Lady Vols: Four Times the Best
An unprecedented fourth national championship puts the Lady Vols at the
pinnacle of women's college basketball.
No other women's team has been No. 1 that many times. And Coach Pat Summitt
belongs to an elite club of only three hoop coaches (men's or women's) to
have won four NCAA titles.
The Lady Vols defeated Georgia 83-65 March 31 in Charlotte for the national
title. Their previous championships were in 1987, '89, and '91.
If a national title escalates fan support, four national titles bring serious
adulation:
- President Clinton and Vice President Gore hosted the team at the
White House.
- Tennessee Gov. Don Sundquist gave the women a pre-championship
pep talk and declared the day after the championship game Lady Vols Day
in Tennessee.
- Thirty-five-hundred fans feted the team at a victory rally at UTK's
Thompson-Boling Arena.
- The Tennessee General Assembly honored the Lady Vols in a joint
session in Nashville and passed a resolution in their honor.
- The New York Times declared, "Tennessee Rules SEC and
Nation," referring to the defeat of SEC rival Georgia for the national
championship.
- State media were lavish in their praise:
"The phenomenal success of the Lady Vols . . . can be traced to one
person, Coach Pat Head Summitt, who has built Tennessee into a perennial
power and has represented this state with dignity and class all along the
way. The university--and the state--are fortunate to claim Summitt as their
own."
When the 1996-97 team takes the court to begin practice this fall, Summitt
will face the challenge of replacing the back court duo of Final Four MVP
Michelle Marciniak and Latina Davis. Returning starters will be All-America
Chamique Holdsclaw, Tiffani Johnson, and Abby Conklin.
Return to Summer 1996 table of contents.
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