LADY VOLS TAKE ON NC STATE IN JIMMY V CLASSIC

Nov. 21, 2004
Tipoff: 5:00 p.m. (EST)
Television: ESPN2

Probable Starters

TENNESSEE LADY VOLUNTEERS (1-0)
Sidney Spencer
Shyra Ely
Tye'sha Fluker
Loree Moore
Shanna Zolman

NC STATE WOLFPACK (1-0)
Marquetta Dickens
Ashley Key
Tiffany Stansbury
Billie McDowell
Kendra Bell

LADY VOLS TAKE ON NC STATE IN JIMMY V CLASSIC

TODAY'S GAME
The #1-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols travel to Raleigh, N.C., to take on N.C. State in the Third Annual Jimmy V Classic. While Tennessee opened its season on Nov. 19 with a 68-34 win at UT-Chattanooga, N.C. State entertained UNC-Wilmington at home where they recorded a 67-49 win.

LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE
This is the Lady Vols' 31st season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 853-167 overall record...Needs just 27 wins to become the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history...Her 2003-04 squad finished as the NCAA runner-up with a 31-4 record...UT also is the seven-consecutive-time defending SEC regular season champion, and has been picked by both the media and the coaches to finish first in this year's SEC race as well.

The Lady Vols are led by National Player of the Year candidates, seniors Loree Moore and Shyra Ely and junior Shanna Zolman. Each appeared on pre-season watch lists or ballots for the Naismith Player of the Year and the Wooden Award. Tennessee returns seven letterwinners and welcomes eight newcomers to the lineup...Rookie Alex Fuller (Shelbyville, Tenn.) will redshirt this season after undergoing surgery in October...Fellow rookies Candace Parker (Naperville, Ill.) and Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood are also currently sidelined with injuries.

PUT THE GLOVE ON UTC
Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt told her players before the season began that they had better pack their defense and rebounding when they hit the road. Seems like they packed a double-dose in the season opener against UTC. The Lady Mocs were limited to just 2-22 field goals in the first half for 9.1 percent shooting. A mark never reached by a UT opponent. The Mocs improved in the second half and finished shooting 13.5 percent (7-52) for the game. UT outrebounded UTC, 51-34.

OUR SECOND TRIP TO THE JIMMY V CLASSIC
The third annual Jimmy V Women's Basketball Classic, staged and televised by ESPN in conjunction with The V Foundation for Cancer Research, will feature four outstanding teams. In the first game, three-time defending NCAA champion Connecticut will face North Carolina at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, while at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, the top-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols will face host N.C. State Notes: This year marks the first time 1994 NCAA Champion North Carolina is in the field; UConn, which has won the past three NCAA Championships, has played in two of the three Classics; Tennessee, 2004 NCAA runner-up and six-time NCAA Champion, returns to the Jimmy V Classic after a one-year absence, and host N.C. State, led by 2002 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee and V Foundation board member Kay Yow, has participated in all three Classics.

CHARTING THE N.C. STATE WOLFPACK
The N.C. State women's basketball team opened its season with a 67-49 victory over visiting UNC Wilmington. The Wolfpack was led by junior Billie McDowell's 21 points, while junior Tiffany Stansbury recorded her first double-double with 16 rebounds and 12 points. State led for the majority of the first half and held UNC Wilmington to just two points in the first five minutes. The Seahawks eventually took the lead at 26-25 with just under two minutes to go before the break. The Wolfpack rallied to a 31-26 lead in part to two buckets from McDowell. She tallied 15 of her game-high 21 points in the first half. In the second half NCSU turned up its defensive effort and grabbed 13 steals. Sophomore Marquetta Dickens tallied 13 second-half points and collected a career high five steals. State never lost its momentum and coasted to a 67-49 win. The Pack forced 32 UNCW turnovers and outrebounded the Seahawks, 42-36. The game-breaker was in the steal column and in the second chance points as NCSU's 25 offensive rebounds resulted in 14 second chance points, while UNCW had just eight offensive boards and four second chance points.

