GAME NOTES FOR UNION EXHIBITION GAME 2 Nov. 7, 2010 • 3:00 pm TENNESSEE Lady Vols (1-0 exh) vs. UNION Lady Bulldogs (2-0) THOMPSON-BOLING ARENA •21,678 KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE RECENT RESULTS: 11-2-10 Tennessee def. Carson-Newman, 110-66 11-6-10 Union def. St. Francis (Ill.), 83-57 UPCOMING GAMES: 11-12-10 #4 UT at Louisville, 7 p.m. CBS Coll Spts 11-9-10 #1 Union at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. CT
PROBABLE UT STARTERS 5-Angie Bjorklund, G, 6-0, Sr., 13.9 ppg, 2.9 apg (stats from the 2009-10 season) 13-Taber Spani, G/F, 6-1, So., 22.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg 15-Alicia Manning, F, 6-1, Jr., 15.0 ppg, 13.0 rpg 25-Glory Johnson, F/C, 6-3, Jr., 26.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg 40-Shekinna Stricklen, G/F, 6-2, Jr., 15.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg
OFF THE BENCH 1-Briana Bass, G, 5-2, Jr., 2.0 ppg, 3.0 apg 10-Meighan Simmons, G, 5-9, Fr., 11.0 ppg, 5.0 apg 12-Lauren Avant, G, 5-9, Fr., First game 20-Sydney Smallbone, G, 5-10, Sr., 10.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg 21-Vicki Baugh, F-C, 6-4, Jr., 6.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg (2008-09 season stats) 52-Kelley Cain, C, 6-6, Jr., 10.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg (stats from the 2009-10 season)
NOT AVAILABLE
COACHES RECORDS: UT’s Pat Summitt is 1,037-196 (36 yrs) UU's Mark Campbell is 366-46 (12 yrs)
4-Kamiko Williams, G, 5-11, So., 9.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg (missed class policy) 33-Alyssia Brewer, F, 6-3, Jr., 10.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg (recovering from Achilles injury)
UT vs. Union: UT trails 0-3 IN KNOXVILLE: UT is 0-0 AWAY: UT is 0-1 NEUTRAL: UT is 0-2 EXHIBITION: 0-0 (not included in overall) OVERTIME: UT is 0-0 POSTSEASON: UT is 0-2
Sophomore Kamiko Williams will sit-out the game against Union for missing a class this semester per team policy. Senior Angie Bjorklund did not play against Carson-Newman for the same reason.
LAST MEETING: 3-1-75 at the TCWSF State Tournament at Lambuth University Union def. UT, 94-93 UT RECORD IN EXHIBITIONS: 47-11 HOME: 36-4 AWAY: 6-3 NEUTRAL: 5-4 TODAY’S GAME The #4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols will play host to the NAIA’s top-ranked Union Lady Bulldogs (2-0) in a non-counting contest this afternoon. While this is UT’s second exhibition game, Union already has two regular season victories in hand having defeated St. Catharine College (Ky.), 85-39, on Nov. 3 and notched a 83-57 win over the University of St. Francis (Ill.) Saturday afternoon in Jackson, Tenn. NEXT UP The #4-ranked Lady Vols officially open the 2010-11 season on Fri., Nov. 12 at the University of Louisville in the brand new KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville. Tip-off is scheduled at 7 p.m. and CBS College Sports will have the telecast (tape delayed until 9:30 p.m.). Louisville played just one preseason exhibition game and defeated Indiana Wesleyan, 67-42 on Oct. 30.
