsequently become the only player in WNBA history with 5,000 points, 2,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists.

Krauskopf said she never gave up hope that media would someday vote for Catchings as MVP. The Fever executive said she reacted emotionally because of how valuable Catchings has been locally with community service and her foundation.

“I know the kind of person she is and what kind of heart she has, and how much she means to this community and this city,” Krauskopf said. “And she does a lot of it on her own, the way she follows up with e-mails to kids she might meet. Just things like that resonate throughout the community.”

“She epitomizes all the things that we talk about with role models that are great professional athletes.”

Krauskopf said it was also a big moment for Pacers Sports & Entertainment. Catchings is the first Indiana MVP in the NBA or WNBA.

The Pacers collected three MVP awards in the former ABA: Mel Daniels in 1969 and 1971, and George McGinnis in 1975. McGinnis shared the award with Julius Erving of the New York Nets.

Catchings said the first person she called to deliver the news was her sister, Tauja. She also told her parents, Harvey and Wanda, and brother, Kenyon.

Catchings conceded others wanted her to be MVP more than she did herself.

“When it comes out, my phone is going to go off the chain, I know that,” she said. “People are going to be so happy.”

Class Act

2011-09-21T17:51:00.001-04:00

From the South Carolina Web site: When The Gamecocks women’s basketball team visits Knoxville, TN on Feb. 2, USC coach Dawn Staley plans to bring something to Tennessee coach Pat Summitt — a check.

Staley’s staff and players have formed a team to participate in the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s on Oct. 15 at Finlay Park. They hope to raise $20,000 in honor of Summitt, who announced last month she is suffering from the onset of the terminal disease that robs sufferers of memory and body function.

“It’s a disease that will touch all of us at some point,” Staley said.

Brewer No Longer on Team

2011-09-15T17:59:00.002-04:00

Pat Summitt, University of Tennessee head women's basketball coach, announced this afternoon that Alyssia Brewer was no longer with the Lady Vol basketball team.

"We met with Lyssi yesterday and came to an agreement that she would no longer be a member of the team," said Summitt. "She will finish this semester at UT and we will help her if she'd like to transfer to another school."

Brewer, a 6'3" senior from Sapulpa, Okla., averaged 2.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg and 10.0 minutes per outing in 20 games as a junior. She earned seven starting assignments after coming back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered before the start of the 2010-11 season.

During her career, she scored 599 points (6.9 ppg) and grabbed 396 rebounds (4.6 rpg) while appearing in 87 games and starting 20 contests.

2012 SEC Women's Hoops Tournament Information Announced

2011-09-13T17:17:00.002-04:00

The SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament makes a return trip to Nashville, Tenn. and the Bridgestone Arena in 2012. This is the fifth time the tournament has been held in Nashville. Previous tournaments held there are 2002, 2004, 2008, and 2011.

The winner of the 11-game tournament will receive the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The tournament seeds and conference champion will be determined by the 16-game regular-season SEC schedule. The top four seeds earn a first-round bye.

The 2012 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament will once again enjoy live television coverage. FSN continues its dedication to SEC events by televising all first round and all second round games. The semifinals will be aired on ESPNU for the second consecutive year, while the championship game will again be televised on ESPN2.

Public tickets for this year’s event will go on sale October 4 and can be purchased through the SEC website or by calling 1-800-732-4849.

Prices are: reserved tournament book, $90; reserved single-session (six sessions total), $17; and general admission single-session, $12 (can only be purchased day of event at arena box office).

Below is the schedule with game times for the 2012 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament:

FIRST ROUND

Thursday, March 1

Noon Game 1 - Seed #8 vs. Seed #9 FSN

2:30 p.m. Game 2 - Seed #7 vs. Seed #10 FSN

6:30 p.m. Game 3 - Seed #5 vs. Seed #12 FSN

9:00 p.m. Game 4 - Seed #6 vs. Seed #11 FSN

SECOND ROUND

Friday, March 2

Noon Game 5 - Seed #1 vs. Game 1 winner FSN

2:30 p.m. Game 6 - Seed #2 vs. Game 2 winner FSN

6:30 p.m. Game 7 - Seed #4 vs. Game 3 winner FSN

9:00 p.m. Game 8 - Seed #3 vs. Game 4 winner FSN

SEMIFINALS

Saturday, March 3

3:00 p.m. Game 9 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 7 winner ESPNU

5:00 p.m. Game 10 - Game 6 winner vs. Game 8 winner ESPNU

FINALS

Sunday, March 4

5:00 p.m. Game 11 - Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner ESPN2

All times CENTRAL and subject to change. FSN - SportSouth; FS Southwest; Sun Sport

"We Back Pat" T-shirt

2011-09-01T23:59:00.000-04:00

The University of Tennessee Athletic Department is proud to announce the official "WE BACK PAT" t-shirt. All proceeds from the sale of these shirts will benefit Alzheimer's Tennessee as well as UT Medical Center.

At Coach Summitt's request, the funds generated from the sale of these shirts (as well as other official items) will be applied to research and programs related to Alzheimer's disease here in the state of Tennessee.

The UT Bookstore, the Official Team Shop of Tennessee Athletics, will have the shirts available starting Saturday, September 3. Shirts may also be purchased online at shop.utsports.com beginning Friday, Sept. 2.

Future official events and news related to the "WE BACK PAT" campaign will be made by the Tennessee Athletic Department.

Link to purchase the "We Back Pat" T-shirt.

"We Back Pat" campaign launches

2011-09-01T18:00:00.000-04:00

ennessee fans are united behind Lady Vols Coach Pat Summitt in her fight against early onset Alzheimer's, and now you can sport a new t-shirt to show your support.

The UT Athletics Department has launched a new campaign called "We Back Pat." It will benefit Alzheimer's Tennessee and UT Medical Center.

Lady Vols coach reveals she has early onset Alzheimer's

The shirts are $10 and proceeds from the "We Back Pat" T-shirt and other items that are being developed will go directly to fund cutting-edge Alzheimer's research as well as fund Alzheimer's programs right here in Tennessee.

You can get your shirt right now at the UT Book and Supply store, and starting Monday, you can order them online at the WBIR General Store. Soon, they will be available at other retailers around town.

Also, keep your eye out for other official events for "We Back Pat" throughout the year.

Nice Tributes

2011-08-28T18:26:00.000-04:00

Jane Albright: Summitt is simply the best

Jack McElroy: Pat is a true pillar of the Knoxville community

Coach Pat Summitt Says Thanks for the Orange!

2011-08-26T18:07:00.000-04:00

A quick video thank you from Coach Pat.

http://www.utladyvols.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/082611aab.html

People don orange to show support for Pat Summitt

2011-08-26T18:02:00.000-04:00

Meg Smath is a Vanderbilt Commodores fan who works for the University of Kentucky. She's still wearing some orange to show she's rooting for Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.

"Pat Summitt is probably the one person on the planet I want to beat the most, but for this, I am behind her all the way," Smath said. "I may hate losing to her, but I respect her so much. She has done so much for women's basketball in general and the University of Tennessee in particular."

Thanks to an informal "We've Got Your Back, Pat" campaign publicized on Facebook and Twitter, people around the country — and not necessarily Lady Vols fans — were wearing orange Friday to show support for Summitt, who announced this week that she's been diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. The Facebook group had more than 19,000 fans by Friday afternoon.

"It is also just so poignant that this woman who is so strong and capable will ultimately lose everything that makes her who she is," said Smath, 54. "My husband's father died of Alzheimer's, and my grandmother had it, too, but she didn't start to show symptoms until she was in her 90s. It is so unfair that Pat has it at such a young age, still in her prime."

Smath, a geological editor at the Kentucky Geological Survey, was sure to inform her co-worker Steve Martin about the push to wear orange. Martin, a geologist who has degrees from UT-Knoxville and UT-Chattanooga, said he's been a Summitt and Lady Vols fan since the 1980s.

Martin, who wore an orange and white seersucker shirt on Friday, said he was crushed by the news of Summitt's diagnosis.

"You just feel your heart breaking," said Martin, 48. "It's just the way she represents the university and Tennesseans in general with her honesty and how she tries to do the right thing. Like everyone else, it just broke my heart."

It's not unusual to see plenty of orange on any given day on Tennessee's campus, but Kyle Hensley, a 21-year-old agricultural business major from Lenoir City, Tenn., said there seemed to be a bit more on Friday.

"When you walk around, there's a lot of orange," said Hensley, who made sure his usual choice of a button-down shirt was orange. "You don't know if it's out of habit, but I noticed walking around today that there was quite a bit."

Tyler Summitt, the coach's 20-year-old son and a Tennessee student, definitely noticed a difference when he got to campus.

"I got out of my car and I was right by Neyland Stadium and I looked around and I was like, `Is there a football game today?'" he said. "I had forgotten it was wear orange for mom. Things have been so chaotic this week."

Tyler Summitt said his mother, who hasn't said anything publically since a statement about her diagnosis, was trying to figure out how to thank everyone for their support.

"My mom didn't know how things were going to be received. She wasn't so much worried as she was anxious to see the reaction of everybody — the public, the fans, the players, the boosters," he said. "Having seen the response, she is so overwhelmed with joy."

Summitt said in a video-taped statement on Friday afternoon that she has been touched by the support she's received.

"It's been very touching for me to hear from people all over the country. It's just amazing," she said. "I couldn't do this without so many of you. I know you're praying for me, and it makes me have the motivation to do whatever I need to do to beat this, and I thank you and I love all of you."

The support isn't just limited to wearing orange. People have sent letters to Summitt and changed their Facebook profile photos to that of an orange ribbon. Larry Weinberg, a Tennessee-Martin and UT-Memphis alumnus, said he and some fellow fans signed a Lady Vols flag that was to be delivered to Summitt on Friday.

Weinberg, a pharmacist for Kroger in Memphis, also paid a $5 "fine" — a donation to charity — for permission to wear his Tennessee polo shirt to work. It wasn't necessary as his boss was in full support.

"She gave permission for anyone in the store to wear orange," said Weinberg, 65. "She said she was going to have some orange ribbons cut up and available. She's not a UT fan, but she's a Pat Summitt fan."

Jennifer Langston, a communications consultant from Morrisville, N.C., said the orange shirt, Lady Vols pin, orange sandals she was wearing and orange purse she was carrying was a typical outfit for her. Even her Jeep is orange.

"I found out about the diagnosis over Twitter while sitting in the Philadelphia airport on my way back from a business trip. I was instantly brought to tears," said Langston, 39. "When I got back to Raleigh and started reading the coverage, people's reactions, it was clear to me that I wasn't alone. I still can't explain it, exactly, the sense of community and closeness that's she's built with the fan base.

"So I am wearing orange today to try to connect with that community, even though no one in Raleigh will know it," she said.

Tamika Catchings Receives WNBA Cares Community Assist Award for July

2011-08-25T13:47:00.000-04:00

The WNBA today honored Indiana Fever forward Tamika Catchings' commitment to the community with its WNBA Cares Community Assist Award for July. The Fever captain plays a leadership role off-the-court in the team's community outreach programs as the spokesperson for Get Fever Fit, the team's WNBA FIT initiative, and supports youth development, education, and health and wellness year-round through her Catch the Stars Foundation. This marks Catchings' seventh Community Assist Award, having previously received awards in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006. Catchings was also named the 2007 Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award recipient.

Article on Pat Summitt by Jeff Jacobs

2011-08-24T22:40:00.000-04:00

Summitt's Influence On Former Players Goes Far Beyond Basketball Court

Tyler Summitt opens up about how his mother is dealing with disease

2011-08-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

Tyler Summitt is opening up about how his mom is dealing with early onset Alzheimer's disease.

Tyler said his mom has high spirits and is ready to face the challenge head-on.

"First of all anybody that ever comes to her and says I'm sorry, she says no need to be sorry, we're getting through this. And she's the one encouraging them. it's a little backwards you know, but she won't have any pity party for her. She's ready to move forward with this," said Tyler.

As Pat Summitt works to move forward, Tyler said he is doing the same and keeps the lessons his mom taught him close to heart. "Her players get four years with her. I've had a lifetime with her. I thought I learned it all because I want to be a college coach someday, and I realize the life lessons never do stop for her. She just taught me how to be open and honest and to have the courage to face the truth," said Tyler.

Tyler said his mom's diagnosis has made her more determined than ever. He said she is doing daily exercises to keep her mind strong and plans to keep coaching the Lady Vols as long as she can.

Pat Summitt's legacy a long way from finished

2011-08-24T11:56:00.000-04:00

When she sat on the bench angrily stamping her feet, or locked in on one of those orange Tennessee jerseys like she was trying to melt the player inside, Pat Summitt looked like one of the toughest coaches you ever laid eyes on. The world seemed to be running on her schedule instead of the other way around.

We learned otherwise Tuesday, when the 59-year-old Hall of Fame coach surprised almost everyone by saying she has been diagnosed with early onset dementia — the Alzheimer's type.

What didn't surprise is that Summitt released the news on her terms. She was diagnosed after a series of tests at the Mayo Clinic three months ago, leaving the rest of us to wonder how long she anguished over the decision that she delivered to her team in person, but sounded so matter of fact in a statement released by the university.

"I plan to continue to be your coach," Summitt said. "Obviously, I realize I may have some limitations with this condition since there will be some good days and some bad days."

In 1994, some five years after leaving the White House, the late Ronald Reagan disclosed that he was battling the same disease, a neurological disorder that destroys brain cells and for which there is still no cure.

As it progressed, public appearances became increasingly rare. By continuing to work — "Throughout my career, I have always made it a point that my life and my basketball were an open book," Summitt began her statement — she signaled just the opposite.

"It takes great, great courage to fight health issues; it takes even greater courage to fight them in front of the world," Oklahoma women's coach Sherri Coale said. "Pat's willingness to share this private battle speaks volumes about her strength and her character."

Summitt's legacy, after all, hardly needs burnishing. Entering her 38th season at Tennessee, she has won eight national championships and more games than any coach in the college game, men's or women's.

Summitt started coaching when the women's game was an afterthought, but she demanded that her players prepare and play it with the same seriousness the men did.

Her players lifted weights, ran sprints and scrimmaged against men. They heard about it — but good — if they tried to cut corners. The Lady Vols' domination practically dared a handful of programs such as Connecticut and Stanford to come and get them.

Summitt welcomed that challenge, too. It's one more measure of her success that today, we take that competitiveness for granted; before Summitt insisted on it, that wasn't always so.