THE SERIES
This marks the 15th meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1975-76 season. From 1978 until 1986, the two teams played each other every season alternating between State's Reynolds Coliseum and UT's Stokely Athletics Center. State's three wins in the series have all come in the state of North Carolina - two at home in Raleigh and one at Western Carolina on a neutral court.

SUMMITT HIT 100 WINS
Coach Pat Summitt collected the first of her many coaching milestone wins when she recorded her 100th career coaching victory on Jan. 13, 1979. Her Lady Vols defeated the N.C. State Wolfpack, 79-66, at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.

AVERAGE SCORE
The average score of a UT-NCSU game is 78.7 (UT) and 62.9 (NCSU).

VERSUS THE ACC
Tennessee is 65-11 (.857) all-time versus nine teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. UT's last match-up with an ACC team came in the 2004 #1 vs. #2 contest at top-ranked Duke, which UT won, 72-69. The only squads to accumulate three wins against UT are Maryland (UT leads, 9-3) and North Carolina State (UT leads, 11-3). Tennessee is undefeated against Florida State (2-0), Georgia Tech (3-0) and Wake Forest (2-0).

OLD FRIENDS
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and N.C. State coach Kay Yow go way back in the coaching circles. When Summitt was named the 1984 USA Olympic Coach for the Los Angeles Games, she named Yow as her assistant. Together, they coached the red, white and blue to its first-ever gold medal in women's Olympic basketball competition. Four years later, Yow was selected as the USA Olympic coach for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Yow brought home the gold medal with a little help from Lady Vol All-American Bridgette Gordon who was a standout forward on the team.

GAME REPORT 2 - N.C. STATE
The University of Tennessee Lady Vols and the N.C. State Wolfpack meet this afternoon in the second game of the Jimmy V Classic. N.C. State has played in and hosted the event for the past three seasons.

OUR LAST MEETING
Second-ranked Tennessee traveled to Orlando, Fla. and Disney World, for the Honda Elite Classic and came away with an impressive, 93-56 win over #8/9 N.C. State on Dec. 2, 2001. State started fast and controlled the first 12 minutes of the game taking a couple of five point leads over the Lady Vols (last five point lead, 15-10 at 13:15). UT finally pulled even after a trey by Kara Lawson made it 19-19 with 8:09 to play in the first half. Over the next 7:32, the Lady Vols held NCSU scoreless while building a 31-19 lead behind Lawson's treys, Gwen Jackson's prowling around the hoop and a scoring flurry from UT reserve Courtney McDaniel. By the time State scored with 58 seconds to go before the half, UT led by a dozen. Lawson pushed UT's halftime margin to 15 points, 36-21, after a trey with three seconds to go before the break. At the half, Lawson led UT with 13 points while Jackson, who left the game after hitting her head on the floor, tallied a dozen points and nine boards in 17 minutes. In the second half, State mounted a rally and drew to within 11 points, 44-33 with 15:39 to go, but seven unanswered points by the Lady Vols over a 30-second span extended UT's lead to 18 points with 14:13 left in the game. A McDaniel lay-up with 3:44 to go gave UT its largest lead of the game at 38 points, 87-49. On the afternoon, four Lady Vols were in double-figures led by Lawson's game high 20 points. Joining her in double-digits were Jackson with 14 points, Michelle Snow with a dozen and McDaniel with a career high 11 points. Jackson led all rebounders with 12 boards. Rookie Loree Moore was credited with five steals while handing out six assists. The Lady Vols connected on 49% of their field goals and 41% of three-pointers. UT outrebounded State, 45-36.