MISSED CLASS=MISSED GAME
LADY VOLS AT A GLANCE This is the Lady Vols’ 37th season under Head Coach Pat Summitt… She has compiled a staggering 1,037-196 overall record… Collected her record 1000th coaching win with a 73-43 decision over Georgia on Feb. 5, 2009… She passed Dean Smith (879 wins) for most NCAA collegiate basketball wins of all-time with a 75-54 victory over Purdue on Mar. 22, 2005 …Her 2006-07 and 2007-08 squads were crowned as the NCAA Champions producing the program’s seventh and eighth titles…Last season, UT finished with a 32-3 overall record and was crowned both the SEC Champions and the SEC Tournament Champions. This season, UT returned 11 letterwinners and welcomed a talented two player rookie class…The 2010-11 season marks the Lady Vol debut for #10 Meighan Simmons, a 5-9 guard from Cibolo, Texas and #12 Lauren Avant, a 5-9 guard from Memphis, Tenn.
THE 4-1-1 ON UNION The Lady Bulldogs enter the 2010-11 season as the two-time defending NAIA National Champions, winning four of the last six titles. Union returns three AllAmericans in Kayla Hudson, Zeinab Chan and Lavanda Ross. The team was ranked No. 1 in the preseason NAIA poll and voted to repeat as the TranSouth Conference champions by the league’s nine coaches. Chan was selected as the TranSouth preseason player of the year, while Hudson and Ross join Chan on the preseason all-conference team.
UNION PROBABLE STARTERS 4 – Hope Adams, F, 5-11, Jr., 11.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg 20 – Kayla Hudson, G, 5-8, Sr., 12.5 ppg, 6.0 apg 21 – Kayla Bryant, G, 5-8, Sr., 4.0 ppg, 0.5 apg 33 – Zeinab Chan, C, 6-4, Sr., 20.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg 53 – Lavanda Ross, G, 5-8, Jr., 18.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg
OUR MEETINGS WITH UNION For the 1974-75 season, Tennessee women’s basketball was headed up by a 22-year old graduate student who had never coached a game in her life when she stepped on the Knoxville campus. Thirty-seven years later, Pat Head Summitt is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA collegiate hoops. However, when she took three losses to Union (out of a total of eight losses on the 1974-75 campaign), she probably never envisioned 1,037 career wins. When Coach Head and her UT women’s basketball team rolled into Jackson, Tenn., on Feb. 8, 1975, they were 8-3 on the season and fresh off an emotional 91-76 win over her alma mater, UT-Martin, just one day earlier in Martin, Tenn. That Saturday afternoon, Union held the upper hand and defeated UT, 80-67. Head’s team then wound up finishing the regular season with an 11-6 mark, but went into post-season play with a vengeance, pounding its way to the TCWSF Eastern District title. Tennessee’s success did not hold up to the TCWSF Championships at Lambuth College, however. The women’s team finished 2-2 in the tourney, with the losses representing the second and third defeats by Union University of the season. UU recorded an opening win in the tournament, 95-90 on Feb. 27 and then bounced UT out on Mar. 1 with a slight 94-93 win. UT did not qualify for postseason play in the AIAW – the only time Tennessee has ever failed to join a postseason field – and finished with a respectable 16-8 record in Head’s first season of coaching. UPCOMING OPPONENTS Tennessee will officially open the season on Fri., Nov. 12, when the Lady Vols travel to the University of Louisville for the opening of the new KFC Yum! Center on Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. Tennessee opens the home portion of the 201011 schedule taking on Chattanooga in Knoxville on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. ELITE COMPANY Will a true rookie get a chance to start today? When Coach Pat Summitt started freshman Taber Spani against Baylor last season, it marked only the 13th time in her coaching career that a freshman started her very first game at Tennessee. The list of opening day rookie starters: Taber Spani, 2009, Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen, 2008, Angie Bjorklund, 2007, Candace Parker, 2005, Shyra Ely 2001, Ashley Robinson 2000, Gwen Jackson 1999, Kyra Elzy 1996, Chamique Holdsclaw 1995, Tiffani Johnson 1994, Bridgette Gordon and Sheila Frost 1985. TELEVISION UPDATE Tennessee’s exhibition game versus Union will be live streamed on utladyvols.com. At this time, 25 Lady Vol games are set for television in 2010-11. Most recent adds to the schedule were Old Dominion (Comcast); Chattanooga, Virginia, Arizona State, ETSU (SportSouth). With those additions, only five games are not slated for TV— Lamar and Rutgers (in Knoxville) and the three games in the Paradise Jam from the Virgin Islands – Missouri, Georgia Tech and Georgetown.
