Tennessee Plays Underdog to Stanford

THE GAME

The #9/10-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols play their final game prior to the Christmas holiday and host #2-ranked Stanford this evening in Thompson- Boling Arena. Tennessee is 243-14 all-time at TBA.

LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE

This is the Lady Vols' 31st season under Head Coach Pat Summitt...She has compiled a staggering 859-169 overall record...Needs just 21 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-timeconsecutive 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...Fellow rookie standout Candace Parker (Naperville, Ill.) is also currently sidelined...

After a rocky start, the Lady Vols appear to be on the upswing in the three most recent games... 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 three contests, the Lady Vols are outscoring their opponents 76.7-59.0, shooting 44.5 percent from the floor and 65 percent from the line compared to the first six game averages of 61.8-51.7 (scoring), 36.9 percent from the field and 60.8 percent from the charity stripe...In the last five minutes of all nine UT games, rookie Alexis Hornbuckle is UT's leading scorer with 20 points...During crunch time, in the final five minutes, the team is shooting an impressive 53.7 percent from the field.

STANFORD AT A GLANCE

Stanford has started the season with an 8-0 mark and a #2-ranking in the polls. Four Cardinal players are scoring in double digits and nine are playing doubledigit minutes. Stanford is ranked in the top-25 nationally in scoring offense (75.0 ppg) and steals (12.6 spg)...The Cardinal is proving itself on the defensive end of the floor as well, in the nation's top 10 in scoring defense (49.1 ppg), scoring margin (+25.9 ppg) and registers just 13.3 turnovers per game. One key for the Cardinal this season is depth. With 14 healthy players on the roster, nine are averaging at least 12 minutes per game. All 14 are averaging some points and rebounds for the season.

LADY VOLS ON TV

Seventeen Lady Vol regular season games are slated for television this season. Upcoming games on TV: Stanford (CSS) and Rutgers (CSTV).

ON THIS DAY

Tennessee is 5-1 in their history when playing on Dec. 21. The Lady Vols are 2-0 at home, 3- 1 on the road, and 0-0 on neutral courts. The last time out on the 21st, the Lady Vols defeated Oklahoma, 71-55, in Norman in 2003.

LOOKING BACK

Last year at this time, the Lady Vols (7-0) had just defeated Oklahoma, 71-55, on the road.

THE COUNTDOWN - 21 TO GO

Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt is just 21 wins away from passing Dean Smith (879) as the winningest coach in NCAA basketball. Summitt now has 859 wins.

SUMMITT`S TELECONFERENCE --

Coach Pat Summitt's regularly scheduled weekly teleconference will be on Jan. 5, 2005, at 11:00 a.m.. Members of the media will be notified of the dial-in number via fax and email. During the weeks of Dec. 22- Jan.3, some Summitt note capsules regarding upcoming games will be available at utladyvols.com.

JUMP SHOTS

A record eight Lady Vol basketball players earned Dean's List honors for the Fall term at Tennessee...Lady Vol starting junior center Tye'sha Fluker recorded a perfect 4.0 GPA in Retail and Consumer Science...She was joined on the Dean's List by senior Shyra Ely (3.42 GPA -- Retail and Consumer Science), junior Shanna Zolman (3.50 GPA - Broadcasting), sophomore Sidney Spencer (3.64 GP - Sport Management), and a quartet of rookies - Abby Canon (3.69 GPA), Nicky Anosike (3.65 GPA), Candace Parker (3.46 GPA), and Alex Fuller (3.0 GPA). All rookies are classified in the School of Arts and Sciences. Lady Vol fans got their first look at #15 in the TCU game - heralded rookie Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood (SWG)...SWG was cleared to play by Jenny Moshak on Thursday... She dazzled the Lady Vol fans...In 21 minutes of action, she canned three treys, grabbed four steals and dished out four assists...Four more of her blind-bullet-passes should of led to more assists were bobbled by her surprised teammates... SWG was to join the team on the floor last week, after sitting-out due to patella tendonitis...But missed dressing for DePaul and LaTech due to violation of team rules...Her addition will give the Lady Vols needed depth at guard...Fellow rookie Alexis Hornbuckle is starting at point guard for Loree Moore who had her tonsils removed on Dec. 10...

STANFORD SERIES

This marks the 21st meeting between the two schools dating back to the 1988 season. UT and Stanford have developed a strong highranking intersectional rivalry in a series contested at least once annually for the last 16 years. UT has controlled the recent matchups, amazingly having taken the last eight. Stanford has won consecutive meetings over the Lady Vols only once.

AVERAGE SCORE

The average score of a UT-Stanford game is a narrow margin -- 78.8 for UT and 71.6 for Stanford. Tennessee has scored 1576 points in the series while Stanford has totaled 1433 points in 20 games.