"It always seemed she had no vulnerability. She's the solid rock everyone looked up to," said former Texas coach Jody Conradt, another one-time rival. "I'm very happy she's not going to walk off the court at this point. When you have made it your life, there needs to be transition."

How long that will be remains anyone's guess. Summitt has three assistants to lean on with nearly nine decades of combined experience.

Medical experts say that depending on the progression of the disease, she could work for a few more seasons. Several added that simply by continuing to show up, Summitt would demonstrate what is possible, changing attitudes about an illness that afflicts more than five million of her countrymen — including 200,000 who, like Summitt, are diagnosed before age 65. Not unlike what she did for women's basketball.

"She's our John Wooden. ... I played for the woman. She's as tough as nails. People think I'm tough," said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey, who won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics playing for Summitt. "I'm a pussycat compared to Pat Summitt ... Pat Summitt will fight. Pat Summitt will be on a crusade to help people with dementia. Pat said it best," she added. "It won't be a pity party."

It won't be pretty at times, either. Nearly every sports fan remembers how valiantly former North Carolina coach Jim Valvano battled cancer. A speech he gave late in that fight — punctuated by the line, "Don't give up, don't ever give up!" — became a clarion call for cancer research funding. The Jimmy V Foundation continues that mission today.

Those who know Summitt have no doubt she will find a way to make her mark, beyond the milestones she already set down in the women's game.

"There is no doubt in my mind that Pat will take on this challenge as she has all others during her Hall of Fame career — head on," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said, speaking for many of his colleagues." I wish her all the best."

Dementia diagnosis won’t stop Pat Summitt

2011-08-23T22:24:00.000-04:00

by Dan Wetzel

They’ve called Pat Summitt a groundbreaker, a legend, an inspiration and the “Wizard of Knoxville,” a nod to UCLA’s John Wooden, who may be the only college basketball coach who can compare.

She’s recorded more than 1,000 victories at Tennessee in women’s basketball, eight national titles, two Olympic medals (silver as a U.S. player in 1976 and gold as Team USA women’s head coach in 1984) and enough memories for multiple lifetimes.

Only here comes the saddest news of all, Pat Summitt, at just age 59, has been diagnosed with early onset dementia.

“There’s not going to be any pity party and I’ll make sure of that,” Summitt told the Knoxville News-Sentinel in a statement that is as pure Pat Summitt as you’ll ever find.

After months of what she described as “erratic behavior” she went to the Mayo Clinic in May and has since received the diagnosis. She plans on coaching until she no longer can.

“I feel better just knowing what I’m dealing with,” she told the News-Sentinel. “And as far as I’m concerned it’s not going to keep me from living my life, not going to keep me from coaching.”

Really though, nothing is certain, except this is one cruel disease.

What a life this woman has led, and for her not to be able to sit back for decades to come and enjoy every last memory? What an impact this woman has had on so many other lives, and there’s a chance she won’t get to appreciate it, or recall it?

And how brutal is it that a woman of such accomplishment, wisdom and impact might have her career cut short, robbing any number of players that would’ve enjoyed her guidance.

In 15 years of periodic interviews and interactions with Pat Summitt, I left every single one with the same feeling: The woman is straight class. Like the truly great ones, you didn’t have to spend a great deal of time – or any at all – to feel her impact on the world, to take something positive from her. A combination of intelligence, drive, competitiveness and leadership, all in a homespun Southern voice that took women’s basketball (and women’s sports in general) from forgotten to the forefront.

She was 22 when she first coached the Lady Vols in 1975, the sport little more than an extracurricular pursuit. She was rehabbing a knee injury and hoping to make the ’76 Games in Montreal. Almost no one else wanted the job.

Now it’s big business, huge college crowds, even a professional league.

It simply doesn’t happen without Pat Summitt, who commanded attention and respect because there was no way you could look at her and her teams and provide anything else.

She’s an indomitable presence, who made her point about increased funding and opportunity and understanding through force of will, not whine. Pat Summitt didn’t claim people owed her or her women anything. She just proved they did.

Back in the day, women were to be protected in athletics – there was still 6-on-6 basketball being played out there because some didn’t think girls could handle the exertion of full-court ball.

From Day 1, Summitt coached the game like Henry Iba or Bob Knight would, with no excuses when it came to effort.

She worked like the daughter of a demanding dairy farmer had been taught – “the cows didn’t take a day off,” she said jokingly to me a few years back.

“For me it was the only way I knew how to approach coaching,” she said. “I think we surprised some people. I think they liked our intensity.

“I’m sure there were some good old boys who thought, ‘I’m not going to watch women’s basketball.’ But when they saw it, they saw something they didn’t expect. I’m glad that’s changed.”

To say she impacted women’s sports across the board is understating it. You didn’t have to play basketball, let alone for her at UT, to be inspired.

Everything changed with Pat Summitt, the perfect personality at the perfect time, the one that helped make Title IX less of an obligation and more of an opportunity for these colleges that would’ve rather spent a scholarship on an extra tackling dummy.

The diagnosis is difficult, who knows what’s ahead. Hopefully she can continue to coach. Hopefully she can continue to lead. Hopefully she has years and years in front of her of clear memories about the power of her life.

The rest of the country certainly isn’t going to forget.

A Statement from Pat Summitt

2011-08-23T14:54:00.002-04:00

Dear All -

Throughout my career, I have always made it a point that my life and my basketball program were an open book.

With that in mind, I have something I'd like to share with my Tennessee families -- the university, boosters and fans of Lady Vol basketball.

Once last season concluded, I addressed some ongoing concerns regarding my health. After consulting with my local physicians, I decided to visit the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Earlier this summer, the doctors at the Mayo Clinic diagnosed me with early onset dementia ("Alzheimer's Type") at the age of 59.

I plan to continue to be your coach. Obviously, I realize I may have some limitations with this condition since there will be some good days and some bad days.

For that reason, I will be relying on my outstanding coaching staff like never before. We have always collaborated on every facet of Lady Vol basketball; and now you will see Holly Warlick, Dean Lockwood and Mickie DeMoss taking on more responsibility as their duties will change significantly.

I love being your coach and the privilege to go to work every day with our outstanding Lady Vol basketball student-athletes. I appreciate the complete support of UT Chancellor Dr. Jimmy Cheek and UT Athletics Director Joan Cronan to continue coaching at the University of Tennessee as long as the good Lord is willing.

I've been honest and shared my health concerns with you, and now we'll move forward to the business at hand... coaching a great group of Lady Vols. For the time being, I hope you will respect my privacy regarding this matter.

Thank you.

Go Lady Vols!
Pat Summitt

Article on Pat Summitt's illness by Sally Jenkins

2011-08-23T14:21:00.001-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/pat-summitt-tennessee-womens-basketball-coach-diagnosed-with-alzheimers-disease/2011/08/23/gIQADEuDZJ_story.html

This is a must-read.

Pat Summitt diagnosed with early onset dementia, will try to coach this season

2011-08-23T14:14:00.000-04:00

"There's not going to be any pity party and I'’ll make sure of that." --Pat Summitt

"I feel better just knowing what I’m dealing with. And as far as I’m concerned it’s not going to keep me from living my life, not going to keep me from coaching." --Pat Summitt

For such a strong figure, Pat Summitt was feeling almost helpless.

Months of erratic behavior had left Tennessee women’s basketball coach bewildered, scared and asking herself “What’s wrong with me?”

Summitt went to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., in May. She underwent a series of tests and received a stunning answer. The diagnosis was early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

Her initial reaction to learning she had a progressive condition that could impair her mental acuity was one of anger and denial. Since then, she’s moved forward in more Summitt-like fashion, formulating a plan involving medication and mental activities, such as reading and doing puzzles at night before going to sleep. She’s also taken a hopeful stance about her future.

The 59-year-old Summitt, who has 1,071 career victories and has led UT to eight national championships, is determined to continue coaching and is planning for her 38th season at UT. She has the support of the University administration.

She’s also feeling confident enough to go public with her condition. She spoke Monday night with the News Sentinel and the Washington Post and did a video for the Lady Vols’ website. She was to tell the players in a team meeting Tuesday afternoon, waiting until Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen returned from the World University Games in China.

She sounded like herself in saying: “There’s not going to be any pity party and I’ll make sure of that.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, Alzheimer’s is caused by the destruction of brain cells. It usually progresses slowly, causing a gradual decline in cognitive abilities. Summitt said that her grandmother — “Granny Head” — had severe dementia.

No matter how grim the prognosis, Summitt seems relieved to have a definitive answer. Small wonder, considering how low she felt at times last season. She confessed to not being as confident on the court and second guessing some of her decisions.

“There were some mornings I would wake up and think I don’t even want to go in,” she said. “That didn’t last long but it was like ‘What’s wrong with me? What’s going on with me?’ ”

Summitt also has rheumatoid arthritis and there was some question as to whether her medication for that condition was the root cause of her problems. The series of tests she underwent at the Mayo Clinic, particularly a spinal tap, served to flush an unknown opponent out into the open.

“She’s always better when she knows what she’s fighting against,’’ said Summitt’s son, Tyler. “She had recommendations, what to do and what routine to get into and she’s going to prepare just like a game for her health.”

Tyler, who’s a junior at UT and a walk-on on the men’s basketball team, accompanied his mother to Minnesota and has watched her sort through her responses. Despite being the offseason, Summitt’s calendar still was crowded with SEC meetings, summer camps and July recruiting. Tyler said that the sadness and anger lingered for at least a month.

“Nobody accepts this,’’ Tyler said. “And there was anger. “Why me?” was a question she asked more than once. But then, once she came to terms with it, she treated it like every other challenge she ever had, and is going to do everything she possibly can to keep her mind right and stay the coach.”

Summitt said that she didn’t consider retirement. She has been buoyed by the encouragement received from Dr. Ronald Petersen, the director of the Mayo Clinic’s Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center.

“He’s the one who told me you can coach as long as you want to coach and no one else had said anything like that to me,’’ Summitt said, “I haven’t talked to him (lately) and I even thought about calling him sometime soon and telling him where I am with this. He was so positive (saying) ‘You can work through this.’ ”

No amount of optimism, though, can diminish the uncertainty related to Summitt’s intentions. Tennessee interim athletic director Joan Cronan has considered the circumstances, acknowledging that the program could take a hit in recruiting but noting that Summitt’s coaching staff of Mickie DeMoss, Holly Warlick and Dean Lockwood has 89 years worth of coaching experience with which to assist their boss.

In the end, she came back to her nearly three decades worth of experience with Summitt.

“I’m comfortable because I know her as a person and I know her as a coach,’’ Cronan said. “And I feel like if it wasn’t the right thing for her or us she wouldn’t be going forward.”

As if for emphasis, Cronan added: “We’re in uncharted waters, but we certainly have a great captain.”

Summitt has progressed from feeling helpless to being resolved.

“I feel better just knowing what I’m dealing with,’’ she said. “And as far as I’m concerned it’s not going to keep me from living my life, not going to keep me from coaching.”

Lady Vols Release 2011-12 Schedule

2011-08-23T12:09:00.000-04:00

The University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers released the basketball schedule for the 2010-11 season today.

In addition to the Southeastern Conference slate of 16 games, the Lady Vols will also face a number of formidable non-conference teams including first time foes Pepperdine and the University of Miami (Fla.). Also on the dance card are contests with Virginia, Baylor, Middle Tennessee, Texas, DePaul, Rutgers, UCLA, Stanford, Old Dominion, Chattanooga and Notre Dame.

Twenty of UT's 24 opponents in the coming season participated in 2011 post season play appearing in the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments. In all, UT will be facing competition from nine different conferences in the coming year including the ACC, Big 12, BIG EAST, Colonial, Pac 12, Southeastern, Southern, Sunbelt and West Coast conferences.

"This is an exciting schedule for the coming year," said Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt, who is beginning her 38th season at Tennessee and is the NCAA's all-time winningest coach starting the campaign with a 1,071-199 overall record. "We'll see a couple of new opponents in Pepperdine and Miami and travel to play 2011 Final Four teams Notre Dame and Stanford on their home courts.

"The non-conference schedule is really challenging and should help us to prepare for anything we may see come post-season play."

The season gets underway with a pair of exhibition tune-ups in Knoxville as Carson-Newman comes to town on Nov. 1 and former NAIA National Champion Union University (Jackson, Tenn.) heads to Rocky Top for a game on Nov. 8.

Following the dress rehearsal contests, the Lady Vols officially open the season at home taking on first-ever opponent Pepperdine on Nov. 13 and follows that game with another new opponent at Thompson-Boling Arena taking on the University of Miami (Fla.) in the STATE FARM TIPOFF on Nov. 15. The game with the Hurricanes will mark the 187th opponent in Lady Vol basketball history.

The remainder of the November schedule features an away game at Virginia (Nov. 20) and contests at home against Baylor (Nov. 27) and Middle Tennessee (Nov. 29).

"I think our great fans will be treated to a tremendous home schedule this season and I'm thrilled that we have the opportunity for 17 home dates (including the exhibition games) in our arena," said Summitt.

Tennessee begins and ends the month of December at home taking on Texas (Dec. 4) and Old Dominion (Dec. 28). In between, the Lady Vols will face DePaul at the Maggie Dixon Classic at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 11 and then travels to Rutgers for a Dec. 13 meeting. Prior to the Christmas holidays, UT will head out west to face a pair of Pac-12 foes in UCLA (Dec. 17) and 2011 Final Four participant Stanford (Dec. 20).

In January, the Lady Vols open the 2012 side of the slate with a New Year's Day showdown with SEC rival Auburn on The Plains on Jan. 1. The Lady Vols will briefly step out of the conference to face UT-Chattanooga in Knoxville on Jan. 3 before resuming a steady diet of SEC play as Georgia rolls into town for a key match-up on Jan. 5. Other January home dates include Vanderbilt (Jan. 15) and LSU (Jan. 19) while road SEC dates have the Lady Vols traveling to Arkansas (Jan. 8), Kentucky (Jan. 12), Alabama (Jan. 26) and Georgia (Jan. 29). UT concludes the 2012 portion of the non-conference schedule with a national marquee game at 2011 Final Four runner-up Notre Dame on Jan. 23.

Tennessee starts the month of February enjoying home games against South Carolina (Feb. 2), Auburn (Feb. 5) and the "Play for Kay" breast cancer awareness game versus Kentucky (Feb. 13). UT travels to Vanderbilt (Feb. 9), Mississippi State (Feb. 16) and Ole Miss (Feb. 19) before wrapping up regular season play for 2011-12 at home with contests versus Arkansas (Feb. 23) and Senior Day against Florida on Feb. 26.