BJORKLUND IS A CANDIDATE FOR LOWE’S SENIOR CLASS AWARD Lady Vol senior Angie Bjorklund was selected as one of 30 candidates on Nov. 3 for the 2011 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in women’s hoops. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition. The candidate class will be narrowed to 10 men’s and 10 women’s finalists midway through the regular season, and those names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one finalist who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. Bjorklund is a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and was the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for women’s basketball in 2009-10. Additionally, the Spokane Valley, Wash., native was one of five members of the prestigious CoSIDA/ESPN Academic All-America Basketball First Team in 2010 while also earning CoSIDA. ESPN All-District IV First Team honors. A psychology major, Bjorklund has a 3.74 GPA and is active in various community service efforts. Last May, she took a mission trip to Honduras for eight days. There, she visited a number of villages, children’s hospitals, and orphanages where she brought toys, stuffed animals and food to the residents of the villages. On the court, Bjorklund has career averages of 11.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 2.2 apg. She was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2007-08, earned All-SEC Second Team accolades in 2008-09 and was an All-SEC First Team selection in 2009-10. The 6-0 wing enters her senior season just 34 treys away from setting a new Tennessee mark. She also was an Honorable Mention Associated Press AllAmerican in 2009-10 and a Preseason All-SEC First Team honoree this season. USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES POLL RANKS TENNESSEE FOURTH The Tennessee Lady Vols were tabbed as the nation’s fourth best team when the USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Preseason Poll was released on Nov. 3. Ahead of the Lady Vols (674 points) in the preseason ranking was the University of Connecticut, winner of 78 straight games and the last two NCAA women's basketball titles, which starts the season at number one. UConn (765 points) is followed by Baylor and Stanford, who tied for second with 724 points. The Huskies were not a unanimous choice as they received 27 of 31 first-place votes. 2010-11 Lady Vol opponents Baylor had two first-place votes and Stanford picked up one. Tennessee nabbed the other first-place vote. In all, three other Southeastern Conference teams joined the Lady Vols in the preseason poll. Kentucky earned the 10th spot while Georgia was picked 19th and Vanderbilt 21st. Rank 1 2. (tie) 2. (tie) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
School Points (First place votes) Connecticut 765 (27) Baylor 724 (2) Stanford 724 (1) TENNESSEE 674 (1) Duke 619 Xavier 602 Ohio State 522 Texas A&M 512 Oklahoma 506 Kentucky 497 West Virginia 454 Notre Dame 419 Georgetown 380 Florida State 298 UCLA 283 St. John‘s 262 Iowa State 226 North Carolina 206 Georgia 196 Texas 182 Vanderbilt 151 Gonzaga 106 Nebraska 95
24 25
Michigan State 91 Iowa 86
Others receiving votes: TCU (22-9) 70; Maryland (21-13) 62; Wisconsin-Green Bay (28-5) 48; LSU (2110) 46; Dayton (25-8) 38; DePaul (21-12) 33; Georgia Tech (23-10) 30; Virginia (21-10) 23; San Diego State (23-11) 22; Oklahoma State (24-11) 19; Hartford (275) 17; California (24-13) 16; James Madison (26-7) 10; Arkansas-Little Rock (27-7) 9; Auburn (15-16) 9; Mississippi State (21-13) 7; North Carolina State (2014) 6; Temple (25-9) 5; Marist (26-8) 4; Rutgers (1915) 4; Gardner-Webb (28-5) 3; Purdue (15-17) 3; Southern California (19-12) 3; Bowling Green (27-7) 2; Fresno State (27-7) 1; Liberty (27-6) 1; Louisville (1418) 1; Michigan (21-14) 1; Princeton (26-3) 1; Western Kentucky (21-11) 1.