LOTS OF WINS

Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer are a combined 1469-337 for a staggering .813 winning percentage. While Summitt is chasing 900 career wins, VanDerveer registered 600 career victories last season and is 90 wins away from the 700 Club. Since the inception of the NCAA Women's Final Four in 1982, UT and Stanford have made a combined 21 trips and collected 8 NCAA titles. The Lady Vols have made 15 visits and grabbed six titles, while the Cardinal has two titles in six trips.

ANOTHER SUMMITT MARK

With the Lady Vols' contest against Stanford last season in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship game, Tennessee's Pat Summitt coached in her 100th NCAA Tournament game in her career. Over the 23-year NCAA Tournament span, Summitt is an outstanding 85-17 (.835) in NCAA battles.

OUR LAST MEETING WITH STANFORD

For the second consecutive game, senior Tasha Butts connected on the gamewinning bucket in the waning seconds of regulation, and the top-seeded and #2/3- ranked Tennessee Lady Vols advanced to their record-setting 15th NCAA Final Four with a 62-60 victory over sixth-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Midwest Region final in Norman, OK, on Mar. 30, 2004. The triumph was UT's second against the Cardinal in the 2003-04 season, as UT prevailed in overtime, 70-66, at Stanford on Dec. 14. Early in the contest, both teams were in rhythm at the offensive end as the Big Orange hit four of its first seven shots and Stanford opened with 5-of-6 shooting. However, SU was able to capitalize more often and took an eight-point lead, 26-18, with 8:26 remaining in the half. Coach Pat Summitt's club responded, though, and held the Cardinal scoreless for nearly six minutes en route to an 11-0 run to take a 29-26 advantage. SU closed the opening stanza with a 5-0 spurt of its own and took a 31-29 lead into the locker room. In the first frame, the Lady Vols shot just 38 percent while SU connected on 48 percent of its tries. However, the Orange and White held a narrow edge on the boards, 19-18. While the Cardinal struck first in the second half with a 3-pointer by Nicole Powell, Tennessee answered by scoring 12 of the next 14 points to take its biggest lead of the game, 41-36, with 14:41 showing. Additionally, UT connected on seven of its first nine shots to open the second stanza. However, Stanford hung on and reclaimed the lead, 56-55, following another 3-pointer by Powell with 3:22 remaining. Still leading by one point minutes later, Butts drained a long ball to give the Lady Vols a twopoint lead with just more than a minute remaining. After a game-tying bucket by Powell with 44 seconds left, Butts connected on a scoop layup from the left side with 1.7 seconds on the clock to send Tennessee to its third straight Final Four. UT was led by Butts, junior Shyra Ely and senior LaToya Davis, who recorded, 14, 12 and 10 points, respectively. All three were named to the Midwest All-Regional Team. Freshman Sidney Spencer just missed double figures with nine points. On the night, Tennessee shot 47 percent (25-53) while Stanford connected on 49 percent (28-57) of its attempts. Despite being out-shot, the Lady Vols held the edge on the boards, 30-29, and committed just 11 turnovers.

UT VS. PACIFIC 10

Tennessee has taken on nine teams from the Pacific 10 all-time and sports a 47-12 record. Only three teams have claimed victories over UT - Southern California (seven times), Stanford (four) and UCLA (once). The Lady Vols have not lost to a team that currently competes in the Pac-10 since Dec. 15, 1996, when Stanford came away from Knoxville with an 82-65 win over UT. Tennessee's last meeting with a Pac-10 opponent came on Mar. 30, 2004, against Stanford in Norman, OK. The #2/3-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols advanced to their record-setting 15th NCAA Final Four with a 62-60 victory over sixth-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Midwest Region final in Norman, OK, on Mar. 30, 2004. Tennessee has played nine of the 10 basketball playing schools in the Pac-10. UT has yet to face California.

HALL OF FAMERS

Tara VanDerveer joined Pat Summitt in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame as she was inducted in April 2002 in Knoxville, Tenn.

OLYMPIC GOLD

Tara VanDerveer served as head coach of the 1996 United States Olympic Women's Basketball Team that won the gold medal in Atlanta, Ga. She guided the Olympic Team to an unblemished 60-0 record from 1995-96 and owns an all-time international head coaching record of 88-8 (.917), while coaching a pair of Lady Vols (Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee) on the squad. Meanwhile, 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.

