Lady Vols Visit Rutgers to End 2004

Tennessee is 10-2 all-time against Rutgers

THE GAME

The #8/10-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols travel to #24 Rutgers for its first appearance in the Louis Brown Athletic Center, a.k.a. RAC, for the first time in a decade. Unranked Rutgers ambushed #1-ranked Tennessee, 87-77, as an ice storm raged across the New Brunswick landscape in that last Garden State meeting between the two teams on Jan. 17, 1994.

LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE

This is the Lady Vols' 31st season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 860-169 overall record...Needs just 20 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-time-consecutive 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.

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...After a rocky start, the Lady Vols appear to be on the upswing in the four most recent games...In UT's last contest, the Lady Vols hit a buzzer-beater to knock off #2 Stanford, 70-67 in Knoxville...More good news emerged at halftime of the game...Team doctors have cleared rookie standout Candace Parker to begin practice...In recent weeks, the Lady Vols scored a season-high 82 points against TCU...Following the 70-59 win at Louisiana Tech and a 78-63 win over #15 DePaul -- It marked the first time this season the Lady Vols scored 70-points or better in consecutive games...In the last four contests, the Lady Vols have outscored their opponents 75.0-61.0, shot 43.7 percent from the floor and 70 percent from the line compared to the first six game averages of 61.8-51.7 (scoring), 36.9%(field) and 60.8 % (FT).

SCARLET KNIGHTS AT A GLANCE

Rutgers is 6-2 this season following a 66-51 victory against Clemson Dec. 18. The Scarlet Knights were ranked 24th in the AP poll (Dec. 27). RU also received 58 points to rate as the second-highest team "receiving votes" in the WBCA/ESPN/USA Today Poll (12-20). Rutgers is led by 6-2 forward Michelle Campbell who is averaging a team-best 14.6 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Senior guard Chelsea Newton is contributing 11.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg and 3.1 assists, while rookie guard Matee Ajavon is adding 11.1 ppg and 3.3 rpg. Redshirt senior guard Nikki Jett rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.6 tallies per game. RU returned eight letterwinners and three starters from a 2004 team that finished 21-12 overall and a 10-6 mark in the BIG EAST. Rutgers finished as the runner-up at the 2004 BIG EAST Championship and secured its sixth NCAA Tournament bid in a seven-year span.

THE SERIES

Tennessee and Rutgers have faced each other a total of 12 times over the years, with the first contest occurring in 1979. The Lady Vols won an AIAW East Regional semifinal game on March 16 played on Fordham University's home court in the Bronx, N.Y., 79-69. The teams would meet again in 1982, with the Scarlet Knights getting the victory at home, 68-57, on Jan 23. The Orange and White would serve Rutgers a cold dish the following season, as they avenged the earlier loss by notching a 20-point home victory (81-61) in Stokely Athletics Center on Jan. 19, 1983. The teams would not meet again until five years later, when UT accepted an invitation to play in the Bell Atlantic-Rutgers Invitational in 1988. UT ran away from RU, winning the game on Dec. 30, 93-53. In the fifth game of the series, the Lady Vols continued their winning ways, blowing out Rutgers, 97-56, on March 21, 1992, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. RU would follow that performance up by closing the gap slightly in another loss, 93-74, on Jan. 19, 1993, in Knoxville. The following season would prove sweet for Rutgers, however, as the Lady Vols fell in Piscataway, N.J., 87-77, on Jan. 17, 1994. At the time, UT was ranked number one and Rutgers was not ranked. To this day, it marks the only time an unranked team knocked off the nation's #1. The two schools would meet again, in 1998, this time with head coach C. Vivian Stringer at the helm. UT defeated Rutgers 92-60 in the NCAA Mideast Regional semifinal in Nashville, Tenn., on March 21. On Jan. 3, 1999, the two teams played in front of the then-largest crowd ever to see a women's collegiate game in Madison Square Garden. Again, UT came away victorious, 68-54. The next meeting came in the 2000 NCAA Final Four semifinal contest where UT won narrowly, 64-54

AVERAGE SCORE

The average score of a UT-Rutgers game is a double-figure differential margin (15.2) - 76.5 for UT and 61.3 for Rutgers. Tennessee has scored 918 points in the series while Rutgers has totaled 736 points in 12 games.