In the 16-game SEC schedule, the Lady Vols play home-and-home games with Auburn, Arkansas, Georgia and Kentucky this season, to go along with its annual home-and-home traditional rival contests versus Vanderbilt.

"The SEC is always a tough league," Summitt said. "Every team has improved from last season and wins will be even tougher to get...especially on the road."

In the postseason, the 2012 SEC Tournament stays in the Music City in Nashville, Tenn., Mar. 1-4. Tennessee will find out its March Madness fate when the NCAA Tournament bracket is announced on Mar. 12. NCAA First/Second Round games will be played at 16 sites from Mar. 17-20. The NCAA Regional Championships will be contested, Mar. 24-27 and the season will culminate with the 2012 NCAA Final Four in Denver, Colo., April 1 and 3.

2011-2012 SCHEDULE

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

11/01/11 vs. Carson-Newman College Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
11/08/11 vs. Union (Tenn.) Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
11/13/11 vs. Pepperdine Knoxville, Tenn. 2:00 p.m. ET
11/15/11 vs. Miami (State Farm Tipoff) Knoxville, Tenn. 6:00 p.m. ET
11/20/11 at Virginia Charlottesville, Va. 2:00 p.m. ET
11/27/11 vs. Baylor Knoxville, Tenn. 2:30 p.m. ET
11/29/11 vs. Middle Tennessee State Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
12/04/11 vs. Texas Knoxville, Tenn. 3:00 p.m. ET
12/11/11 vs. at Maggie Dixon Classic vs. DePaul New York, N.Y. (Madison Square Garden) 1:30 p.m. ET
12/13/11 at Rutgers Piscataway, N.J. 7:30 p.m. ET
12/17/11 at UCLA Los Angeles, Calif. (Wooden Center) 2:00 p.m. PT
12/20/11 at Stanford Palo Alto, Calif. 7:00 p.m. PT
12/28/11 vs. Old Dominion Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/01/12 at Auburn * Auburn, Ala. 2:00 p.m. CT
01/03/12 vs. Chattanooga Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/05/12 vs. Georgia * Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/08/12 at Arkansas * Fayetteville, Ark. 2:00 p.m. CT
01/12/12 at Kentucky * Lexington, Ky. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/15/12 vs. Vanderbilt * Knoxville, Tenn. 3:00 p.m. ET
01/19/12 vs. LSU Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/23/12 at Notre Dame South Bend, Ind. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/26/12 at Alabama * Tuscaloosa, Ala. 7:00 p.m. CT
01/29/12 at Georgia * Athens, Ga. 5:00 p.m. ET
02/02/12 vs. South Carolina * Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
02/05/12 vs. Auburn * Knoxville, Tenn. 3:00 p.m. CT
02/09/12 at Vanderbilt * Nashville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. CT
02/13/12 vs. Kentucky (Play for Kay) * Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
02/16/12 at Mississippi State * Starkville, Miss. 7:00 p.m. CT
02/19/12 at Ole Miss * Oxford, Miss. 2:00 p.m. CT
02/23/12 vs. Arkansas * Knoxville, Tenn. 7:00 p.m. ET
02/26/12 vs. Florida * Knoxville, Tenn. 3:00 p.m. ET

Johnson, Stricklen Return with WUG Gold

2011-08-22T12:04:00.000-04:00

World-traveled Lady Vols Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen returned to Knoxville Monday night, bringing home the gold from the 2011 World University Games, held in Shenzhen, China. The United States team topped Taiwan 101-66 in the gold medal game Sunday.

The World University Games win for Johnson and Stricklen adds another pair of USA golds for the Lady Vols. Earlier this summer, freshmen Ariel Massengale and Cierra Burdick earned gold for the US at the FIBA U19 World Championship in Puerto Montt, Chile.

Summitt inducted into 5th Hall of Fame

2011-06-17T18:36:00.000-04:00

Pat Summitt doesn't get overwhelmed too often. So she resorted to what's becoming an old standby as she was inducted into her fifth Hall of Fame on Friday.

The NCAA's winningest Division I basketball coach led the room in a chorus of "Rocky Top."

"I did not anticipate there being this many people, and when we drove up and I saw the people I was like, 'I wonder what they're having in this event,'" Summitt said.

The coach thanked her parents, family and friends, her staff and Joan Cronan, now the Volunteer's interim athletics director, after being inducted into the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame by the state's Economic Council on Women. Summitt also deflected credit to Tennessee fans and leadership.

"There's a lot of successful people in this room, and I have a lot of great friends here. It was touching. I was very humbled," Summitt said. "But I want to keep doing the right things for women all the time."

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb and North Carolina State coach Kellie Jolly Harper were among those helping to celebrate this latest honor.

Summitt, 1,071-199 in 37 seasons, also has been inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.

Cronan lightheartedly pointed out that one of the first questions she hears from people in her travels is whether Summitt stares at her like she does her players and referees.

She turned serious when describing the impact of sports.

"Did you know that 80 percent of the women at the top echelon of Fortune 500 companies participated in athletics? So we are making a difference teaching them more than a game, and Pat has done that so well for so many years," Cronan said.

Haslam called Summitt a role model not only for women but for anyone wanting to excel. Haslam said Summitt could have been a CEO or a lawyer arguing before the Supreme Court.

"If she were running for governor, I wouldn't be standing here," Haslam said. "It's true. It's that commitment to excellence."

At times, the tribute veered into a roast of Summitt with stories and jokes. Tennessee associate coach Holly Warlick noted Summitt was coaching her as she tried to detail how many former players now are coaches.

Balcomb, her SEC coaching rival, said Summitt called the athletic director for her when the Vanderbilt women's basketball job was open.

"I tell Pat stories usually when Pat isn't in the room, so I'm extremely nervous," she said, joking.

Balcomb remembered her first meeting with Summitt after Balcomb's Xavier team beat the Lady Vols in the NCAA tournament. That was the first time she got what she called the "Pat finger" wagging at her.

Those watching thought Summitt chewed her out and Balcomb was asked what she said. Summitt simply told her that Xavier had kicked Tennessee and deserved to win, while Balcomb could only stare up at the taller Summitt.

"Why I stay at Vanderbilt is to play against her because she is the best," Balcomb said.

Summitt said jokingly that Warlick wants her job, and she is a likely successor if she ever retires. Summitt, who turned 59 on Tuesday, said she expects to coach at least three, four or five more years. She's looking forward to the top recruits she has lined up.

"There are some teams out there I don't want to give up," she said.

Pat Summitt to be inducted into TN Women's Hall of Fame

2011-06-03T00:24:00.000-04:00

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt will be inducted into the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame on June 17.

According to a release, officials are inducting Summit into the hall of fame for her "unparalleled contributions to the lives of women and girls throughout the State through her leadership and example."

The ceremony will take place at the Airport Marriot in Nashvillle.

For more information on the event, read the following release:

NASHVILLE, TN - The championship banners hang over the court that bears her name. The record books document her accomplishments in hard numbers and cold facts. Women's basketball, college and professional, will be changed forever by the numbers of players, coaches and administrators she's taught. But Pat Summitt is being inducted into the Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame because she has made unparalleled contributions to the lives of women and girls throughout the State through her leadership and example.

On June 17, 2011 at the Airport Marriott in Nashville, the Tennessee Economic Council on Women will induct Coach Summitt as the third member of its Tennessee Women's Hall of Fame. The award, which celebrates women whose lives reflect exceptional accomplishments and devotion to improving the economic status of women and girls in Tennessee, will be presented to Coach Summitt by Governor Bill Haslam.

"Although we are very proud of her record number of wins, it's her legacy of leadership that we're honoring. Her contribution to women and girls across the State of Tennessee go far beyond the basketball court and are more important than any record book could describe," said Dr. Carol Danehower, Chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. The Hall of Fame's previous inductees are Jane Eskind and Martha Craig "Cissy" Daughtrey.

In addition to Governor Haslam, Coach Summitt will be joined by Vanderbilt Women's Basketball Coach Melanie Balcomb, UT Women's Athletics Director Joan Cronan, UT Associate Head Coach Holly Warlick and Billie Moore who coached a young Pat Head on the 1976 U.S. Women's Basketball silver-medal team.

The event will take place on June 17 at the Airport Marriott from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. and will include a luncheon. Tickets can be purchased at www.womenseconomicfoundation.org. For additional information, please call (615) 444-9663.

Mystics Acquire All-Star Nicky Anosike

2011-04-09T15:59:00.000-04:00

Washington Mystics General Manager and Head Coach Trudi Lacey announced today that the team has acquired All-Star Nicky Anosike from the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx will receive the Mystics' first round pick in the 2012 WNBA draft.

"We are thrilled to sign a player of Nicky's caliber," said Lacey. "She will be an excellent addition to our team and give us the low post presence we have been missing. Nicky's experience both at the collegiate and professional levels as well her skill set brings a dimension to our team that is unprecedented. "

A 6-3 forward/center, Anosike was drafted in the second round (16th overall) of the 2008 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. Last season, she played 31 games and averaged 9.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. The 2009 season was a stellar year for Anosike, as she led the Lynx in scoring (13.2 ppg), rebounding (7.4 rpg), assists (2.7 apg), steals (2.7 spg) and blocked shots (.93 bpg) to become one of only two late round draft picks to be named to the All-Star team since 2001.

A standout player from the University of Tennessee, Anosike won back-to-back National Championships (2007 & 2008) and was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Teams. In addition to earning All-American and All-SEC honors throughout her collegiate career, Anosike was named the 2008 NCAA Woman of the Year for her dedication to her community and her studies.

Tennessee's Pat Summitt gets head start on 2011-12

2011-04-07T21:35:00.001-04:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt is getting a head start on next season.

Summitt and her Lady Volunteers program didn't reach the Final Four for a third straight year, the longest drought in nearly two decades. To make sure her current junior class doesn't become the first in Tennessee history to never make a national semifinals appearance, Summitt has been making a few changes and imposing extra demands on her players.

"I'm still not over it," Summitt said on Wednesday, more than a week after Tennessee's 73-59 loss to Notre Dame in the regional finals in Dayton, Ohio. "I just felt like we didn't come ready to play at the highest level. You've got to bring your 'A' game."

Only those players who do bring their 'A' game will be playing next year, Summitt said, promising to shorten the deep rotation that was the hallmark of Tennessee's 34-3 season and undefeated Southeastern Conference run if necessary.

At the core of Summitt's disappointment was the team's lack of commitment to defense and some players' desire to improve their game. She's already named forwards Glory Johnson and Alicia Manning and guard Taber Spani as team captains for next season, hoping that their emphasis on defense and putting extra hours in the gym will inspire their teammates to do on the same.

"I think the thing that I've realized with this particular team is we have a lot of players that are very skilled offensively, but we just don't have the defensive mentality across the board, and I think the defense and board play is going to be without a question a point of emphasis for us."

Summitt has had them in the gym twice since their season ended on March 28 — once to watch film of their NCAA loss and once to practice their defense — but it's the extra time the players invest trying to rid their game of weaknesses during the offseason that will convince her they need to stay in the playing rotation.

The Lady Vols can also count on contending with a fresh set of faces in the fall. Summitt has signed top forward prospect Cierra Burdick, top point guard prospect Ariel Massengale and the state of Tennessee's top prospect, forward Isabelle Harrison.

But with the decisions of center Kelley Cain and point guard Lauren Avant to leave the program, Summitt has plans of adding even more new players, either by signing incoming freshmen or bringing in junior college players.

"We've been looking, you don't have to worry about that," Summitt said. "We'll just say everything's open right now, but we will have more players."

Massengale is all but guaranteed a starting role if she's healthy upon arrival, which could help Tennessee at a position that's been a sore spot for Summitt. Forward Shekinna Stricklen and shooting guard Meighan Simmons adjusted their play to fill in at the position for the past three seasons.

"I've watched (Massengale) play. I just think she's a real special guard. Cierra Burdick — the two of them played really well together (in the McDonald's high school all-American game). I feel good about that, but I also think we'll have some good guards coming in as well."

In the mean time, it's up to the current Lady Vols to decide how much they're willing to do to make sure next year's season outcome changes.

"I think they understand the sense of urgency for each individual to step up," Summitt said. "We all understand that we can get better in all aspects. That's why I keep going back and saying take ownership of your team, invest in this program, do the things you have to do on a daily basis to get better."

Lauren Avant leaving Lady Vols

2011-04-06T17:59:00.002-04:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has announced that freshman guard Lauren Avant will not return to play for the Lady Vols next season.

The Avant announcement came a day after redshirt junior center Kelley Cain said that she would forgo her final season of eligibility because of her history of injuries. Summitt said that wasn't expecting any more attrition. But Avant, who also dealt with a multitude of injuries, came to her on Tuesday and said that she wanted to transfer to a smaller school.

"I think with the injuries and I think also thinking about being closer to home and not having the pressure of Division I here, you know, at Tennessee,'' said Summitt, listing the reasoning behind Avant's decision. "She said she wants a smaller school."

Avant, who is from Memphis, would be eligible to play next season if she transferred to a Division II or Division III school.

With two scholarships suddenly available, Summitt indicated that Tennessee will be adding at least one player in the spring signing period.

Baylor, Notre Dame lead first look at preseason Top 10 for 2011-12

2011-04-06T13:36:00.000-04:00

The defending champion is Texas A&M, and Maya Moore is soon to be a member of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Indeed, we're entering a new era in women's college basketball. While we reserve the right to change these picks come next November, here's SI.com's way-too-early preseason Top 10 for 2011-12 ...

1. Baylor (34-3)
Starters Returning: Four
Key Players: Brittney Griner, Odyssey Sims and Destiny Williams
The Skinny: Look for point guard Sims -- the freshman of the year -- to make a huge leap as a sophomore. Remember, she was expected to back up Kelli Griffin this year before Griffin shockingly left the Lady Bears before the opening game. The junior-to-be Griner will use the loss to Texas A&M in the Dallas Regional final as motivation to get stronger.
Quotable: "I harp on this, but truthfully, when you look out on that floor, I have one senior and a bunch of sophomores and one freshman who get the majority of the minutes." -- Baylor coach Kim Mulkey on her inexperience this season.

