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Thursday, December 2 Updated: January 24, 4:52 PM ET The numbers don't lie By Melanie Jackson ESPN.com |
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In honor of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt winning her 700th game Sunday, here's a by-the-numbers look at the 47-year-old's 26-year career in Knoxville:
0.826: Summitt's career winning percentage through Sunday. Her career coaching record is 700-147. 1: The Lady Vols have posted one undefeated season, going 39-0 in 1997-98. 2: Only two women have won 700 women's college basketball games. Jody Conradt of Texas was the first. Summitt joined the club with Sunday's victory over Wisconsin. 3: Although Immaculata and Delta State each won three consecutive AIAW titles in the 1970s, Tennessee is the only school to win three straight NCAA titles (1996-98). 4: Summitt has won the Naismith College Coach of the Award four times: 1987, '89, '94 and '98. 5: In between her second and third seasons at Tennessee, Summitt played in five games in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. She shot 38.7 percent from the floor, averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds as the U.S. women won a silver medal. (Summitt later assisted the '80 U.S. Olympic team and was the squad's head coach in 1984, leading the U.S. women to their first gold medal.) 5.84: Through 25 seasons, Summitt's Lady Vols averaged less than six losses per season. 6: Tennessee has won six national titles: 1987, '89, '91, '96, '97 and '98. 8: Since women's college basketball teams began competing in the SEC in 1980, Tennessee has won eight regular-season SEC titles. 9: In the same time, the Lady Vols have won nine SEC Tournament titles. 10: Through 25 seasons, 10 of Summitt's teams have won 30 or more games; 10 of Summitt's former players also went on to play for the U.S. Olympic teams. 12: Tennessee has won 64 of 76 NCAA Tournament games, losing just 12. The 64-12 records translates into an .842 winning percentage. 14.5: In the Lady Vols' six NCAA title game victories, Tennessee has beaten its opponents by an average of 14.5 points. 15: Summitt's Lady Vols have made 15 trips to the Final Four in the past 23 seasons. 16: Summitt has coached 16 Kodak All-Americans; Summitt is also the Lady Vols' 16th coach. 18: Sunday, Summitt became just the 18th coach in college basketball history to win 700 games. 22: Summitt was just 22 when she took over the Lady Vols, just one year older than four of her players. 23: Tennessee has won 20 or more games for 23 consecutive seasons. 24: Whether in the WNBA, ABL, WBL or overseas, 24 of Summitt's former team members have played professional basketball.
The week that was ...
Another one of the country's top five ranked teams suffered its first loss of the season last week as Louisiana State upset then-No. 2 Georgia 80-74 Thursday in Athens in an SEC opener for both teams. Despite trailing 40-37 at halftime, LSU shot 69.6 percent from the field after the break, hitting 16 of 23 shots. Georgia twins Kelly (14 points) and Coco Miller (6) combined for just 20 points. Each averaged slightly more than 18 points per game last season. Earning its first non-conference victory over a top-10 opponent in seven years, Texas beat then-No. 10 Illinois 87-84 Saturday. Texas shot 50 percent from the field and matched the taller Illini with 39 rebounds as JoRuth Woods scored 22 points and Edwina Brown had 19 for Texas (5-2).
... And the week ahead Auburn at Penn State, Saturday (noon ET, ESPN2): The first game of the Big Ten/SEC Basketball Challenge doubleheader pits two teams that have ranked in the top ten this season. No. 7 Auburn is 5-0. Penn State (4-2) has been ranked as high as eighth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, but is 12th this week. Michigan at LSU, Saturday (2 p.m. ET, ESPN2): Both teams had big games last week. Unranked Michigan is 7-0 for the program's best start. No. 22 LSU, which beat then-No. 2 Georgia on Thursday, is 5-1.
One step forward ... LSU: The win over Georgia speaks for itself. LSU jumped from No. 23 to No. 15 in this week's AP Top 25. Mississippi State: The Lady Bulldogs improved to 6-0 with a victory over Louisiana Tech, and broke into the AP poll this week at No. 25 -- Mississippi State's first-ever ranking. The Lady Bulldogs beat then-No. 2 La. Tech 74-72 only a week after Tech won at Tennessee. Freshman LaToya Thomas, the Mississippi high school player of the year, is averaging 22.5 points while shooting 59 percent from the field. She has scored 31 and 34 points in her last two games. Michigan: With a win over Rice on Sunday, the unranked Wolverines improved to 7-0, breaking a 27-year-old record for the program's best start.
... Two steps back UC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos broke into the top ten of last week's ESPN/USA Today poll, but then lost to Arizona and Kansas. UCSB suffered the biggest drop in this week's ESPN/USA Today poll, falling from ninth to No. 17. Illinois: After a promising start to the season, the Illini suffered two losses last week. Although one loss was to top-ranked UConn, the other was to unranked (but tough) Texas. Illinois tumbled seven places to No. 20. Rutgers: See Parting Shot below.
The fine line Hibbert, a 5-foot-7 guard from Melbourne, Australia, played all 40 minutes, scoring 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field. However, she also tallied eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Hibbert was 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 3 of 4 from the charity stripe. Although Georgia led most of the second half, Hibbert's jumper with 1:54 to play gave LSU the lead for good.
Parting shot(s) Stringer, in the Daily Targum, after Rutgers held unranked George Washington without a field goal for more than 18 minutes in the first half, but still managed to lose 63-58: "We are not a top 10 team. We are not even a top 20 team and that's a fact ... As far as I am concerned the pollsters don't even need to write our name down. Anytime you can shoot 29 percent (as GW did) and then win the game, that's an amazing stat. It must be a mathematical error." Georgia coach Andy Landers, in Friday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution, after the Lady Bulldogs suffered their first loss of the season: "I'm not trying to take anything away from LSU, but we were giving them layups. Our kids didn't sprint down the floor. ... Did we not play like a bunch of babies?" Arizona coach Joan Bonvicini, in the Arizona Daily Star, after just 1,508 fans showed up to see the Wildcats upset then-No. 9 ranked UC Santa Barbara 86-76 last Tuesday: "I don't know where our fans are, but we need triple what we got out there tonight. Our attendance is pathetic."
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