OUR LAST MEETING WITH RUTGERS

The #2-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols had to overcome deficits in both halves en route to its 59-49 victory over #25 Rutgers on Dec. 11, 2003, at Thompson-Boling Arena. After having defeated its first three opponents by an average margin of 25 points, the Scarlet Knights stood toe-to-toe as UT improved its record to 4-0, with its last three wins coming versus ranked opponents. Junior Shyra Ely, the reigning SEC Player of the Week, earned her second-straight double-double and the eighth of her career with an 18-point, 12-rebound effort. The only other Lady Vol to record a double-digit point total was sophomore Shanna Zolman, who posted 14 points and connected on four of eight three-pointers. On the defensive end, senior Ashley Robinson showed why she is considered one of the SEC's premier post defenders, as she became UT's single-game record holder for blocked shots with eight, eclipsing the previous mark of seven set by Michelle Snow (3-31-00 vs. Rutgers). Despite the 10-point triumph, UT was tested by the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers capitalized on the Lady Vols' poor first-half shooting (35 percent) and took a three-point lead with 1:01 remaining in the opening frame. Tennessee would even the score at 25 after Ely connected on a conventional three-point play, but RU notched the last bucket of the half to lead 27-25 at the break, marking the first time UT had trailed at the intermission in the 2003-04 season. As UT still struggled from the field in the opening minutes of the second half, RU went up by six points, 40-34, with 11:41 remaining. However, the orange responded as Ely exploded for seven consecutive points and Zolman followed with two straight treys to go ahead 47-46. Thanks to Robinson's stellar interior defense (three consecutive blocks on one series) and steady play at the offensive end, UT closed out the contest on a 12-3 run over the last 7:41 to keep its perfect record intact. On the night, the Lady Vols shot 42 percent (23-55) from the floor, while Rutgers hit on just 37 percent (22-60) of its attempts. For the first time in the 03-04 campaign, UT was out-rebounded 39-37.

UT VS. THE BIG EAST

Tennessee has amassed an all-time record of 54-15 (.790) versus teams from the BIG EAST. The Lady Vols have a winning record against every team in the conference it has played, with the exception of Connecticut. The only other BIG EAST squad to defeat UT is Rutgers.

HALL OF FAMERS

C. Vivian Stringer joined Pat Summitt in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as she was inducted in 2001 in Knoxville, Tenn.

OLYMPIC GOLD

C. Vivian Stringer served as assistant head coach of the 2004 United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team that won the gold medal in Athens, Greece. She helped to guide the Olympic Team to an unblemished record. Former Lady Vol Tamika Catchings was a member of the squad. Internationally acclaimed as well, Pat Summitt boasts an all-time international record of 63-4 (.940) during her time at the helm of the national squad. She served as head coach of the 1984 United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team that won the gold medal in Los Angeles, Calif.

SUMMITT AND STRINGER

Pat Summitt's Tennessee teams have faced C. Vivian Stringer while she was the head coach of Cheyney, Iowa and Rutgers. Summitt is 1-0 against Stringer at Cheyney, 2-1 against her at Iowa and 5-0 at Rutgers. Stringer is the second youngest women's coach (second only to Summitt) to reach the 500-career victory milestone (Jan. 28, 1994). She surpassed the 600-win plateau on Dec. 18, 1999, in a victory over Texas and reached the "700 Club" with a win over Princeton on Dec. 8, 2004.

SUMMITT AND STRINGER - ALMOST 2,000 GAMES

Together, Pat Summitt and C. Vivian Stringer are a combined 1,561-410 (1,971 total games) for a staggering .792 winning percentage in a combined 64 years of women's hoops. Either Summitt or Stringer has been at 17 of the 23 Final Fours with their respective teams since the inception of the NCAA Women's Tournament in 1982.

A LITTLE SCOOP ON UT AND RUTGERS

The Lady Vols have faced four ranked teams thus far and have a 2-2 record. Tennessee has faced the #2, #4, #10/9 and #15 ranked teams in the country. December opponents Louisiana Tech and TCU have both been ranked this season but were not at the time of our meeting.
Conversely, #8/10-ranked Tennessee will be Rutgers' first ranked opponent of the 2004-05 season.
In Tennessee's eight wins this season, the Lady Vols have averaged an anemic 69.4 ppg, while allowing a stingy 52.6 ppg. UT shoots a sizzling .418 in its wins while holding the opposition to a mere .325. UT outrebounds the opposition 43.6 to 37.0.
In Rutgers' six victories, the Scarlet Knights have averaged 74.0 points scored, allowed an average of 50.3 points, shot an average of 20.7 free throws compared to the opponents' 15.2, and were whistled for an average of 17.3 fouls per game compared to the opponents' 18.7.
In the Lady Vols' two losses this season (#4 Texas and #10/9 Duke), UT has managed just 58.0 ppg, while giving up 66.5 ppg...Tennessee has been "out-everythinged"... FG% -- UT .303, Opponents .486; 3FG% -- UT .344, Opponents .389; FT% -- UT .548, Opponents .611, Rebounds - UT 41.0 rpg, Opponents 45.5. A strange stat exists here --- in UT's two losses, the Lady Vols have averaged just 15 turnovers per game (30 total in two losses) while the victorious opponents have committed 46 miscues - 23.0 per game.
In RU's two losses, the Scarlet Knights scored an average of 60.5 points, allowed an average of 70.0 points, shot an average of 17.0 free throws compared to the opponents' 38.5, and were whistled for an average of 27.0 fouls per game compared to the opponents' 14.5.
In the last "Back East" meeting between the two squads on Jan. 2, 2001, the game featured the infamous Tamika Catchings' "Blood Jersey" incident ...Catchings' jersey was stolen from the team's Connecticut hotel following the Lady Vols' game against the Huskies in Hartford and in her very next game against Rutgers in the Garden, Catchings was forced to wear the spare "blood" jersey...UT won, 58-51.