MORE POLLSTERS The Tennessee Lady Volunteer basketball team will start the 2010-11 season ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press poll. The preseason rankings were released on Oct. 29, 2010. The Lady Vols received 886 points to place behind two-time defending national champion and No. 1 Connecticut (932 points), No. 2 Baylor (934) and No. 3 Stanford (922). The Lady Vols return all 11 letterwinners, including Honorable Mention AP All-Americans Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen, from the 2009-10 squad that went 323 and captured both the SEC regular season and tournament championships for the first time since 2000. UT earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the Sweet 16. The Lady Vols hold the record for most appearances at No. 1 in the preseason poll with 12. Tennessee is scheduled to face seven teams (Baylor, Stanford, Kentucky, Georgetown, Texas, Georgia and Vanderbilt) ranked in the preseason poll this season. Associated Press Preseason Poll 1 Connecticut (39) 0-0 992 2 Baylor (1) 0-0 934 3 Stanford 0-0 922 4 TENNESSEE 0-0 886 5 Xavier 0-0 818 6 Duke 0-0 802 7 Ohio State 0-0 759 8 Texas A&M 0-0 664 9 Kentucky 0-0 649 10 Oklahoma 0-0 595 11 West Virginia 0-0 579 12 Notre Dame 0-0 560 13 Georgetown 0-0 506 14 St. John's 0-0 452 15 North Carolina 0-0 420 16 UCLA 0-0 382 17 Texas 0-0 274 18 Florida State 0-0 270 19 Georgia 0-0 241 20 Iowa State 0-0 195 21 Maryland 0-0 134 22 Iowa 0-0 121 23 TCU 0-0 117 24 Vanderbilt 0-0 109 25 Michigan State 0-0 105 Others receiving votes: LSU 75, Georgia Tech 73, Dayton 67, Gonzaga 64, DePaul 49, California 44, North Carolina State 28, Bowling Green 22, Nebraska
19, Temple 15, Wisconsin-Green Bay 15, San Diego State 8, Wisconsin 8, USC 7, James Madison 5, Rutgers 4, Arkansas-Little Rock 3, Arizona State 2, Pittsburgh 2, Kansas 1, Miami (FL) 1, Penn State 1, Tulane 1
TOUGHEST PLACE TO PLAY The University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena is still the toughest women’s basketball arena in the nation to secure a win. Heading into the 2010-11 season, the Lady Vols have fashioned a 324-20 all-time record on “The Summitt” for a 94.18 winning percentage since the doors were opened in 1987. Arenas (Active) (Must have played at least 75 games in the arena) Arena (Program: Arena Opened) Record 1. Thompson-Boling Arena (Tennessee: 1987) 324-20 2. Gampel Pavilion (Connecticut: 1989) 255-17 3. Thomas Assembly Center (Tech: 1982) 391-39 4. XL Center (Connecticut: 1990) 108-11 5. Dahlberg Arena (Montana: 1978) 441-50 6. Jon M. Huntsman (Utah: 1975) 421-55 7. Frank Erwin Center (Texas: 1977) 417-76 8. DePaul Athletic Center (DePaul: 2000) 118-22 9. Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum (Auburn: 1979) 346-72 10. United Spirit Arena (Texas Tech: 1999) 146-33
Percentage (94.18%) (93.75%) (90.93%) (90.75%) (89.81%) (88.44%) (84.58%) (84.28%) (82.78%) (81.56%)
SEC COACHES TAB LADY VOLS AS FAVORITES League coaches predict the Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team to win the 2011 Southeastern Conference championship, the SEC office announced on Oct. 28. Tennessee returns an intact squad after going 32-3 and winning both the 2010 SEC regular season and tournament championships last year. The Lady Vols received 121 points, while Kentucky followed with 108. Rounding out the league order of finish were: LSU (93), Georgia (88), Vanderbilt (88), Auburn (59), South Carolina (48), Alabama (43), Ole Miss (42), Florida (39), Arkansas (35) and Mississippi State (28). Lady Vol senior guard/forward Angie Bjorklund and junior guard Shekinna Stricklen were named to the preseason Coaches’ All-SEC First Team, while junior posts Kelley Cain and Glory Johnson captured preseason Coaches’ All-SEC Second Team accolades. Kentucky senior forward Victoria Dunlap was named SEC Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. Joining Bjorklund, Stricklen and Dunlap on the All-SEC First Team were Kentucky’s A’dia Mathies, Auburn’s Alli Smalley, Georgia’s Porsha Phillips, LSU’s LaSondra Barrett and Vanderbilt’s Jence Rhoads. Joining Cain and Johnson on the Second Team were Alabama’s Tierney Jenkins, Arkansas’ C’eira Ricketts, Georgia’s Jasmine James, LSU’s Katherine Graham, South Carolina’s Marah Strickland, Tennessee’s Kelley Cain and Glory Johnson and Vanderbilt’s Hannah Tuomi. SCHOOL POINTS 1. Tennessee 121 2. Kentucky 108 3. LSU 93 T4. Georgia 88 T4. Vanderbilt 88 6. Auburn 59 7. South Carolina 48 8. Alabama 43 9. Ole Miss 42 10. Florida 39 11. Arkansas 35 12. Mississippi State 28 FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC Alli Smalley, Auburn Porsha Phillips, Georgia Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky A’dia Mathies, Kentucky LaSondra Barrett, LSU Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC Tierney Jenkins, Alabama
C’eira Ricketts, Arkansas Jasmine James, Georgia Katherine Graham, LSU Marah Strickland, South Carolina Kelley Cain, Tennessee Glory Johnson, Tennessee Hannah Tuomi, Vanderbilt LADY VOLS PICKED #1 BY SEC MEDIA Tennessee was predicted to win the 2011 Southeastern Conference women's basketball championship in a voting of a select panel of both SEC and national media members. The Lady Vol return an intact squad after going 32-3 and winning both the 2010 SEC regular season and tournament championships last year. They earned 15-of-17 first-place votes. Tennessee tops the order of finish with 202 points, with Kentucky (183), Vanderbilt (157), Georgia (150), LSU (147) and Auburn (120) rounding out the top half of the league. South Carolina (84), Arkansas (81), Alabama (65), and Ole Miss (47) were next with Mississippi State (45) and Florida (45) tied for last place. Lady Vol senior guard/forward Angie Bjorklund and junior guard Shekinna Stricklen were named to the preseason All-SEC First Team, while redshirt junior center Kelley Cain was a preseason AllSEC Second Team selection. Kentucky's Victoria Dunlap was the choice of the media for SEC Women's Basketball Player of the Year. The remaining votes were for Bjorklund (2) and Stricklen (2). Joining Dunlap, Bjorklund and Stricklen on the All-SEC First Team are LSU's LaSondra Barrett and Vanderbilt's Jence Rhoads. The Second Team consists of Cain; Alabama's Tierney Jenkins; Auburn's Alli Smalley; Georgia's Porsha Phillips and Kentucky's A'dia Mathies. Preseason Media Poll (First-Place Votes in Parentheses) SEC Champion: Tennessee (15), Kentucky (1), Auburn (1) Order of Finish 1. Tennessee 202 2. Kentucky 183 3. Vanderbilt 157 4. Georgia 150 5. LSU 147 6. Auburn 120 7. South Carolina 84 8. Arkansas 81 9. Alabama 65 10. Ole Miss 47 11. Mississippi State 45 11. Florida 45 First Team LaSondra Barrett, LSU Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee Shekinna Stricklen, Tennessee Jence Rhoads, Vanderbilt Second Team Tierney Jenkins, Alabama Alli Smalley, Auburn Porsha Phillips, Georgia A’dia Mathies, Kentucky Kelley Cain, Tennessee