OUR LAST REGULAR SEASON MEETING WITH STANFORD

The #2-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols pulled one out of the fire at #6/5-ranked Stanford on Dec. 14, 2003, winning an overtime thriller, 70-66. Both teams were knotted at 56-all at the end of regulation after UT staged a furious second half rally coming back from 14 points down. Sophomore Shanna Zolman led the Lady Vols in scoring (for the first time in her career) with 18 points, as junior Shyra Ely and senior Ashley Robinson each chipped in 16 points. A capacity crowd of 7,319 was on hand and the atmosphere was March-like at Maples Pavilion as the two teams crept out to an early 6-6 tie at 12:46. A series of Stanford mini-runs culminated in a 10-point advantage, 20-10 with 6:36 showing. The Cardinal would eventually lead by 13 in the opening stanza before taking an 11-point lead into the lockerroom at the break, 29-18. UT's 18 halftime points was the third fewest scored in Lady Vol history. Calmly confident going into the second stanza, UT would eventually trail by as many as 14-points, 41-27 with 15:09 to go, before eventually whittling down the Cardinal lead. A huge trey by rookie Dominique Redding at the 5:50 mark cut SU's lead to eight points. UT senior LaToya Davis completed the comeback with a steal and a lay-up with 19 seconds to go to knot the score at 56-all. In the overtime, Zolman led the Lady Vols with five points as a team who struggled to 18 points in the first 20 minutes of the game tallied 14 in a five-minute OT. Ely turned in a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. For the game, the Lady Vols shot just 39 percent FG and a horrific 55 percent FT. SU outrebounded UT, 45-44, but the Lady Vols collected 13 steals and committed just 11 miscues. OUR LAST MEETING WITH STANFORD IN KNOXVILLE The #4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols continued its string of big early-season victories with a 71-56 triumph over the #5-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Dec. 18, 2002, in front of 13,560 fans at the Thompson-Boling Arena. The win in the series between the two longtime rivals marked UT's sixth in a row over the Cardinal and moved the record against Stanford at the Thompson-Boling Arena to a sparkling 7-1. In the contest, Tennessee had four players in double-figures, led by senior forward Gwen Jackson who posted 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior Kara Lawson posted a dozen tallies and both Ashley Robinson and Shanna Zolman had 10 points each. UT, and especially Lawson, seemed to come out of the locker room with a purpose as the squad roared to a 9-2 start behind seven straight points from the senior guard. Stanford utilized threepointers from Sebnem Kimyacioglu and Kelley Suminski to claw back to within 11-10 with 11:35 remaining before another UT spurt, this one ignited by a Gwen Jackson putback, moved the Lady Vols back in front by nine at 22-13. The Cardinal would get as close as five points at 24-19 after another three-pointer by Kimyacioglu with 6:44 to play, but the Lady Vols would close out the frame with a 12-4 run, highlighted by a fourpoint play from Zolman to go to the break up 36-23. The second half began with the teams basically trading buckets until the 16:05 mark when a Loree Moore three-pointer boosted UT to a 17-point advantage at 48-31. The lead grew to as much as 22 points twice in the second half at 56-34 with 12:46 to play and 60-38 with 10:06 left before the Cardinal managed to cut the final score to 71-56. On the night, UT shot 43.3% from the field on 29-of-67 shooting, while holding the Cardinal to only 36.7%. The Lady Vols won the rebounding war 41-33 and hustled for an impressive 16 boards on the offensive end. Robinson barely missed a double-double with nine boards to lead UT. The orange also held down its turnovers in the game by posting only 11.

LOOKING AHEAD TO RUTGERS

Rutgers is off until Dec. 29, when it welcomes #9/10-ranked Tennessee to the Louis Brown Athletic Center (RAC). Tip-off is slated for 5:00 p.m., and the game can be seen live on College Sports Television (CSTV). In their last outing, the #22-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights (6-2) forced 24 Clemson turnovers and pulled away late in the second half for a hard-fought 66-51 victory over the Lady Tigers (5-5) on Dec. 18 at the RAC. Senior guard Chelsea Newton led three Rutgers players in double figures with 17 points and five rebounds. Redshirt senior Nikki Jett had 15 points, while junior forward Michelle Campbell added 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Jett matched her career high with seven assists. Ahead by just five points (43-38) with 9:30 to play, Rutgers went on an 11-4 run to take a 52-42 lead with just over four minutes remaining in regulation. The Scarlet Knights put the game out of reach by making eight of their 10 free-throw attempts in the final minute of play. With the win, Rutgers is now 3-0 at home this year and has won 18 of its last 20 games at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights are winning by an average margin of 28 points per game on their home floor. The Scarlet Knights used their fourth different starting lineup this season, as Michelle Campbell, Essence Carson, Nikki Jett, Matee Ajavon and Chelsea Newton made up RU's fourguard attack. Collectively, they combined for 55 of Rutgers' 66 points. Jett contributed 15 points and tied her career high with seven assists vs. Rutgers. Jett scored in double figures in four of Rutgers' last five games and is averaging 12.8 points per game over that span.