2. Notre Dame (30-8)
Starters Returning: Four
Key Players: Skylar Diggins, Natalie Novosel and Devereaux Peters
The Skinny: The deepest team in the country (they lost only one player) will be led by Diggins and Novosel. Redshirt senior guard Brittany Mallory has one more year of eligibility and will make her decision on whether she's coming back later in the summer. Most expected Notre Dame to make its big run in 2012, and they exceeded expectations by losing in a tight championship game. The Irish are the co-favorites with the Lady Bears.
Quotable: "I think there's definitely a little carry over, but you're just not guaranteed anything. Getting here this year doesn't mean that because we have everybody back but Becca (Bruszewski) that we're going to be back here next year. And that's something we'll have to guard against after the season. We can't get complacent. We know how hard we worked to get here. This was an unbelievable effort by everybody to get here."-- Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw.

3. Tennessee (34-3)
Starters Returning: Four
Key Players: Meighan Simmons, Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson
The Skinny: Pat Summitt has a deep and athletic team returning, but the best news of all is incoming point guard Ariel Massengale, a big-time talent who will likely start as a freshman. That means Simmons moves to the wing, where she'll be even more deadly. Tennessee also adds another major recruit in forward Cierra Burdick.
Quotable: "I am very disappointed in our basketball team. I don't think we came here with the focus and don't ask me why. I look at this junior class and Angie [Bjorklund] as a senior and I am kind of lost for words as to why they wouldn't come in and already know what they were going to do. I hate this for our program, our administration. I hope our players will learn from it because we have a way to go. We were exposed today." -- Summitt, following her team's loss to Notre Dame in the Elite Eight.

4. UConn (36-2)
Starters Returning: Four
Key Players: Bria Hartley, Stefanie Dolson, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Farris and Caroline Doty
The Skinny: Moore is gone, but UConn isn't going away from the national stage with the core above and a great freshman class led by wing player Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, the WBCA national high school player of the year. The 6-foot-3 forward-center recruit Kiah Stokes also has promise.
Quotable: "What Maya and Lorin [Dixon] experienced in the two years between their loss in the Final Four and the loss against Notre Dame, that's what I'm going to choose to focus on when I think about those two, especially Maya. I'm going to think more about the best player in the history of the Big East and maybe the best student-athlete in the history of college basketball." -- Coach Geno Auriemma, after the loss to Notre Dame in the national semifinals.

5. Louisville (22-13)
Starters Returning: Five
Key Players: Shoni Schimmel, Monique Reid, Tia Gibbs
The Skinny: Schimmel (15.1 points), a Magic Johnson-like point guard who ranked second in the Big East with 4.9 assists per game, had a fantastic freshman year. If not for Reid suffering a right groin strain early against Gonzaga, Louisville might have faced Stanford in the Elite Eight. This team has every starter back, and the Cardinal also add a big-time recruit in forward Sarah Hammond.
Quotable: "We have to have some kids that want to put in some time to become better basketball players. We need children that didn't play as much to be hungry and want to be in the gym. I'm excited about the future of this program, but we can't stop working." -- Louisville coach Jeff Waltz, to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

6. Stanford (33-3)
The Skinny: The Ogumwike sisters (All-America senior forward Necka and sophomore forward Chinay) are back, but Stanford will have trouble replacing the scoring from graduating seniors Melanie Murphy, Kayla Pedersen and Jeanette Pohlen. Incoming point guard Amber Orrange has plenty of promise.

7. Texas A&M (33-5)
The Skinny: The champs lose leading scoring Danielle Adams and inspirational point guard Sydney Colson, but senior guard Sydney Carter and senior forward and NCAA hero Tyra White can fill it up. Coach Gary Blair gets an impact transfer in center Kelsey Bone, who has star potential.

8. Duke (32-4)
The Skinny: The vaunted freshman class -- led by Chelsea Gray -- now takes ownership of this team with the departures of Jasmine Thomas, Krystal Thomas and Karima Christmas. Incoming post Elizabeth Williams and forward Amber Hanson (sister of North Carolina's John) will be impact recruits.

9. Georgetown (24-11)
The Skinny: The Hoyas have a fabulous point guard in Sugar Rogers and return four starters (sans Monica McNutt). Their defense will keep them in every game.

10. LSU (19-13)
The Skinny: New coach Nicki Caldwell built up UCLA very quickly and now heads to LSU where she has returning talent (senior forward LaSondra Barrett and junior guard Adrienne Webb) and a major recruit in 6-foot-4 forward Krystal Forthan. Watch out for this program the next two years.

Kelley Cain passes on senior season

2011-04-05T19:37:00.002-04:00

Tennessee redshirt junior Kelley Cain, who is scheduled to graduate this semester with a degree in marketing, will forego her final year of eligibility with the Lady Vols, coach Pat Summitt announced Tuesday.

The 6-foot-6 center from Atlanta was a prolific shot-blocker at Tennessee, totaling 228 in 92 games spanning three seasons. Cain led the Southeastern Conference in blocks for the past two seasons.

As a redshirt sophomore in 2009-10, Cain set a Tennessee single-season record with 113 blocks, including a Lady Vols single-game record of 12 against LSU on Feb. 22, 2010.

Cain redshirted the 2007-08 season after having right knee surgery. She had another procedure on the knee in 2009.

"We appreciate all that Kelley brought to our Lady Vol basketball program," Summitt said in a statement. "It's truly unfortunate that her career was cut short, but her health and well-being must come first. Kelley was a great teammate and oftentimes had to push through a great deal of pain to play.

"She is a winner who concludes her UT career with a degree in hand, and we wish her continued success in life."

For her career, Cain averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and shot 60.6 percent from the field. Her field goal percentage is the third-best in Tennessee history behind Cindy Noble's 62.5 mark set from 1978 to 1981, and Trish Roberts' 1976-77 percentage of 64.7.

"It has been my pleasure and privilege to be a part of the Lady Vols for the past four years," Cain said. "After numerous months of prayer, doctors' visits and treatments, I have accepted the fact that I am currently unable to meet the demands of playing collegiate basketball. My family and I must now focus on my quality of life."

Notre Dame upsets UConn 72-63, heads to title game

2011-04-04T00:23:00.000-04:00

It’s not often Maya Moore meets her match. Skylar Diggins was up to the task and Notre Dame will play for a national championship because of it.

The sensational sophomore guard scored 28 points and hot-shooting Notre Dame upset UConn 72-63 on Sunday night, ending the brilliant career of Moore and the Huskies’ quest for a third straight national championship.

Ten years after their last title, the Irish will be playing for another one Tuesday night against Texas A&M, which beat Stanford 63-62 in the first semifinal.

Notre Dame was 0-3 against its Big East rival this season but the Irish had all the answers this time for the Huskies, who lost for just the second time in three seasons. Notre Dame had already beaten Tennessee in the NCAA tournament, ending a 20-game skid against the Volunteers.

Now the Irish (31-7) have knocked out the two-time defending champions.

Moore finished with 36 points, including 12 straight as she tried to rally the Huskies from a 12-point deficit in the final 6 minutes, but it wasn’t enough for UConn (36-2).

The four-time All-American and AP player of the year was overshadowed by Diggins, the South Bend native who felt right at home in Conseco Fieldhouse, where she led her high school to three straight championships.

Calmly directing her offense and fearlessly driving into the lane to create chances for herself and her teammates, Diggins now has a chance to add a NCAA championship to that list.

“We had to be poised, I mean, we had to try to make Maya take tough shots, and I think she did,” Diggins said. “And at the end we said, ‘We have to stay poised on defense and we have to execute on offense.’ We showed a lot more poise than we did in the first three games against Connecticut.”

Trailing 34-26 early in the second half, Diggins’ three-point play started a 15-4 run by the Irish. Devereaux Peters’ added her own three-point play that gave Notre Dame a 38-37 advantage—its first lead since midway through the first half.

Diggins capped the burst with another three-point play that made it 41-38 with 13:17 left and brought the pro-Irish crowd to its feet and left Geno Auriemma’s team reeling.

The Irish extended their lead to 47-40 a few minutes later before UConn cut the deficit to four on Bria Hartley’s 3-pointer.

Brittany Mallory and Natalie Novosel hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it a 12-point game with just over 7 minutes left. Moore did her best to try to rally her young team, but the Huskies fell short.

Moore started her flurry with a three-point play and then a hit a deep 3-pointer. After Novosel hit a layup Moore hit another 3-pointer that made it 63-60 with 2:26 left. That’s as close as the Huskies would get as Diggins and the Irish were too much for them down the stretch.

As the clock ran out, Diggins and the Notre Dame players rushed the floor and danced, knowing they had pulled off the monumental victory.

Notre Dame was making its first trip to the Final Four since winning a national title in 2001 after knocking out UConn in the semifinals that year. The Irish faced a 16-point first half deficit in that game but rallied to the victory.

A half-dozen members of that team were among the 30 former Irish players at the game Sunday night.

Irish coach Muffet McGraw had said leading up to the game that her team would try and draw inspiration from Texas A&M, which lost three games to Baylor in the regular season before beating the Lady Bears in the regional final.

Now the two No. 2 seeds will play with a championship at stake. It’s the first time since 1994 that no top-seed made it to the championship game.

The Irish were the second straight team to play in a Final Four game in their home state. Baylor reached the national semifinals last season in Texas, but also lost to UConn.

UConn and Stanford Both Go Down!

2011-04-04T00:05:00.002-04:00

Stanford & UConn going down tonight is the best thing that could've happened for the women's game. Looking forward to ND-Texas A&M final. :)

On a day when Coach Pat Summitt was calling out her teammates, guard Shekinna Stricklen was named to the USBWA All-America team

2011-03-30T19:37:00.006-04:00

The junior from Arkansas played all over the floor for the SEC champs and still averaged almost 13 points and over seven rebounds a game.

Stricklen was the only SEC player on the 10 member team.

Here is more from the University of Tennessee:

The awards and accolades keep rolling in for Lady Vol junior Shekinna Stricklen, as the do-it-all forward/guard was named to the USBWA All-America Team on Wednesday.

A native of Morrilton, Ark., Stricklen averaged 12.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg and shot 48.9 percent from the floor this season, while playing point guard, on the wing and in the post for the SEC regular season and tournament champions.

Stricklen helped lead Tennessee to a No. 4 final national ranking in both the Associated Press poll and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll and the program's 24th Elite Eight appearance. UT bowed out of the NCAA Tournament against Note Dame in the Dayton Regional Final on Monday night and finished with a 34-3 record.

Along the way, Stricklen picked up numerous honors, including the SEC Player of the Year award from the league's coaches, First Team All-SEC from the coaches and the media, Third-Team AP All-America accolades and WBCA All-Region team membership.

She also captured All-Tournament honors from the NCAA Tournament Dayton Regional and the SEC Tournament, as well as earning SEC Tournament MVP accolades after scoring 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting against No. 16 Kentucky in the 90-65 championship game win.

Stricklen had 11 double-doubles and a season-high scoring mark of 26 points, including six three-pointers, at Arkansas on Jan. 30. She became the 35th Lady Vol to score 1,000 career points on Dec. 22 versus ETSU, and will head into her senior season ranked No. 23 on the all-time Big Orange scoring chart with 1,343 points. She has started all 104 games of her career.

Stricklen is one of 10 members selected for the prestigious All-America team. Joining her on the 2010-11 squad are Danielle Adams (Texas A&M), Brittney Griner (Baylor), Amber Harris (Xavier), Shenise Johnson (Miami), Jantel Lavender (Ohio State), Maya Moore (Connecticut), Nnemkadi Ogwumike (Stanford), Jeanette Pohlen (Stanford) and Courtney Vandersloot (Gonzaga).

Moore was named the USBWA Player of the Year, while Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey captured Coach of the Year and Baylor's Odyssey Sims nabbed Freshman of the Year.

Diggins helps Irish stun Lady Vols, 73-59

2011-03-28T21:39:00.000-04:00

Skylar Diggins scored 24 points and second-seeded Notre Dame made up for 28 years of beatings at the hands of Tennessee, upsetting the top-seeded Lady Vols 73-59 Monday night to earn a spot in the Final Four.

The Fighting Irish (30-7) came in 0-20 all-time against the Lady Vols. But the operative number on this night was 3-0—Notre Dame’s record in regional championship games.

Natalie Novosel added 17 points and Becca Bruszewski—who didn’t practice Sunday and was listed as questionable to even play with a knee injury—had 13 for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame advanced to the play the winner of top-ranked Connecticut (35-1) and second-seeded Duke (32-3). They play on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.

Taber Spani and Shekinna Stricklen had 13 points for the Lady Vols (34-3). Glory Johnson added 12.

Change in lineup planned to counter Notre Dame

2011-03-28T00:31:00.000-04:00

Game info: 7:00 pm EDT Mon Mar 28, 2011 (ESPN)

After meeting with her assistants Sunday morning, UT coach Pat Summitt added a little upheaval by rearranging the starting lineup against the Fighting Irish (29-7). Alyssia Brewer and Taber Spani will start against the Fighting Irish in place of Kelley Cain and Angie Bjorklund, respectively, as the Lady Vols revert to the starters they utilized at the SEC tournament.

Irish won't be discussing 0-20 mark vs. Lady Vols

2011-03-28T00:22:00.000-04:00

The teams are different. These players have never met before. That was all in the distant past.

But still, Tennessee is 20-0 against Notre Dame heading into their regional championship game on Monday night. That's got to count for something, right?

The Fighting Irish's Muffet McGraw and the Lady Vols' Pat Summitt swear they're coaches and not historians. They are aware of the old meetings but won't make a big deal out of them.

"That would be really silly of me to bring that up I think," McGraw said of Notre Dame's drought against Tennessee, which dates to 1983 and includes an 0-3 mark in the NCAA tournament. "This team is a team that hasn't played Tennessee. The seniors played them once in Oklahoma City in the regional semifinal. That's the only time we've played them. So certainly we're not going to be talking about the past."

Second-seeded Notre Dame (29-7) and top-seed Tennessee (34-2) haven't met on the court since two engagements three years ago. The score was 87-63 in South Bend, Ind., on Jan. 5, and 74-64 in the Sweet 16 in Oklahoma City. Of course, Tennessee won both.

Summitt expects McGraw and the Fighting Irish to use the 0-20 mark as fuel to add to the fire.

"Absolutely. If I was in their situation, I would do the same," she said.

Her players, riding a 25-game winning streak, also figure that it will serve as motivation for Notre Dame to finally try to stamp out all that orange-tinged domination.

"It would be important to any team to be the first to beat Tennessee," said Shekinna Stricklen, who led the way with 20 points in the Lady Vols' 85-75 victory over Ohio State in Saturday's semifinal. "For them to not beat us, we need to buckle down and play great defense and play as a team."

