Throughout the ranks of women's college basketball last week, two monumental records fell, forever changing the landscape of the game. Although the marks were set by people affiliated with two of the NCAA's most storied programs, the hype surrounding them was nowhere near enough given the magnitude of their achievements and the fact that both women involved will continue to rewrite the record books as the drive towards March Madness continues.
Last Thursday, coach Pat Summitt of the Tennessee Lady Volunteers reached the 1,000-win plateau, becoming the first Div. I basketball coach -- men's or women's -- to reach the millennium mark as her No. 17 Volunteers took down the Georgia Bulldogs, 73-43. On the list of all-time winningest coaches, the closest coach to Summitt is Bobby Knight, looking far up with seven more years of coaching than Summitt but 98 fewer wins. Although women's basketball is dominated by a select few teams with prestige and exemplary recruiting programs (see: Connecticut Huskies, Oklahoma Sooners, North Carolina Tar Heels), Summitt's 1,000 wins and eight national titles put her at the top as one of the finest coaches of all time, regardless of sport.
Summitt's tireless work at Rocky Top is perhaps best exemplified with this season even though Tennessee is the defending two-time national champion. With seven freshmen and just one senior on the roster and having lost her best post defender, sophomore Vicki Baugh, for the rest of the season, Summitt has still managed to direct her inexperienced squad to a top-25 national ranking and a record that, albeit mediocre by Volunteer standards, many teams would take with their bare hands.
Summitt is the epitome of consistency in college basketball. Since the 1981-82 season, the Volunteers have never been knocked out of the tournament before the Sweet Sixteen and have reached the Final Four 18 times. But Summitt seems far from content, pushing toward the long grind that is the NCAA Tournament in March rather than dwelling on the past. Immediately after her historic defeat of the Bulldogs, Summitt claimed that the team was focusing squarely on St. Louis and the Final Four as opposed to celebrating. But the path will be far from easy.
On Sunday, Tennessee fell to the SEC rival Florida Gators, 66-57, pushing the Volunteers into fourth place in their conference behind the Auburn Tigers, the Gators and the Vanderbilt Commodores, three teams against whom Summitt is a combined 121-19. Tennessee has dropped three of its last five, however, including crucial SEC games with the Tigers and the Gators and a 10-point loss to Oklahoma, the No. 2 team in the country. With March Madness just around the corner and her record out of the way, the Volunteers should be able to right the ship soon and focus on the mark that truly matters to Summitt: a ninth national championship.
In Tennessee's Feb. 2 matchup against Oklahoma, Sooner behemoth senior Courtney Paris, listed at 6'4", scored nine points and snatched 12 rebounds, effectively ending her NCAA-record streak of consecutive double-doubles at 112 games and also snapping her streak of scoring in double figures at 120 games -- every game in her career. The person with the next-most double-doubles in NCAA women's history is Anne Donovan of the early-1980s Old Dominion Lady Monarchs with 19.
But Paris was not done yet, as she promptly went out six days later and broke the NCAA Div. I rebounding record and set two Big 12 scoring marks in an 18-point win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Her first board of the night broke the all-time record set by the Drake Bulldogs' Wanda Ford (1983-86) while setting the Big 12 career scoring record and field goals record in the second half.
Paris has been a rock for the Sooners throughout this season, averaging 15.5 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. Additionally, she shoots .611 from the floor, aiding in Oklahoma's nationally third-best scoring offense and second-best field-goal percentage. It is because of Paris' solid play in the paint that the Sooners have been able to surge out to a 20-2 record overall, including the big win against Tennessee. But Paris will certainly have to step it up down the stretch in the postseason, as Oklahoma's two losses have come to Connecticut, the unanimous No. 1, and North Carolina, the No. 7 squad.
With eight conference games left on the schedule, Paris will certainly have ample opportunities to extend on her record as her final season as a Sooner winds down. But like Summitt, Paris seems intent on making it to the Final Four rather than putting more numbers in the books. This pair, two of the most prominent women in college basketball history, should carry the momentum surrounding their records into the NCAA Tournament come next month.