OUR LAST MEETING IN RALEIGH
The third-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols traveled to Raleigh, N.C. on Dec. 1, 1990, and found themselves on the losing end of a 90-77 decision to #7 N.C. State. The only time the Lady Vols led in the contest came in the opening seconds of play as Daedra Charles scored off the tip. After that, it was all downhill for UT. State quickly grabbed an eight point lead (16-8) at the 13:20 mark as the Lady Vols committed almost as many fouls (six) as they had points (eight). At the break, NCSU led 43-31, as UT shot 41% FG while NCSU connected on 57% of its shots. Free throw defense stalled UT's efforts in the opening stanza as the Lady Vols managed just 36% (4-11). In the second half, State grabbed its largest lead of the game (26 points) when a technical foul was whistled on UT coach Pat Summitt at the 13:13 mark for protesting the fourth foul called on All-American Daedra Charles. The Packs' free throws gave the home team a 67-41 lead. Rookie post Peggy Evans took over for UT down the stretch and helped to cut the Lady Vols' loss to just 13 points. On the afternoon, Tennessee placed four players in double-figures led by Dena Head's 17 points, Evans with 16 points and a career high 10 rebounds while Lisa Harrison and Jody Adams tossed in 11 each. Charles was held to a season low four points and fouled out. State outrebounded UT, 43-35.

HIGH PROFILE GAMES - EARLY
The Lady Vols will be thrown into some high profile games early again this campaign. After traveling to a dangerous UT-Chattanooga (ranked #29) to open the season, the Lady Vols turn around two days later to take on N.C. State in the Jimmy V Classic on ESPN2. Two days after that is the home opener versus always tough George Washington. You guessed it, two days later, UT travels to #3 Texas for a Thanksgiving night clash on ESPN2.

DODGING NO BULLETS
Every Lady Vol 2004-05 non-conference opponent (13 teams) played in the NCAA Tournament last year.

GOT GAME
Senior All-America forward Shyra Ely played and started all 35 games last season and logged 1,055 minutes of playing time (30.1 mpg). Junior guard Shanna Zolman played in every game last season and started 30 of 35 contests but matched Ely in playing time with 1,055 minutes as well.

Z-TIME AT THE CHARITY STRIPE
Shanna Zolman entered the season with a streak of having connected on 34-consecutive free throws and has now extended it to 36 thru the UTC game. The Syracuse, Ind., native has not missed a free throw since the second half of the game at Kentucky on Jan. 29, 2004. Last season, she led the nation in free throw accuracy connecting at a 95 percent clip. Zolman missed just four last season (5-7 at #5 Stanford, 1-2 vs. Vandy in Knoxville and 7-8 at Kentucky). She finished with 88-92 (.957). Zolman had connected on 22 consecutive charity tosses before missing against Vanderbilt on Jan. 22, 2004. Tennessee's all-time leader in consecutive free throws was Tiffany Woosley who hit 45 consecutive 12-21-92 thru 2-6-93.

BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE
The Lady Vols added a new section of seats this season after taking away the old courtside press row. Ante up $40,000 for a pair, and you too, can have a courtside seat opposite the benches and scorer's table. To date, 48 of the 64 new floor seats have been sold for Lady Vol hoops, raising a total of $800,000. A little over $1,000,000 will be raised once all of the seats are sold.

THAT APOSTROPHE THING
In all of Pat Summitt's years of coaching at Tennessee, she had only one player on the roster with an apostrophe in her name (that was Kathy O'Neil - way back in 1976-80) and never one with a hyphen. When Tye'sha Fluker came along in 2002, she was the first to have an apostrophe in her first name. This season, a new member joined the apostrophe club, Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood. Sa'de also became the inaugural member of the hyphen club as well.