The Fighting Irish are unbothered by the lopsided nature of the series.

"Me, personally, I haven't been a part of any of those 20 games. But we know the history between the two programs," sophomore guard Skylar Diggins said. "Two hall-of-fame coaches, and it's just going to be a great game. Teams that haven't met up with each other. We're obviously looking to break that (losing streak)."

Besides, both sides have enough to worry about dealing with the next 40 minutes on the court instead of 28 years of baggage.

The numbers for both teams are almost identical through 36 games apiece this season: Tennessee is scoring 79.9 points and allowing 55.9 points a game, while Notre Dame is putting up 77.5 points and giving up 55.4 a game.

The Lady Vols come at teams in waves, with nine players scoring against Ohio State in the first half alone and Summit going as deep as 13 players in some games. But at the same time, they have been erratic of late. The team had a players-only meeting early last week after struggling before subduing Marquette 79-70 in Knoxville, Tenn., in the second round.

Then the Lady Vols were outplayed in the opening half on Saturday — although they trailed just 42-40 at the break — leading Summitt to give a roaring halftime speech to shock her team out of its funk.

"She is one of the greatest motivators in sports," forward Taber Spani said. "After that speech we came out and played a lot different in the second half. We needed to."

Summitt, who is replacing Kelley Cain with Alyssia Brewer in the starting lineup to make her starters "more mobile," said it was a pivotal moment for her squad.

"At that time, our coaching staff was desperate to get this team to step up and do what they had to do," she said.

Notre Dame had no such problems in its semifinal, jumping on sixth-seeded Oklahoma early and coasting to a 78-53 win. The Fighting Irish aren't stocked with stars, but they've got terrific balance. Natalie Novosel leads in scoring at 14.9 points a game, with Diggins right behind at 14.2. Five others hit for at least 7 a game.

In case you were wondering, the Lady Vols have seven players averaging 7 a game, too.

So the intensity should be white hot with so many skilled performers playing without regard to foul trouble or weariness.

"It's going to be a fight between two teams that have the will to come out with the win," Brewer said. "It's whoever has the biggest heart."

The Fighting Irish could be without co-captain Becca Bruszewski, who has a sore knee. She was not cleared for Sunday's practice but McGraw said she hoped that she would be permitted to play against the Lady Vols.

Lady Vols beat Ohio State 85-75

2011-03-26T13:58:00.001-04:00

Shekinna Stricklen scored 20 points and touched off a critical 11-3 second-half run to power top-seeded Tennessee past Ohio State 85-75 Saturday in a NCAA regional semifinal.

The Lady Vols (34-2) won their 25th consecutive game, but trailed for much of it and only took control with their charge in the final minutes.

Meighan Simmons added 18 points and Kelley Cain had 16 for Tennessee, pursuing a ninth NCAA title. The Lady Vols meet either Notre Dame or Oklahoma in the regional championship game on Monday night, with a trip to the Final Four in Indianapolis on the line.

Samantha Prahalis had 22 points, Jantel Lavender 19, Brittany Johnson 16 and Tayler Hill 12 for Ohio State (24-10), which had won its last 11.

Tennessee beats Marquette 79-70 to head to Dayton

2011-03-21T23:17:00.000-04:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt doesn’t like to overwork her players during postseason practices. She hopes Marquette has convinced the Lady Volunteers to try a little bit harder though.

The top-seeded Lady Vols survived a scrappy match with eighth-seeded Marquette to advanced to the NCAA regional semifinals with a 79-70 victory Monday night. They will face No. 4 Ohio State next in Dayton, Ohio.

“I think that we’ve had some good practices but not great practices, and the last couple have not been at the level of intensity (necessary),” Summitt said. “This is probably a good wake-up call.”

Tennessee will be making its 29th appearance in the round of 16 and is aiming for a Final Four berth after back-to-back disappointing ends to the postseason. The Lady Vols suffered their first and only first-round loss in 2009 to Ball State and lost in the 2010 regional semifinals to Baylor, despite having a No. 1 seed and playing in Memphis.

Marquette never led, but every time the Lady Vols (33-2) built a lead, the Golden Eagles fought back. It was Tennessee’s narrowest margin in a NCAA win on its home court since a 69-65 victory over Auburn in 1991 and second narrowest second-round victory.

The Lady Vols, who are now 50-0 in NCAA games played in Knoxville, led by as many as 11 points in the second half and had a 62-55 lead when Marquette’s Tatiyiana McMorris sank a 3-pointer and Angel Robinson hit two long jumpers to cut it to 63-62 with 6:15 left.

“That stretch was about making stops,” Marquette coach Terri Mitchell said. “We threw in some random traps. We started switching, doing a little more doubling inside, we got some stops and we pushed it. We were better when we were pushing it and attacking.”

Tennessee answered by scoring the next six points to make it 69-62 with 4:53 left and kept Marquette at bay by clamping down on defense and hitting six of their next eight foul shots.

Meighan Simmons led Tennessee with 18 points. Glory Johnson scored 16 points, Alicia Manning sank 11 and Shekinna Stricklen scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

Tennessee, which shot 51.7 percent, also built an eight-point lead midway through the first half, but the Golden Eagles used a 7-0 run to cut it to 28-27 with 5:18 before halftime.

The Golden Eagles, led by six seniors, had spent extra time in the offseason working out in hopes of reaching their first NCAA tournament in four seasons. Marquette has reached the second round four times now but never won.

Angel Robinson led Marquette (24-9) with 19 points. McMorris added 15 points, Jasmine Collins 14 and Fiedorowicz 12.

The Golden Eagles were smaller than the Lady Vols but managed to frustrate them in the paint at both ends of the court. Marquette matched Tennessee’s 32 points in the paint and kept the Lady Vols from hitting as many layups as they would have liked.

“When they have physical guards and their whole team is physical, we have to be physical back,” Johnson said. “We can’t let them throw us around in the paint, and that’s something that we struggled with for the majority of the game.”

Both teams turned the ball over 11 times, but the Lady Vols scored nine more points off of giveaways.

Marquette shot 40.3 percent and hit eight 3s but seemed to lose what little advantage it had inside when starting forward Paige Fiedorowicz fouled out with 5:25 left to play.

“There were two good teams out there on the floor, and good teams make runs,” Robinson said. “We were back and forth with making our runs. We stopped them, and they stopped us. The outcome is who scores the most points. Everybody up here said we left everything out there. We played until the buzzer buzzed.”

Tennessee cruises to 99-34 NCAA win over Stetson

2011-03-19T13:38:00.000-04:00

Even Pat Summitt will have a hard time finding fault with Tennessee’s start to the NCAA tournament.

Glory Johnson had 14 points and 10 rebounds as the top-seeded Lady Vols cruised to a 99-34 win over Stetson on Saturday in the opening round of the Dayton region.

Tennessee (32-2) has its sights set on a return to the Final Four after two seasons of frustration in the tournament, and the 16th-seeded Hatters (20-13) were little more than a warm-up act. The Lady Volunteers nearly tied their largest margin of victory in a first-round game, which came during an NCAA-record 111-37 victory over North Carolina A&T in 1994.

The Lady Vols have scored an average 23.6 points more than their opponents this season and previously had their best offensive game of the year in a 90-65 win against Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference tournament championship. They hit a school-record 16 3-pointers and shot 70.4 percent in the second half in that game.

Still, Summitt had been unhappy with her team’s defensive and rebounding efforts in the SEC tournament. After two weeks of grueling practices, the Lady Vols outrebounded the Hatters 63-31 and limited them to just 18.2 percent shooting.

The two-week layoff between tournaments didn’t seem to slow Tennessee, either, as it shot 55.7 percent and hit eight 3s against the Hatters.

Stetson managed to hit a few early shots to keep up with Tennessee, which led 10-9 with 15:13 left in the first half. The Lady Vols’ size and shooting became too much for the Hatters, though, and a 23-0 run put the game away early.

The Hatters hit no field goals and only five free throws during an 11:11 stretch before halftime. Tennessee shot 57.9 percent and had a 34-13 rebounding margin at the break.

Tierra Brown, Victoria McGowan and Natasha Graboski each scored seven points for the Hatters (20-13), who shot just 21.2 percent in the first half.

Summitt had emptied her bench by that point, 13 players deep, and when Briana Bass hit a lane-driving layup with 53 seconds left in the game, every Lady Vol had scored a basket.

Shekinna Stricklen scored 15 points, Angie Bjorklund had 13 and Alyssia Brewer added 10 for the Lady Vols, who scored 52 points in the paint.

Stetson went through a 15:37 scoring drought in the second half as Tennessee expanded its lead on nearly every trip down the floor. The drought ended when McGowan hit one final layup with 29 seconds left to play.

Atlantic Sun tournament champion Stetson had surprised a lot of fans just by reaching the NCAA tournament for the second time in program history. The Hatters had been picked to finish 10th of 11 in the conference, and needed a 55-foot shot from McGowan at the buzzer for a 69-50 victory over Belmont in the A-Sun semifinals.

By contrast, Tennessee has played in all 30 NCAA tournaments. The Lady Vols’ only defeat in the first or second rounds came two seasons ago at the hands of Ball State, a loss that has stuck with them for two seasons.

Tennessee draws on support of fans in NCAA tourney

2011-03-18T13:39:00.002-04:00

Fans of the Lady Volunteers travel so well that Tennessee forward Glory Johnson says if they played on another planet at least one carload would show up.

“We’d make it there … and everyone would be wearing an orange shirt,” Johnson said.

She won’t have to worry about that now, at least not in the first round of the NCAA tournament—that’ll be more of a concern for Stetson, Marquette and Texas.

The No. 1-seeded Lady Vols (31-2) will be playing in front of thousands of their own fans on their home court named “The Summitt” in honor of their coach. They’ve won 34 straight there and have never lost a first- or second-round NCAA game in Knoxville in 36 tries.

No. 16 seed Stetson hopes to interrupt those streaks Saturday. Eighth-seeded Marquette and ninth-seeded Texas meet later that day for a chance of possibly facing the Lady Vols in the second round on Monday.

Stetson coach Lynn Bria warned her players not to get too caught up in Tennessee’s tradition. After all, the only Lady Vols team the Hatters are playing is the 2010-11 version.

But senior guard Tierra Brown enjoys the idea of going against a team that has eight national championships.

“I came in just wanting to take in the whole experience and take in Tennessee,” she said. “I grew up being a Tennessee fan. I think it’s better for me to come in and look at the (championship) banners and look at all the history. To just have the opportunity to beat the No. 1 team, it gets me a little more pumped up for the game.”

Stetson (20-12) earned its spot in the tournament after winning the Atlantic Sun tournament. The Hatters were nearly done in the semifinals until Victoria McGowan hit a 55 footer as the clock expired, sending them to a 48-46 win over Belmont.

The Hatters had been picked to finish second from last in the conference but beat Jacksonville 69-50 in the championship, so they don’t have a problem as the underdog.

“Certainly nobody thinks we’re going to win” against Tennessee, Bria said. “We’re used to it This isn’t a position we haven’t been in all year. We had confidence before (McGowan’s shot), but for her to even take that shot showed that we believe we can win if there’s time on the clock.”

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt doesn’t want to think about the prospect of her team losing an NCAA tournament game at home. She’s only lost one first-round game before—in 2009 to Ball State—and doesn’t want to be in that position again.

She’s got a lot to be confident about with the Lady Vols coming off an undefeated Southeastern Conference season and an SEC tournament championship that saw her team shot 70.4 percent in the second half of a 90-65 victory against Kentucky in the championship game.

“I’m just trying to hold onto the positives and think about what we have to do to prepare,” Summitt said. “It would not be a pretty scene. I have a lot of confidence in the maturity of our team.”

Marquette is happy to be back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 season. After a trip to the NIT last season, this year’s senior class pledged to work harder. The Golden Eagles (23-8) finished fifth in the Big East this season and believe their tough conference games have prepared them for Texas and any team they might face, should they win.

“It makes us tougher emotionally, mentally and physically to play in the Big East,” Marquette coach Terri Mitchell said. “As we prepare for Texas, we have said to our players, ‘They run like this team. They do this like this team.’ It’s given them familiarity with Texas by using Big East names.”

Texas (19-13) is also glad to be playing in the tournament after a difficult Big 12 season. The Longhorns finished seventh in the conference and were holding their breath when the NCAA brackets were announced.

Coach Gail Goestenkors didn’t actually hear Texas’ name called, but felt the sense of relief from her players as they screamed and hugged when they drew their spot in the Dayton region.

“There was that joy, but once you are in you want to make a statement,” the coach said. “You want to prove you deserve to be here.”

Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year Finalists Announced

2011-03-17T13:44:00.002-04:00

Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma and Tennessee’s Pat Summitt, who together have claimed 11 Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year awards, lead the group of four finalists for the 2011 honor, the Atlanta Tipoff Club announced today. Joining them on the final ballot are Baylor’s Kim Mulkey and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, who won the award in 1990.

The finalists were determined by the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country. The academy based its criteria on coaching performances this season. The vote was tabulated and certified by the accounting firm of Habif, Arogeti & Wynne, LLP. HA&W is the largest independent accounting firm in Georgia and one of the top 50 firms in the United States.

The Naismith Award is the most prestigious national award presented annually to the women’s college basketball coach of the year. The winner will be announced in early April.

“There is obviously a correlation between the success of these coaches and the fact that their programs each earned a No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament,” said Eric Oberman, Atlanta Tipoff Club executive director. “Each has done a remarkable job of coaching this season, which is reflective of their entire careers. Each is very deserving of this prestigious award and we’re excited to crown a winner after the season.”

ABOUT THE FINALISTS

Geno Auriemma: In his 26th season at the helm, Auriemma, the BIG EAST Coach of the Year, has led UCONN to a 32-1 record. The Huskies captured the BIG EAST Regular Season and BIG EAST Tournament championships along the way, for the fourth straight season and 15th time overall. Connecticut is a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship for the 14th time, and the fifth year in a row. Auriemma, with a career mark of 767-123, aims to win his eighth NCAA title. He has previously won the Naismith Award in 2009.

Kim Mulkey: Mulkey led the Lady Bears to a 31-2 record and captured both the 2011 regular-season and tournament Big 12 titles. She picked up the Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year honors and the team was ranked No. 1 in the country for a good part of the season. Baylor is a No. 1 seed for the first time and playing at home to start this year's NCAA women's tournament. They host SWAC tournament champion Prairie View (21-11) on Sunday at the Ferrell Center, where Baylor is 19-0 this season. Mulkey has a career mark of 295-78.

