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Sunday, Dec. 5 2:30pm ET
Summitt joins 700 club | |||||||||
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BOX SCORE
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- With flowers from her team and a kiss from her son, Pat Summitt celebrated a win for the 700th time in her unmatched coaching career. Semeka Randall's 19 points led five Lady Vols in double figures as No. 3 Tennessee beat No. 25 Wisconsin 85-62 Sunday.
Wearing a wide-collared purple suit and her customary glower, Summit was beaming by the final buzzer. The 47-year-old coach became the youngest in college basketball to win 700 games and just the second woman to do so. "It feels like I've been watching a whole lot of basketball in my life," Summitt said. "I thought we played a great game, and the fact that it happened with the way we played in this game, that's the most important thing." The Kohl Center crowd of 11,861, the fifth-largest to see a Wisconsin women's game, stood and cheered Summitt as her players gathered around for a giant bear hug and presented her with a bouquet of yellow roses. Her 9-year-old son Tyler also was on hand, cheering from the bench. "It's special, and you can reflect on it a little, but tomorrow's another workday," Summitt said. "This season isn't about how many wins I can get. It's about how we grow as a team."
Summitt joined 16 men's basketball coaches and one women's coach -- Texas' Jody Conradt, who got her 730th career win on Saturday -- in the 700 win club. Dean Smith holds college basketball's record of 879 wins. But with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of recruits, Summitt could claim the record in the next decade. "I don't like to predict things like that," Summitt said. "But if our teams play at the level I expect them to, milestones like that will arrive whether we look for them or not." After a season-opening loss to Louisiana Tech, Tennessee has won five straight games, including four straight against ranked teams. Wisconsin (4-2) lost its home opener and its second game to a ranked team this season. A fired-up Wisconsin team opened the second half with a 12-5 run and led 46-45 with 14:35 to play. Freshman center Nina Smith, who was recruited heavily by Summitt before choosing Wisconsin, scored seven points in the run and finished with 16. But Tennessee quickly took control with its trademark defensive pressure, forcing Wisconsin's overanxious backcourt into several of the Badgers' 28 turnovers. The game quickly turned into a rout as the Lady Vols made a 17-1 run. Tamika Catchings, who was a dismal 2-for-16 from the field and briefly left the game with an eye injury, scored six points during the run, and Kristen Clement bolstered an excellent defensive performance with a 3-pointer and a layup. "We knew this was an important night for her," Clement said. "We're real proud of her, real excited." Randall scored 15 of her 19 in the second half, and freshman Gwen Jackson added 17 as Tennessee outrebounded Wisconsin 48-34. The Lady Vols (5-1) also made their free throws, making 20 of 24 from the line. Before the game, Summitt had breakfast with Wisconsin coach Jane Albright, a former graduate assistant at Tennessee and, by Summitt's estimate, one of "about two dozen" women's coaches with ties to the Lady Vols' program.
"We talked about everything but basketball," Albright said.
"... She has things in the proper perspective. She's a role model
for women, and for everyone."
| ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Summitt's year-by-year coaching résumé
Standing Pat: Summitt's milestone wins
Summitt gets 700, sees 1,000 in distance
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