SID THANKS THE JIMMY V FOUNDATION
As the Tennessee Associate Athletics Director for Media Relations and a cancer survivor, I'd like to say a special thanks to the V Foundation and ESPN. Through their joint efforts, millions of dollars have poured into cancer research and Coach Jim Valvano's dream of bringing cancer research "out on the table" has been realized. I was diagnosed with stage 1-B/2-A cervical cancer on Feb. 14, 2001, and had to endure both chemotherapy and radiation. Over three years later, I'm cancer free. I'll never forget the inaugural ESPYs when Coach V proclaimed, "Don't give up, don't ever give up." When you are battling cancer, they are the words you live by every day. Debby Jennings

MORE ON THE PACK
The Wolfpack enters its 31st season as a program and the 30th under the direction of Head Coach and Hall of Famer Kay Yow. Yow's 14-member squad kicked-off the regular season on Nov. 19, defeating UNC Wilmington, 67-49. Co-captains, senior Kendra Bell and junior Rachel Stockdale look to lead the Wolfpack to its 27th winning season as a program and 26th under Yow. The two are the Pack's only returning starters after N.C. State graduated three last season, including WNBA draftee, Kaayla Chones and ACC all-defensive team member, Nanna Rivers. Bell started 29 of her 30 appearances and averaged 7.2 ppg and 2.8 apg as a junior and led the team in minutes per game with 26.6. Stockdale was the team's top three-point shooter as she hit 40.3 percent last year. Joining them is sophomore Marquetta Dickens, who returns as the Pack's leading scorer with 8.3 ppg and 9.3 ppg in conference play. State finished the 2003-04 season with a 17-15 record and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 17th time in its history.

LOOKING AHEAD TO GEORGE WASHINGTON - Nov. 23
George Washington University (1-0) rebounded from an eight-point halftime deficit to outscore Georgetown University (0-1) by 13 points in the second half and defeated the Hoyas, 67-62, on Nov.19. With foul trouble holding her to just one field goal attempt and two points in the first half, GW senior Jessica Simmonds erupted for 15 second-half points and carried the Colonials down the stretch to victory. Simmonds, playing in her first-ever regular season game as a Colonial, led all scores with 17 points. Trailing 51-41 with 10:09 remaining in regulation, Simmonds scored seven unanswered points to bring GW to within three, 51-48. Almost three minutes later the Colonials took their first lead of the game 54-53, only to have Georgetown snatch it right back. But junior Anna Montañana connected on four straight free throws and the Colonials pulled ahead again and never looked back. Montañana also got off to a slow start in the game, shooting 2-for-6 for four points in the first half. But she came alive in the second half to score 11 points, including shooting six for seven from the free throw line, to end up as the game's second highest scorer with 15. She also notched five assists in the contest. The Colonials host East Carolina University in GW's home opener today.

George Washington enters the 2004-05 campaign after a highly successful 22-8 season last year that saw the Colonials win an Atlantic 10 regular-season title, post at least 20 victories and earn its 11th bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Joe McKeown, now in his 16th year at GW, returns eight letterwinners from a 2003-04 squad that ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (68.4 ppg) and owned the stingiest defense in the league, holding opponents to a .383 shooting percentage. However, the Colonials must replace three of their five starters from last season, including the reigning Atlantic 10 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Cathy Joens and Ugo Oha. The pair combined to score more than 48 percent of all GW's points last season.

SUMMITT ON WEEKLY TELECONFERENCE ON WEDNESDAY
Coach Pat Summitt's regularly scheduled weekly Wednesday teleconference will be on Nov. 24 at 11:00 a.m. Members of the media will be notified of the dial-in number on Monday.

#14 HAS WEST VIRGINIA KARMA
Rookie Alexis Hornbuckle, from Charleston, W.Va., wears uniform #14 for the Lady Vols. Two decades ago, another West Virginia superstar donned #14 for the Lady Vols - Mary Ostrowski, a 6'2" forward from Parkersburg. Ostrowski earned Kodak All-America status during her tenure with UT while becoming the first Lady Vol to register over 1,000 career points (1,729) and 1,000 career rebounds (1,001).

LADY VOL STREAKS
The last time the Lady Vols lost at home was against UConn, 67-81, on Feb. 5 2004 -- since then, UT has won three games played at home. The last time UT lost on the road was on Jan. 4, 2003, at UConn, 62-63, since then the team has won 21 road games. The last time the Lady Vols lost on a neutral court was against UConn, 61-70, in the NCAA title game on April 6, 2004. Since then, UT has not played on a neutral court.