Pat Summitt: Summitt, already the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history (men or women), has eight NCAA Championships in the trophy case including her most recent back-to-back titles in 2007 and 2008. She has enjoyed one of her better coaching jobs in her 37th season, going 31-2 thus far. Over her four-decade career, the Lady Vols have gone 1,068-198. In addition, the team has won eight NCAA titles, as well as 31 Southeastern Conference tournament and regular season championships. Tennessee has made an unprecedented 30 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament with 21 number one seeds. They enter the 2011 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship as a No. 1 seed in the Dayton Region, hosting Stetson on Saturday.

Tara VanDerveer: This season VanDerveer guided the Cardinals to the program's 20th Pac-10 regular season title, and 11th in a row, while Stanford finished a perfect 18-0 in Pac-10 play for the second straight year and sixth time overall. For her efforts, VanDerveer was named the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, marking the seventh time since the 2001-02 season and 11th time overall that she has taken home the conference's top coaching honor. VanDerveer joined the elite 800-win club back on Dec. 22 with a victory at San Francisco. Stanford (29-2) is the top seed in the Spokane Region of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Division I Championship against UC-Davis.

Last year, Connie Yori of the University of Nebraska claimed the Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year award, the first ever for a Big 12 Conference school.

Lady Vols have maturity needed to chase NCAA title

2011-03-17T13:40:00.002-04:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt had to wait for her talented Lady Volunteers to develope into championship contenders.

And Summitt isn’t a patient woman when it comes to winning.

“It was at times very frustrating for our coaching staff,” Summitt said. “At the same time, we knew it would be a process for them to get in the gym.”

The work has paid off. The players who were a part of Tennessee’s 2009 first-round loss and last year’s regional semifinal loss as a No. 1 seed have grown up. Now they understand what it takes to reach a Final Four and chase Tennessee’s ninth national championship.

“I think the real key to it is the maturity,” Summitt said. “As freshmen it was very, very challenging. As sophomores, they grew, but they still weren’t at the level where every game you knew they were going to bring our ‘A’ game and the opponent was going to get our best shot. We couldn’t fast forward that process.”

The Lady Vols (31-2) again earned a No. 1 seed this season after an undefeated run through the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament. Their attempt to reach the national semifinals in Indianapolis begins Saturday in Knoxville with 16th-seeded Stetson.

The team is anchored by their junior class, a group of McDonald’s high school All-Americans who were expected to fill the shoes of Candace Parker, Nicky Anosike and others who won back-to-back national championships in 2007-08.

Those players clearly had the talent but did not seem to listen to Summitt when she told them as freshmen that they couldn’t just put on the Tennessee uniform and expect to win championships.

“As a freshman, I just kind of did what I wanted to with my game,” junior forward Glory Johnson said. “I didn’t really put in too much extra time. I just felt like I could do this with talent, and clearly it didn’t work. You have to put in extra work outside of practice. You have to take your game seriously all of the time.”

That lesson started immediately after the first-round loss to Ball State in the 2009, the first time a Lady Vols team had ever lost on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Summitt was so angry she forced the team to return to practice as soon as they returned to Knoxville.

The message? Spend some more time in the gym working on your game.

“It took them a couple of years to buy into that concept and kind of embrace the game for themselves,” Summitt said. “Going into this junior year, it’s been a tremendous difference in what the players are willing to invest.”

The team has spent the past two offseasons going through grueling workouts with strength and conditioning coach Heather Mason and now use their free time during the season getting extra shots in at the practice gym.

That committment has helped the team develop the depth and extra skills that helped the Lady Vols go undefeated in Southeastern Conference play this season and win the SEC tournament championship.

“I think the thing about this team is if someone is not having a good game or is in foul trouble, our depth is really key,” Summitt said. “I think it really brings a lot of confidence throughout the team to know that we have a lot of options.”

The confidence also comes from the bond the players have developed through the ups and downs of their career. The Lady Vols have found they can talk frankly with each other about their struggles, mistakes and losses while managing to stay positive about the team.

“It sounds really cliche, but we definitely are like sisters,” junior forward Alyssia Brewer said. “We do anything and everything—movies, bowling, go-karting, whatever. Most of us live with each other. It’s like you have your own family here.”

Despite the maturity and confidence, the Lady Vols still occasionally have some lapses. Turnovers have frequently been a problem, and sometimes player resort to taking bad shots instead of focusing on defense to get the job done.

Every so often there’s a lapse in the Lady Vols’ effort and attitude during practice, but it doesn’t take quite as much for Summitt to get the team back on track.

“It works a whole lot better when they have leadership and make other people accountable,” she said. “We’ve been pretty good at that all year, we just had a couple of lapses.”

Tennessee nabs 21st No. 1 seed in NCAA tourney

2011-03-14T21:51:00.000-04:00

Tennessee coach Pat Summitt is still a little upset about her team bowing out of the NCAA tournament early two years in a row. A trip to the Final Four or national championship might help her forget, though.

The Lady Volunteers (31-2) earned their 21st No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament on Monday night and will host Stetson on Saturday in Knoxville in the first round of the Dayton region.

After eight national championships, anything less than a trip to the Final Four is a disappointment for Summitt. In 2009, the fifth-seeded Lady Vols suffered the only opening-round loss in program history to Ball State, and in 2010, top-seeded Tennessee lost in the regional semifinals to Baylor.

“They’ve heard about it a whole lot,” Summitt said of the 2009 loss. “Ball State, it happened, but we learned a lot from it and we’ve improved obviously every year.”

Tennessee’s Dayton region draw puts it in position for a possible Final Four matchup with fellow No. 1 seed Connecticut, the team Summitt dropped from the regular season schedule after the 2006-07 season. Summitt and Geno Auriemma’s teams haven’t met since, despite strategic bracket arrangement by the NCAA selection committee.

Summitt isn’t talking about a potential matchup with the Huskies yet or about second-seeded Notre Dame, fourth-seeded Ohio State, sixth-seeded Oklahoma or any other Dayton region team for that matter.

“Our focus right now is on Tennessee and Stetson and finding out as much as we can about them and what we need to do to make our preparation the best it can be,” Summitt said. “I have all the confidence in the world.”

The Lady Vols have four all-time wins against Stetson, most recently a 83-33 victory in Knoxville on Nov. 20, 2005. The Hatters (20-12) earned an automatic bid after winning the Atlantic Sun Championship.

Tennessee ran through the Southeastern Conference undefeated and tacked on a tournament championship a week ago, cruising through those three games. Three other SEC teams earned NCAA bids: No. 4 seed Kentucky and No. 10 seed Vanderbilt in the Spokane region and No. 6 seed Georgia in the Dallas region.

Even with the SEC accolades and No. 1 seed, the Lady Vols feel like they’re a bit under the radar with plenty of attention going to Connecticut and Baylor.

“After they got done (announcing the brackets), we all looked at each other and said, ‘Wow, they didn’t say anything about us,”’ junior forward Shekinna Stricklen said. “That’s OK. We have been down a little bit, but we feel like this is the year for us. We’ve got a lot of proving to do, proving to people that we can get to the Final Four.”

UConn, Tennessee, Baylor and Stanford No. 1 seeds

2011-03-14T20:42:00.000-04:00

Connecticut’s path to a third straight national championship could include a renewal of the most heated rivalry in women’s college basketball.

The Huskies earned the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Monday night.

For Geno Auriemma to match Tennessee coach Pat Summitt with an eighth national championship he might have to go through her Lady Vols, who earned the top seed in the Dayton region. If both come through their regions, UConn and Tennessee could meet again in the national semifinals at Indianapolis.

Auriemma’s Huskies didn’t have to face Tennessee during its record 90-game winning streak that was ended by Stanford on Dec. 30. The two pre-eminent teams in the sport broke off their annual matchup in 2007 in a testy split.

First up for UConn is former star Jen Rizzotti and her Hartford Hawks, who won the America East title. The two teams have played each other over the last six years but didn’t meet this season. Hartford is winless in 11 meetings against UConn.

Baylor and Stanford were the other two No. 1 seeds. It was the second straight No. 1 seed for the Cardinal, who fell to UConn in the title game last season.

The Huskies will be trying for their third consecutive title, matching their run from 2002-04 and Tennessee’s from 1996-98. UConn is one of a record nine Big East teams in the field. The Big East got 11 men’s teams in their field announced Sunday.

Unlike the men’s bracket that expanded to 68 teams this year, the women decided to stick with 64. Indianapolis will host the Final Four on April 3 and 5.

The last time the Final Four was in Indianapolis, Baylor won the championship as a No. 2 seed.

The Lady Bears, led by sophomore center Brittney Griner, will face No. 16 Prairie View in their opener on Sunday in the Dallas region. No. 8 Houston will play No. 9 West Virginia, No. 5 Wisconsin-Green Bay takes on No. 12 Arkansas-Little Rock, and No. 4 Michigan State plays No. 13 Missouri Valley champion Northern Iowa.

In the other part of the bracket, No. 6 Georgia takes on No. 11 Middle Tennessee State, which is still dealing with the death of Tina Stewart. Her Blue Raiders teammates played, and lost, their lone game in the Sun Belt Conference tournament.

No. 2 Texas A&M meets No. 15 McNeese State, No. 7 Rutgers plays No. 10 Louisiana Tech and No. 3 Florida State plays No. 14 Samford.

If the seeds hold, the Aggies and Lady Bears will meet for the fourth time this season. Baylor beat Texas A&M by a total of 15 points in their three meetings—including a three-point win in the Big 12 title game.

Stanford, which opens against UC Davis, could also face UCLA for a fourth time this year. The Cardinal swept the No. 3 seed in Spokane three times, but the Bruins had a late lead in the Pac-10 title game on Saturday.

Tennessee will open at home in the Dayton region against No. 16 Stetson, which needed a 55-footer at the buzzer to advance to the Atlantic Sun tournament championship game. No. 8 Marquette will play No. 9 Texas in the other game in Knoxville.

No. 5 Georgia Tech will play No. 12 Bowling Green and No. 4 Ohio State faces No. 13 Central Florida. The Buckeyes have had a roller-coaster season, winning their first seven games before dropping seven of the next nine. They righted themselves and have won their last nine games capped by a Big Ten tournament title.

No. 2 Notre Dame plays No. 15 Utah and No. 7 Arizona State meets No. 10 Temple. Rounding out that part of the bracket, No. 3 Miami plays No. 14 Gardner-Webb and No. 6 Oklahoma plays No. 11 James Madison. The Sooners have made the Final Four the last two seasons.

In the Spokane region, No. 8 Texas Tech takes on No. 9 St. John’s. Fifth-seeded North Carolina plays No. 12 Fresno State, and No. 4 Kentucky faces No. 13 Hampton.

No. 2 Xavier plays No. 15 South Dakota State, and No. 7 Louisville faces No. 10 Vanderbilt. Xavier lost to Stanford last season in the regional finals when the Musketeers missed two layups with the clock running down and the Cardinal hit a shot at the buzzer. No. 6 Iowa plays 11th-seeded Gonzaga while No. 3 UCLA takes on No. 14 Montana.

In the Philadelphia region, No. 8 Kansas State plays Purdue; fifth-seeded Georgetown takes on No. 12 Princeton; and No. 4 Maryland faces No. 13 Saint Francis, Pa. No. 2 Duke hosts 15th-ranked Tennessee-Martin, and No. 7 Iowa State plays 10th-seeded Marist. Finally, No. 6 Penn State hosts No. 11 Dayton and third-seeded DePaul faces No. 14 Navy.

No. 4 Tennessee downs No. 16 Kentucky in SEC final

2011-03-06T20:16:00.000-05:00

Angie Bjorklund scored 23 points, including seven 3-pointers, and No. 4 Tennessee hit a school- and tournament-record 16 3-pointers to beat No. 16 Kentucky 90-65 Sunday in the Southeastern Conference championship game.

The Lady Vols (31-2), who were unbeaten in the SEC, won their 15th tournament title overall. This one was a bit special because it marked only the third time Tennessee went undefeated in winning the regular-season title before winning the conference tournament. Tennessee also did that in 1994 and 1998.

Kentucky (24-8) goes home still looking for its first SEC tournament title since 1982.

Shekinna Stricklen scored 19 points for Tennessee, Meighan Simmons added 16, and Alicia Manning had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Victoria Dunlap and Bernisha Pinkett each had 15 points for Kentucky.

No. 4 Tennessee beats Georgia 82-58 in SEC tourney

2011-03-05T18:57:00.000-05:00

Meighan Simmons scored 18 points and No. 4 Tennessee beat Georgia 82-58 on Saturday in the Southeastern Conference tournament semifinals.

The Lady Volunteers (30-2) will play in their 20th conference championship against No. 16 Kentucky or Vanderbilt.

Tennessee scored the first nine points of the game and never trailed. A 3-pointer by Taber Spani gave the Lady Vols a 16-2 lead with 13:51 left in the first half.

The Lady Bulldogs missed their first 14 shots from the field. Khaalidah Miller broke the drought when she hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the shot clock expired to cut the margin to 16-5 with 9:55 to go before halftime.

Georgia scored the next seven points to pull to 16-9 but wouldn’t get any closer with Tennessee shooting 48.4 percent for the game.

Jasmine Hassell led the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs (21-10) with 20 points.

No. 4 Tennessee beats Florida 92-75 in SEC tourney

2011-03-04T22:28:00.003-05:00

Glory Johnson shied away from the TV cameras, hiding behind teammate Kelley Cain, even though she’d just had one of the best games of her career.

She didn’t want to take any credit away from her fellow Lady Vols.

Johnson scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as No. 4 Tennessee beat eighth-seeded Florida 92-75 Friday in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals. .

“Being a post player, you have to get your touches from the guards,” Johnson said. “I’m not trying to take all the credit. I have off games. There’s times where I’m not hitting shots and pulling rebounds. That’s why I rely on my teammates.”

Shekinna Stricklen added 20 points for the Lady Volunteers (29-2), who are now 8-0 against Florida in the SEC tournament. They’ll meet fourth-seeded Georgia in Saturday’s semifinals.

Tennessee won the regular-season meeting with the Lady Bulldogs 77-44 on Feb. 21.

The Lady Vols had a 38-36 halftime edge, but Johnson hit a long-range jumper, a shot in the paint and a fast-break layup in the first 1:25 of the second half to give them a 44-36 lead. She finished the game 11 of 16 from the free-throw line.