LOOKING AHEAD TO OLD DOMINION

In their last outing, Old Dominion rookie Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) notched her first career double-double with 12 points and 11 boards as the Lady Monarch women's basketball returned home to the Ted Constant Convocation Center to an 83-55 non-conference victory over Harvard on Dec. 22, 2004. . ODU returned to the win column after a two-game slide to improve to 4-3. Four Lady Monarchs finished the afternoon with double figures. Junior Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, Fla.), who had just two points against Virginia and was held scoreless against Penn State in ODU's last two games, rebounded with a season and team-high 16 points. She shot 6-of-9 from the floor, 4-of-4 from the free throw line and added eight rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Also scoring in double figures was ODU leading scorer Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, Va.) with 16 points and sophomore Tish Lyons (Newport News, Va.) who tied her career-high with 12 points. The Lady Monarchs never trailed in the game and built up a 20-point lead with 7:33 left in the first half. ODU, who shot a season-low 38.9 percent from the free throw line in their last outing against Penn State, vastly improved against Harvard. The Lady Monarchs finished sinking 13-of-17 from the line to shoot, 76.5 percent for the game. In the first half alone, Old Dominion shot and sank all ten of their attempts. Davis, who was one of three Lady Monarchs to go perfect from the charity stripe, is still shooting perfectly from the line having connecting on all 14 of her shots. The Lady Monarchs shot 50 percent for the game and limited Harvard to just seven field goals in the first half and eight in the second. On the boards, Old Dominion outrebounded the Crimson by 33, holding a 58-25 advantage. The Lady Monarchs return to action on Thursday, December 30th at #6 North Carolina at 4:00 p.m. The game will be played at the Dean E. Smith Center.

PARKER CLEARED TO PRACTICE

Jenny Moshak, University of Tennessee Assistant Athletics Director for Sports Medicine, announced on Dec. 21 that Lady Vol rookie basketball standout Candace Parker had been reevaluated by Dr. William T. Youmans, UT Team Orthopedist.

"Candace had an MRI and x-rays on Dec. 20. This evening, Dr. Youmans read the reports and examined her knee," said Moshak. "He has cleared her to begin practice with the team on Dec. 26."

Parker, a 6'3" freshman forward from Napierville, Ill., took the good news by changing into her uniform and warm-ups and joining her team on the floor at halftime of the #9/10-ranked Tennessee vs.#2 Stanford game.

Parker is considered to be the most highly decorated female prepster ever to enter the collegiate ranks. A multi-named National Player of the Year, Parker missed the first six weeks of her 2003-04 senior season at Napierville Central H.S., while recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered the summer prior to her senior campaign. Nevertheless, Parker led Naperville to a 33-2 record and a second straight Class AA state championship, despite missing 11 games. The dunking phenom averaged 24.3 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 3.5 blocked shots and 3.3 spg. "

starting classes in August, Candace experienced swelling in her left knee and, upon further diagnostic testing, it was determined that she needed to undergo arthroscopic surgery to assess the source of the swelling," indicated Moshak. "Her surgery on Aug. 26, involved removing loose cartilage fragments. Her follow-up surgery on Sept. 8th, was to repair both the lateral meniscus and the lateral articular cartilage in her left knee. "Dr. Youmans indicated that Candace's ACL, from her prior surgery in July 2003, was in excellent condition," said Moshak.

Following her senior season, Parker became the first woman ever to win a slam-dunk contest, capturing the PowerAde Jam Fest that was part of the McDonald's High School All-American Game festivities. In the process, she defeated five men, including high-flying New Orleans Hornet J.R. Smith and Connecticut-bound Rudy Gay.

Prior to arriving at UT to start fall classes, Parker led the USA Women's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team to a gold medal in Puerto Rico with a perfect 5-0 record. She led Team USA in virtually every category, tallying 16.6 ppg, 8.8 rpg and held team high-water marks in assists (24), steals (17) and blocked shots (12).