1996–97 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

1996–97 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
1996–97 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 10
Record	29–10 (8–4 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Summitt (23rd season);
Assistant coaches	Mickie DeMoss; Holly Warlick;
Home arena	Thompson-Boling Arena

The 1996–97 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1996-97 women's college basketball season. Coached by Pat Summitt, the Lady Volunteers rebounded from a challenging regular season to finish 29–10 and win back-to-back national championships, while playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation. The Lady Vols started off the season ranked number four.

1996–97 SEC women's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 Georgia	11	–	1	.917	25	–	6	.806
No. 8 Alabama	10	–	2	.833	25	–	7	.781
No. 7 Florida	9	–	3	.750	24	–	9	.727
No. 9 LSU	9	–	3	.750	25	–	5	.833
No. 10 Tennessee	8	–	4	.667	29	–	10	.744
No. 20 Vanderbilt	6	–	6	.500	20	–	11	.645
Arkansas	5	–	7	.417	18	–	10	.643
Ole Miss	5	–	7	.417	16	–	11	.593
Auburn^†	5	–	7	.417	22	–	10	.688
Kentucky	2	–	10	.167	8	–	19	.296
Mississippi State	1	–	11	.083	11	–	16	.407
South Carolina	1	–	11	.083	12	–	15	.444

† 1997 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Roster

1996–97 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F	3	Niya Butts	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	Americus	Americus, Georgia
F	5	Kyra Elzy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Oldham	La Grange, Kentucky
G	14	Kellie Jolly	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	White County	Sparta, Tennessee
G	21	Semeka Randall	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Trinity	Cleveland, Ohio
F/C	23	Chamique Holdsclaw	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Christ the King	Astoria, New York

Head coach

Pat Summitt

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

[1]

Number	Name	Position	Height	Year	Hometown	High School
1996–97 Tennessee Lady Vols Basketball Roster
11	Laurie Milligan	Guard	5–8	Junior	Tigard, Oregon	Tigard High School
13	Misty Greene	Guard/Forward	5–9	Sophomore	Decatur, Tennessee	Meigs County High School
31	Brynae Laxton	Forward	6–0	Sophomore	Oneida, Tennessee	Oneida High School
34	LaShonda Stephens	Forward	6–3	Freshman	Canton, Georgia	Sequoyah High School

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Dec 14, 1996*	No. 5	No. 1 Stanford	L 65–82	7–3	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Jan 7, 1997*	No. 9	at No. 2 Old Dominion	L 72–83	10–6	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, VA
Feb 22, 1997	No. 8	No. 13 LSU	L 78–83	21–8 (8–4)	Pete Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 24, 1997*	No. 8	at No. 6 Louisiana Tech	L 80–98	21–9	Thomas Assembly Center Ruston, Louisiana
SEC tournament
Feb 28, 1997*	No. 8	vs. South Carolina First round	W 75–48	22–9	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, Tennessee
Mar 1, 1997*	No. 8	vs. No. 9 LSU Quarterfinal	W 100–99 ^OT	23–9	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, Tennessee
Mar 2, 1997*	No. 8	vs. Auburn Semifinal	L 59–61	23–10	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, Tennessee
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	(14 MW) Grambling State First round	W 91–54	24–10	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 17, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	(6 MW) Oregon Second round	W 76–59	25–10	Thompson-Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 22, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (2 MW) No. 18 Colorado Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 91–81	26–10	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Mar 24, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (1 MW) No. 1 Connecticut Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 91–81	27–10	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Mar 28, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (6 E) No. 15 Notre Dame National Semifinal – Final Four	W 80–66	28–10	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 30, 1997*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (1 ME) No. 2 Old Dominion National Championship	W 68–59	29–10	Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati, Ohio
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

[2]

Rankings

References

"1996-97 Women's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
"1996-97 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2024.

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[1] "1996-97 Women's Basketball Roster". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2024.

[2] "1996-97 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 1, 2024.

Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
Venues	Stokely Athletic Center (1974–1987) Thompson–Boling Arena (1987–present)
Rivalries	Kentucky Stanford UConn Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	History Smokey "Rocky Top"
People	Head coaches Retired jerseys
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
AIAW and NCAA national championships in bold; AIAW and NCAA Final Four appearances in italics