“We knew they were going to come out at halftime and come out on a run,” Florida guard Deana Allen said. “When Glory was scoring back to back to back, it deflated us in a way. We knew we had to answer.”

Jordan Jones hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the margin to five, but it was as close as the Gators (18-14) would get.

The Lady Vols shot 69.2 percent in the second half and hit 17 of 25 from the free-throw line after halftime. The Lady Vols scored 50 points in the paint, got 28 points off 18 Florida turnovers and turned a 40-32 rebounding advantage into 18 second-chance points.

Lanita Bartley led Florida with 14 points. Ndidi Madu and Allen each scored 13, Jaterra Bonds had 12 and Jones scored 10.

“I told the team in the locker room there were a lot of things we could have done better but there’s no way we could have fought any harder than we did,” Florida coach Amanda Butler said. “However, we didn’t come here to put up a good fight.”

Tennessee won the SEC regular-season title after an undefeated run through conference play. The Lady Vols beat their SEC foes during the regular season by an average 24.1 points per game.

The Lady Vols hadn’t had too much trouble with the Gators in their two regular-season meetings. Tennessee limited Florida to 15 first-half points in its 83-40 win on Jan. 13 in Gainesville, and the Gators hit just 25 percent of their shots and scored their fewest points of the season in Tennessee’s 61-39 win on Feb. 10 in Knoxville.

But the Gators entered the game having won four straight and had warmed up for the Lady Vols with a 68-59 victory against ninth-seeded Arkansas in Thursday’s first-round game. Florida led the Lady Razorbacks by as many as 17 points and shot 60.7 percent in the first half and scored the final nine points to win.

This time against Tennessee, Florida led 16-14 when Stricklen hit a 3-pointer from the wing and Angie Bjorklund followed with another from the corner as part of a 10-2 run by Tennessee. Glory Johnson hit six free throws and a layup over a 2:56 period that helped the Lady Vols build to a 35-24 lead with 5:41 before halftime.

The Gators fought back with a 10-0 run that included four points by Bartley and a 3-pointer by Allen, getting within 35-34 with 2:38 in the first half, and the Lady Vols entered halftime with a 38-36 lead.

“You can tell they spent a lot of time on their offensive game,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “The ball didn’t get stuck in players’ hands. I thought they were really aggressive. They’re tough.”

Florida actually shot better than Tennessee in the first half—48.4 percent to 41.9 percent—but Tennessee had four more points at the free-throw line.

Johnson had 10 points at halftime and surpassed her previous career high of 22 points, set on Jan. 23 in a win against Mississippi State, when she hit a pair of free throws with 5:49 left in the game to make it 74-61.

“Florida is a physical team,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if it looked like it or not, but they were giving me an extremely hard time.”

Lady Vols Sweep SEC Awards

2011-03-01T15:32:00.000-05:00

After going undefeated in 2011 Southeastern Conference basketball play, the University of Tennessee Lady Vols swept the trifecta of SEC Coach of the Year, Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, announced the conference office on Tuesday.

Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt collected her eighth SEC Coach of the Year award, while junior forward/guard Shekinna Stricklen (Morrilton, Ark.) was named the 2011 SEC Player of the Year and guard Meighan Simmons (Cibolo, Texas) was tabbed as the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year. Additionally, UT junior post Glory Johnson (Knoxville, Tenn.) was also selected to the eight player SEC First Team and was also placed on the SEC All-Defensive squad in a vote by the league's 12 coaches.

This marks the second time Tennessee has swept the top three conference awards after Summitt was named the 1998 SEC Coach of the Year, Chamique Holdsclaw was the 1998 SEC Player of the Year and Tamika Catchings was honored as the 1998 SEC Freshman of the Year.

"I am so excited for, and proud of, Shekinna, Glory and Meighan," Summitt said. "They have impacted our success in SEC play all season long and are very deserving of this recognition."

In her 37th season at the helm of the UT program, Summitt has accumulated 1,065 wins - more than any other Division I coach in the history of men's or women's college basketball. In addition to her eight NCAA Titles, eight SEC Coach of the Year Awards, seven NCAA Coach of the Year Awards and 18 NCAA Final Four appearances, the Henrietta, Tenn., native has coached 19 Kodak All-Americans, has a 100% graduation rate for student-athletes who exhaust their eligibility in Lady Vol uniforms and boasts two basketball courts and a gymnasium that bear her name.

"Anytime you are recognized by your peers it's a great compliment," said Summitt. "Those are the people for whom I have the utmost respect. I received this award because of this team and their commitment to being competitive and playing together game-in and game-out. I am fortunate to have a great staff that can teach and contribute in many ways to the success of our team and our program."

A junior for the Big Orange, Stricklen led her 2011 team in SEC scoring (13.8 ppg) while playing four positions on the floor. Asked to play inside, she grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game in SEC contests. Need help at guard? She buried 43 percent of her three-pointers (25-57) while dishing almost two assists per game. Stricklen is the first Lady Vol to garner the award since Candace Parker in 2007.

"Wow! This is a tremendous honor," Stricklen remarked. "I am surprised and blessed at the same time. I have to thank all of my teammates and our coaching staff for all of their help and support."

In addition to POY, Stricklen earned All-SEC First Team honors for the first time after placing on the Second Team in 2009 and 2010 and All-Freshman team in 2009.

"Shekinna has been a multiple threat for us this season," Summitt said. "I challenged her at the start of SEC play and she has really stepped up her game and played like an All-American."

Stricklen is joined on the All-SEC First Team by Johnson who is making her very first appearance since earning 2009 SEC All-Freshman honors. The 6'3" leaper was also named to the six player 2011 SEC All-Defensive Team. This season, Johnson was selected as the 2011 SEC Player of the Week four times and was UT's second leading scorer in SEC games at 13.7 ppg while posting 10.3 rpg.

"There hasn't been a better rebounder than Glory Johnson, night-in and night-out, in SEC play this year," Summitt said. "I think her 10.3 rpg speaks to her commitment to controlling the glass."

Simmons has been a dynamo for the Lady Vols all season. The overall scoring leader at 13.8 ppg, she was third on the UT team in SEC scoring at 11.3 ppg while dishing 3.4 helpers per game.

"Meighan has not played like a freshman for our team and has been an impact player from day one," Summitt said.

Simmons was selected as the 2010-11 SEC Freshman of the Week three times. In addition to her Freshman of the Year honors and SEC All-Freshman Team selection, she also earned a place on the All-SEC Second Team.

"I am so honored," said Simmons. "Our league has so many great players and teams, I feel so blessed to have been selected. This award is a direct reflection on my teammates and coaches - they have helped me so much this season."

The top-seeded Lady Vols (28-2, 16-0 SEC) open play in the 2011 SEC Tournament at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on Fri., Mar. 4 at noon CT (SportSouth). Tennessee will take on the winner of no. 8 seeded Florida (17-13, 7-9 SEC0 and no. 9 seeded Arkansas (18-10, 6-10 SEC) who play in opening round action on Mar. 3.

The complete 2011 SEC Women's Basketball Postseason Awards:

First Team All-SEC

Tierney Jenkins, Alabama
Alli Smalley, Auburn
Porsha Phillips, Georgia
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee
Glory Johnson, Tennessee
Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt

Second Team All-SEC

C'eira Ricketts, Arkansas
Sarah Watkins, Arkansas
Jasmine James, Georgia
A'dia Mathies, Kentucky
Kayla Melson, Ole Miss
Mary Kathryn Govero, Mississippi State
Iesia Walker, South Carolina
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee

All-Freshman Team

Kaneisha Horn, Alabama
Jaterra Bonds, Florida
Khaalidah Miller, Georgia
Bernisha Pinkett, Kentucky
Valencia Mcfarland, Ole Miss
Meighan Simmons, Tennessee
Jasmine Lister, Vanderbilt
Stephanie Holzer, Vanderbilt

All-Defensive Team

Tierney Jenkins, Alabama
Meredith Mitchell, Georgia
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky
A'dia Mathies, Kentucky
Katherine Graham, LSU
Glory Johnson, Tennessee

Coach of the Year

Pat Summitt, Tennessee

Player of the Year

Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee

Freshman of the Year

Meighan Simmons, Tennessee

Defensive Player of the Year

Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky

6th Woman of the Year

Stephanie Holzer, Vanderbilt

Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Mary Kathryn Govero, Mississippi State

No. 4 Lady Vols top LSU 80-60 to go perfect in SEC

2011-02-27T22:53:00.000-05:00

Shekinna Stricklen is glad to finally have something to brag about after all the struggles she and her Tennessee teammates have been through the past few seasons.

With an 80-60 win against LSU on Sunday, the No. 4 Lady Volunteers wrapped up an undefeated SEC season for only the ninth time in coach Pat Summitt’s 37 seasons.

“That shows a lot right there,” Stricklen said. “This class, this team, we’ve been through a lot. It’s good to finally put something in the record books as a good thing. It just shows we’re more mature and we’re playing better as a team and we’re more committed now.”

Stricklen and eight of her current teammates were part of the squad that became the first and only Tennessee team to be eliminated in the first round NCAA tournament after a loss to Ball State in 2009. The Lady Vols finished fourth in the SEC that year after five conference losses.

Now the Lady Vols (28-2, 16-0) are in good shape for the SEC and NCAA tournaments after beating their conference foes by an average 24.1 points. They’re also the first team to log 16 SEC victories in a season after it added two games to each team’s league schedule last season.

“We didn’t set out for that, but you have to give this team a lot of credit,” Summitt said. “Overall, I think their focus and maturity has really helped us to be successful. This team has good chemistry. They really want to win as a team, and it shows.”

Tennessee needed a strong post game to beat LSU 73-65 to open the SEC season on Jan. 2, but relied more on its outside shooting this time against the Lady Tigers (18-12, 8-8).

Stricklen had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Angie Bjorklund had 17 points in her final home game and Meighan Simmons added 10 points. Johnson scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to finish the SEC season with a double-double average of 13.7 points and 10.3 rebounds, the first Lady Vol to do so since Candace Parker averaged a double-double in 2007.

LSU was trying to get one more impressive regular season victory to make its case for a 13th straight appearance in the NCAA tournament. The Lady Tigers have big victories against Ohio State, UCLA and Georgia while logging a few bad losses and missed getting a first-round bye in the SEC tournament for the first time in 10 years.

The Lady Tigers had held their last eight SEC opponents to 55 or fewer points, but the Lady Vols had logged their 55th point of the game with 15:32 to go off a layup by Johnson.

That was mostly thanks to Tennessee’s first-half shooting. The Lady Vols hit 17 of its first 25 shots and 6 of 9 from 3-point range while holding LSU to 5-of-26 shooting during that stretch, and a 3 by Alicia Manning with 3:29 left in the first half gave them a 44-20 lead.

“I have been watching Tennessee since 1978, and I have never seen them shoot the ball like they did in the first half,” LSU coach Van Chancellor said. “They just shot lights out in the first half. If they can shoot like that all the way, they are going to be a contender for the big championship.”

After struggling against Tennessee’s man-to-man defense, the Lady Tigers settled down and made three straight 3-pointers in the span of 40 seconds, then a pair of free throws by LaSondra Barrett with 44 seconds to go before halftime cut the margin to 44-31.

Tennessee held its lead through the second half until LSU’s Courtney Jones hit a 3-pointer with 2:58 to make it 67-57. Stricklen hit a long jump shot, and Barrett answered with 2:21 remaining in the game, but the Lady Tigers scored only one more point the rest of the way.

Jones had 21 points and 12 rebounds, Adrienne Webb scored 17 points and Barrett added 15.

“It gave us a lot of energy to finish the first half strong, and coming out in the second half we still had that energy, but not all the shots were falling,” Webb said. “We were getting good looks, but they just weren’t going down.”

Tennessee 66, Mississippi 39

2011-02-24T23:20:00.004-05:00

During Pat Summitt’s Hall of Fame coaching career, Tennessee has won 1,064 games in just about every way possible.

Now the Lady Vols can add an indoor rain delay to the list.

No. 4 Tennessee was awarded a 66-39 victory at Mississippi when strong storms sent water spilling onto the floor with 5:24 left in Thursday night’s game.

“When you have a wet floor, we’re not going to play on it,” Summitt said. “We’ve got to protect our student-athletes.”

Players were running downcourt on a fast break when Mississippi’s Kenyotta Jenkins crashed to the floor in the middle of the water and play was halted. The delay lasted about 20 minutes before the game was canceled.

Brian Russell, an assistant director of event operations at Ole Miss, said high winds during the storms caused rain to fly sideways through air vents in the roof.

Russell said the game officials called to get approval from the Southeastern Conference before calling the game.

Summitt and Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner met at midcourt, and both agreed the game should be canceled.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt,” Summitt said. “Now I hope we can get home.”

Even before the rain delay, there wasn’t much doubt about the outcome.

The Lady Vols (27-2, 15-0) jumped to a 31-7 lead in the first 12 minutes and need one more victory to complete an undefeated conference season for the first time since 2007 and the ninth time overall in the history of the vaunted program.

Glory Johnson led the Lady Vols with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Vicki Baugh scored 12 points and Alicia Manning added 11.

One of Johnson’s few bad moments came when she missed a dunk attempt in the second half. Johnson had the height, but the ball slipped out of her hand as she arrived at the rim. Manning grabbed the offensive rebound and scored.

“I just lost it,” Johnson said laughing. “I thought I was going to have it. But my teammates had my back with the putback. So I’ll pretend we just wanted to get a few offensive rebounds.”

Soon afterward, the rain started to fall through the roof at Tad Smith Coliseum. A big trash can and several towels were placed on the court to try and soak up the damage, but the rain continued to leak onto the court. Severe weather was widespread through Mississippi on Thursday night, with several thunderstorms and tornado warnings.

Players and fans spent the delay dancing to songs blaring over the sound system, and it quickly became apparent that the dripping water wasn’t going to stop soon.

“I would probably have ordered it a little sooner if I had thought it would have helped us out a little,” Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner said. “It’s strange. It’s bizarre. But things happen.”

Tennessee outrebounded Ole Miss 43-15 and shot 52.1 percent (25 of 48) from the field.

Ole Miss (10-17, 3-12) pulled to 49-35 with 15:05 remaining in the second half, but Tennessee responded with an 8-0 run.

Valencia McFarland had 14 points for the Rebels, who have lost six straight. Ole Miss shot just 31.1 percent (14 of 45) from the field.

“Tennessee is better than we are,” Ladner said. “Against a team like Tennessee, you have to score with them. We had some good looks and just didn’t hit shots.”

No. 4 Tennessee wins SEC, beats Georgia 77-44

2011-02-21T22:19:00.000-05:00

Meighan Simmons scored 14 points and No. 4 Tennessee cruised to a 77-44 win over No. 22 Georgia on Monday night to win its 16th Southeastern Conference regular season title.

The Lady Volunteers (26-2, 14-0) have beaten their opponents by an average of 24.2 points during their undefeated run through conference play. Their last SEC loss came on Jan. 21, 2010.

This time Tennessee took care of business early against the league’s second place team, jumping out to a 10-2 lead after two fast 3-pointers by Simmons. The Lady Vols used 50 percent shooting in the first half to build a 40-21 halftime lead and led by 37 points late in the second half.

The Lady Bulldogs (20-7, 10-4) made 8 of 34 shots from 3-point range and shot 25.8 percent from the field for the game. Jasmine James led Georgia with 11 points.

Former Lady Vol, UT team up off court

2011-02-18T13:27:00.000-05:00

One of UT's favorite daughters returned to campus this week with an opportunity in hand.

Former Lady Vol basketball player Tamika Catchings announced at a press conference on Monday afternoon the partnership of her foundation, the Catch the Stars Foundation, with the UT College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, as well as Knox County Schools.

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt was on hand to introduce Catchings to gathered media at Thompson-Boling Arena's media center, along with College of Education, Health and Human Sciences dean Bob Rider and I-LEAD Director and Professor Fritz G. Polite.

"It's a real pleasure and honor for me to be here today," Summitt said. "Tamika Catchings is not only a great basketball player, she's an even better person."

The Catch the Stars Foundation, which was founded by Catchings in 2004, aims to provide positive role models for youth in communities. Catchings spearheaded the union with UT as a means of helping at-risk high school students in Knoxville. Knox County Schools, represented by school superintendent Jim McIntyre, also joined in the partnership.

Catchings said growing up as the son of former NBA player Harvey Catchings helped spark her interest in community service.

"We started the Catch (the) Stars Foundation way back in 2004, but it actually started before that," Catchings said. "Even as a small girl, I remember going out to do community appearances with my dad. That kind of showed me that there are other people out there to give back to."

The former Olympic gold medalist, WNBA All-Star and NCAA champion said a yearning to give back only increased when she reached Tennessee as a student-athlete.

"I got here to the University of Tennessee, and being underneath Pat (Summitt), and obviously the program, one of the things we had to do was more community service," Catchings said.

After tearing her ACL during her senior year at UT, Catchings was rehabbing her knee during her rookie season with the WNBA's Indiana Fever. Catchings made it clear to the Fever coaches that her time off the court would not be wasted.

"I remember going to Indiana, and one of the things I told them was, 'Look, I don't want to be home, woe is me. I don't want to be nursing my knee worried about myself,'" Catchings said. "I want to be around kids, because kids make me happy."

In 2001, Catchings started her first basketball camp, which celebrated its 10th year this past season. The response from local families was so strong in Indiana that Catchings started her mentoring program. The partnership with UT will help bring the organization's mentoring and leadership development to Knoxville. Through the CEHHS, Polite and Rider will oversee the program.

Summitt said Catchings' community involvement comes as no surprise to her former coach.

"She was one of those people you always knew had her priorities in order," Summitt said. "When you have your priorities in order, great things can happen.

"She's a shining star and a great example to all of us. What she's doing here today speaks volumes in that regard."

For Catchings, the goal is simple: Make a difference in the future of every child possible.

"We want to make sure that with the girls and the boys, not only do we just offer the programs, but we want to make sure they learn something and that they're able to move forward in life," Catchings said. "For me, I had a lot of mentors, a lot of people that helped me, a lot of people who I could say thank you to.

"With Catch (the) Stars Foundation, my mission is always to empower. I'm really excited about the partnership."

No. 4 Tennessee beats South Carolina 82-60

2011-02-17T23:27:00.003-05:00

Pat Summitt is a big fan of the way Alicia Manning plays defense. The reserve forward has spent extra time shooting in the gym this season in hopes of pleasing her coach just as much with her offensive output.

Manning scored a career-high 22 points to lead No. 4 Tennessee to an 82-60 win over South Carolina on Thursday night, its 40th consecutive win in the series.

“I think she’s a player that’s really invested in her game, and there’s no substitute for getting in the gym and getting extra shots,” Summitt said. “She’s playing with a lot of confidence. She’s extended her range, which I think has really, really helped her game.”

The victory secures at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season crown for the Lady Volunteers. A win over second-place Georgia on Monday would give them their 16th title and third in four seasons.

Manning scored from all over the floor, going 8 of 11 from the field, hitting three of her four attempts from 3-point range and going 3 of 4 from the foul line.

She hit a 3-pointer to cap an early 17-2 run that gave the Lady Vols a 21-7 lead with 10:07 left in the first half. After going 8:12 without hitting a field goal, South Carolina got back-to-back 3s by Markeshia Grant and a layup from Ieasia Walker to cut Tennessee’s margin to 21-5.

The Gamecocks pulled within five points a few minutes later off a three-point play by Walker, but it was the closest they would get. Another Manning 3 pushed Tennessee’s lead back into double digits with 1:32 to go before halftime, and the Lady Vols (25-2, 13-0) pulled away quickly in the second half.

“I’ve been shooting (3-pointers) a lot more in practice,” Manning said. “I was feeling a really good rhythm, so I just took it in.”

Meighan Simmons scored 17 points for the Lady Vols, Shekinna Stricklen contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds and Alyssia Brewer grabbed 10 boards.

Walker scored 16 points for South Carolina (15-11, 7-6), which hasn’t beaten Tennessee since Jan. 23, 1980. Valerie Nainima hit four 3-pointers and finished with 15 points.

“I think we passed the ball well. We had a lot of assists tonight,” Walker said. “We need to move a little bit quicker, but we had a lot of good things we can take from this game.”

Tennessee also got a win at South Carolina this season, overcoming 24 turnovers and surviving a late run by the Gamecocks en route to a 71-56 win on Jan. 20.

That loss seemed to spark the Gamecocks, who won five of their next six games, including victories over ranked foes Georgia and Kentucky during the stretch.

South Carolina did its best to keep pace with the Lady Vols in hopes of getting its third win over a ranked opponent for a second season in a row. The Gamecocks fired away from around the perimeter but hit only 34.9 percent of their shots and finished 8 of 22 from 3-point range.

Things got a little scrappy around the basket at times during the first half. South Carolina was charged with 13 fouls in the first half, leading to 11-of-17 shooting from the free throw line by Tennessee, while Stricklen got called for a technical after tangling with Ashley Bruner on a free-throw shot by teammate Glory Johnson.

The Lady Vols finished 16 of 25 from the charity stripe, outrebounded South Carolina 51-30 and turned 16 offensive boards into 19 second-chance points.

“The outrebounded us by 20 in the last game. We knew it was a difficult feat to outrebound them, but we thought that if we could cut the deficit down by half it would give us a chance to compete and maybe sneak out with a win,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said

“When you have waves of players coming in like they have, it wears you down. If you don’t have players to match up with them, you’re in for a long night,” she said.

No. 4 Tennessee rallies, beats Vanderbilt 65-57

2011-02-13T22:04:00.007-05:00

Pat Summitt promises she isn’t running out of material to whip up her Tennessee Lady Vols even in her 37th season.

“Oh, I can make stuff up,” she said.

She must have come up with a doozy at halftime Sunday because No. 4 Tennessee rallied from one of the Lady Vols’ worst first halves ever and beat Vanderbilt 65-57 Sunday for their 15th straight win.

“We had a real good halftime,” Summitt said. “I like halftime more than anything I think. … I ripped everybody. You know, nobody was really stepping up and taking ownership and leadership.”

The Lady Vols (24-2, 12-0 Southeastern Conference) played their third game in seven days and were sloppy scoring only 15 points in the first half, the third-worst scoring performance for 20 minutes in Tennessee’s history.

They came back with a 50-point second half keyed in part by freshman Lauren Avant, who scored all her season-high 11 points in the final 20 minutes. Shekinna Stricklen scored 14 points, and Glory Johnson had 10.

Assistant coach Mickie DeMoss suggested Summitt put Avant in for the second half after the freshman played only three minutes in the first. Avant played 17 minutes in the second and also grabbed two rebounds with four steals.

“She stepped up big time,” Stricklen said of Avant. “She had it all today. She’s the one who brought the energy to us in the second half. She had No. 11 (Jasmine Lister) all frustrated, you know. When you see one person who has defense like that, it brought our energy. We just started being more aggressive on defense. We started making them play faster.”

Avant played only eight games as a high school senior due to shoulder surgery, and illness and injuries had limited her to 58 minutes in nine games coming into Sunday.

“I was definitely nervous, but I just tried to show my confidence, kind of fake it a little to get my teammates upbeat,” Avant said. “We just all responded well to each other. I’ve always had confidence in my defense.”

Vanderbilt (17-8, 8-4) snapped a four-game winning streak that had moved the Commodores from fifth in the SEC to second, just three games back of Tennessee. The Commodores couldn’t hold on for what would have been only their eighth victory all time against Tennessee, blowing an 11-point lead with 13:52 left.

“You hold somebody to 15 and then they score 50?” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “I mean 20 might not have been enough at that point. The frustrating piece, until the last eight minutes we were beating them, and they’re the No. 4 team in the country and there’s a lot to be said for that.”

Jence Rhoads had 15 points for Vanderbilt, and Stephanie Holzer added 10.

Summitt stared stonily at her Lady Vols through the first half when they scored a measly 15 points, shooting 20 percent (5 of 25). That is the third-worst scoring half ever behind the 13 scored against Rutgers on Jan. 3, 2009, and 14 against Virginia in an NCAA tournament regional championship March 25, 1996.

She ripped them heavily at halftime, probably just as she did in those other games.

“It was almost like roll call, trying to find out who’s going to step up and really bring what we had to have,” Summitt said. “But we found a way to win. That’s what championship teams do. They just find a way to win, and I don’t necessarily like watching as we struggle through a lot of possessions. But I think this team has a lot of maturity now, and hopefully we’ll build on it from this game.”

The Lady Vols won both of those, and they came back to win this one too despite being so cold in the first half that even when Taber Spani stole the ball from Lister, her pull-up jumper off the fast break hit off the front rim for Tennessee’s 15th miss of the half.

Tennessee didn’t score a point in the final 5:33 after a fast-break layup by Kamiko Williams pulled the Lady Vols within 24-15.

Vanderbilt didn’t take advantage of the Lady Vols’ woes. The Commodores led only 28-15 at halftime because only Holzer scored on a layup, and Elan Brown added two free throws while Tennessee couldn’t score down the final minutes.

Vanderbilt led 39-28 when the Lady Vols finally got going with a 16-3 run. Avant, hobbled by injuries and illness this season, came off the bench and provided a spark. She scored on a driving layup and converted the free throw and then hit a 3-pointer to pull Tennessee within 42-41 with 7:31 left.

“We couldn’t stop them off the dribble in the second half, and a lot of it was her,” Balcomb said of Avant. “We got caught on switches and had some mismatches and didn’t have our best defender guarding her a lot of the time, and they attacked us.”

Meighan Simmons, who had been 1 of 8 from the floor, hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key that capped the spurt with 5:55 left and put Tennessee ahead 44-42—the Lady Vols’ first lead since 5-2.

The teams went back and forth with Vandy last leading at 49-47 before Williams’ layup tied it up, and Simmons hit a jumper that put Tennessee ahead to stay at 51-49. The Lady Vols led by eight three times down the stretch.

No. 4 Tennessee gets sloppy 61-39 win over Florida

2011-02-10T22:40:00.011-05:00

Even a 22-point victory and an 11th straight win in the Southeastern Conference isn’t enough to make Tennessee coach Pat Summitt ignore a sloppy performance by some of her players.

The Lady Volunteers struggled in the paint, shot poorly and turned the ball over often in the first half against a Florida team they’d already beat by 43 points earlier in the season.

They still managed a 61-39 victory against the Gators on Thursday night.

“We didn’t come out and respect them early, and that disappointed me,” Summitt said. “We have to commit all the time. The first game you have to let go.”

Despite frustrating Summitt with inconsistent play, Tennessee (23-2, 11-0 Southeastern Conference) is cruising through SEC play after being picked to win the conference this season. The Lady Vols have beaten their league opponents by an average 25 points per game.

Still, the Lady Vols shot just 33.3 percent in the first half and had five quick turnovers in the first 5 minutes. Forward Shekinna Stricklen knows if they want to keep their winning streak going through the SEC tournament and into the NCAA tournament, they’ve got to improve.

“We have to be focused every game,” she said. “We have to play every team like they’re the best team. Everyone really has their best night against us. We just have to hold each other accountable.”

The Gators (14-12, 4-8) had their own offensive struggles and couldn’t take advantage of Tennessee’s slow start, going cold for 5:44 in the first half after taking a 7-4 lead on a layup by Ndidi Madu with 15:16 before halftime.

Stricklen was one of the few players not to draw Summitt’s ire. While her teammates were turning the ball over and missing their shots, Stricklen made her first four, two of which were 3s, and hit half of Tennessee’s 14 unanswered points during Florida’s scoring drought.

Glory Johnson didn’t have a single point at halftime and got an earful from Summitt because of it. It did the trick as Johnson scored 16 points in the second half to help the Lady Vols pull away.

“She was not sprinting the floor and was being casual,” Summitt said. “You can talk to Glory, though. It doesn’t matter if you yell or if you whisper, she responds.”

The Gators had shot 21.4 percent—their third-lowest shooting percentage ever in a game—in the 83-40 loss to Tennessee in Gainesville on Jan. 13 and didn’t improve much this time. By halftime they’d only hit seven of 32 attempts, and they finished 25 percent.

Florida coach Amanda Butler said she knew she didn’t need to remind her players of how poorly they played in the first game against the Lady Vols, but did anyway in hopes of motivating them to play better this time.

“We felt like we probably played our worst game of the year, and you just can’t do that against possibly the best competition we face all year long. Were we motivated by that? Absolutely, no question.”

Jaterra Bonds scored 10 points for Florida, which has lost its last three games to the Lady Vols by an average 34.7 points. The Gators’ 39 points were a season low by a Tennessee opponent.

“We got killed in the first game,” Bonds said. “We didn’t come out playing how we know how to play and how we are supposed to play. That motivated us to come out even harder and play our best game against them because they are the best team in the conference.”