1986–87 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

Intercollegiate basketball season

1986–87 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
[REDACTED]
NCAA tournament National champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 7
Record	28–6 (6–3 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Summitt (13th season)
Assistant coaches	Mickie DeMoss Heidi VanDerveer Holly Warlick
Home arena	Stokely Athletic Center
Seasons← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Auburn	8	–	1	.889	31	–	2	.939
No. 6 Georgia	7	–	2	.778	27	–	5	.844
No. 8 Ole Miss	7	–	2	.778	25	–	5	.833
No. 7 Tennessee	6	–	3	.667	28	–	6	.824
LSU	6	–	3	.667	20	–	8	.714
Vanderbilt	4	–	5	.444	23	–	10	.697
Kentucky	3	–	6	.333	17	–	11	.607
Alabama	2	–	7	.222	19	–	10	.655
Mississippi State	2	–	7	.222	13	–	17	.433
Florida	0	–	9	.000	12	–	16	.429

† 1987 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1986–87 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1986–87 women's college basketball season. Coached by Pat Summitt, the Lady Volunteers finished 28–6 and won the program's first NCAA championship. The Lady Vols started the season ranked No. 3 and played their home games at Stokely Athletic Center for the final season.

Roster

1986–87 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	4	Dawn Marsh	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Jr		Alcoa, Tennessee
C	11	Kathy Spinks	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr		Forest Hills, Kentucky
C	12	Sheila Frost	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	So		Pulaski, Tennessee
F	14	Gay Townson	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr		Loudon, Tennessee
G	23	Shelley Sexton	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Sr		Lake City, Tennessee
F/C	24	Carla McGhee	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr		Peoria, Illinois
F	30	Bridgette Gordon	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	So	DeLand	DeLand, Florida
F	32	Jennifer Tuggle	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS So		Etowah, Tennessee
G	33	Tonya Edwards	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	Flint Northwestern	Flint, Michigan
F	34	Lisa Webb	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr		Milledgeville, Georgia
G/F	35	Melissa McCray	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So		Johnson City, Tennessee
G	40	Sabrina Mott	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Fr		Brentwood, Tennessee
C	44	Cheryl Littlejohn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Sr		Gastonia, North Carolina
F/C	55	Karla Horton	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr		Kershaw, South Carolina

Head coach

Pat Summitt

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank	Opponent	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 29, 1986*	No. 3	vs. Providence Amana-Hawkeye Classic	W 86–70	1–0	Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Nov 30, 1986*	No. 3	at No. 8 Iowa Amana-Hawkeye Classic	W 74–56	2–0	Carver-Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 14, 1986*	No. 3	at No. 1 Texas	W 85–78	7–0	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
Dec 29, 1986*	No. 1	vs. No. 2 Texas Orange Bowl/Burger King Invitational	L 74–88	10–1	James L. Knight International Center Miami, Florida
Feb 9, 1987*	No. 7	at No. 8 Louisiana Tech	L 60–72	17–5	Thomas Assembly Center (4,770) Ruston, Louisiana
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1987*	(4) No. 7	vs. (5) No. 14 LSU Quarterfinals	W 64–63	23–5	Albany, Georgia
Mar 6, 1987*	(4) No. 7	vs. (1) No. 2 Auburn Semifinals	L 96–102	23–6	Albany, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 15, 1987*	(2 ME) No. 7	(7 ME) Tennessee Tech Second round	W 95–59	24–6	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 20, 1987*	(2 ME) No. 7	(3 ME) No. 11 Virginia Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 66–58	25–6	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 22, 1987*	(2 ME) No. 7	(1 ME) No. 2 Auburn Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 77–61	26–6	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 27, 1987*	(2 ME) No. 7	vs. (1 W) No. 4 Long Beach State National Semifinal – Final Four	W 74–64	27–6	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
Mar 29, 1987*	(2 ME) No. 7	vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Louisiana Tech National Championship	W 67–44	28–6	Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
*Non-conference game. Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast.

Rankings

Main article: 1986–87 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AP	3	3	3	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	5	7	9	8	8	7	Not released
Coaches	3	3	3	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	6	8	8	8	8	7 т	1

References

"1986-87 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
"No. 3 Tennessee dumps Iowa in Amana final" (PDF). Daily Iowan. December 1, 1986. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
"49ers Taken Out of Offense, Tournament". The Los Angeles Times. March 28, 1987. Retrieved June 15, 2024.
"No. 1: Tennessee 67, Louisiana Tech 44, March 29, 1987". Commercial Appeal.
"1986-87 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 30, 2024.

v t e Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball 1986–87 NCAA champions
24 Carla McGhee 30 Bridgette Gordon 33 Tonya Edwards (MOP) Head coach Pat Summitt Assistant coaches: Mickie DeMoss Heidi VanDerveer Holly Warlick

Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball 1986–87 NCAA champions

Head coach Pat Summitt

v t e 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

v t e NCAA Division I women's basketball champions
1982 Louisiana Tech 1983 USC 1984 USC 1985 Old Dominion 1986 Texas 1987 Tennessee 1988 Louisiana Tech 1989 Tennessee 1990 Stanford 1991 Tennessee 1992 Stanford 1993 Texas Tech 1994 North Carolina 1995 Connecticut 1996 Tennessee 1997 Tennessee 1998 Tennessee 1999 Purdue 2000 Connecticut 2001 Notre Dame 2002 Connecticut 2003 Connecticut 2004 Connecticut 2005 Baylor 2006 Maryland 2007 Tennessee 2008 Tennessee 2009 Connecticut 2010 Connecticut 2011 Texas A&M 2012 Baylor 2013 Connecticut 2014 Connecticut 2015 Connecticut 2016 Connecticut 2017 South Carolina 2018 Notre Dame 2019 Baylor 2020 No tournament 2021 Stanford 2022 South Carolina 2023 LSU 2024 South Carolina

NCAA Division I women's basketball champions

1982: Louisiana Tech
1983: USC
1984: USC
1985: Old Dominion
1986: Texas
1987: Tennessee
1988: Louisiana Tech
1989: Tennessee
1990: Stanford
1991: Tennessee
1992: Stanford
1993: Texas Tech
1994: North Carolina
1995: Connecticut
1996: Tennessee
1997: Tennessee
1998: Tennessee
1999: Purdue
2000: Connecticut
2001: Notre Dame
2002: Connecticut
2003: Connecticut
2004: Connecticut
2005: Baylor
2006: Maryland
2007: Tennessee
2008: Tennessee
2009: Connecticut
2010: Connecticut
2011: Texas A&M
2012: Baylor
2013: Connecticut
2014: Connecticut
2015: Connecticut
2016: Connecticut
2017: South Carolina
2018: Notre Dame
2019: Baylor
2020: No tournament
2021: Stanford
2022: South Carolina
2023: LSU
2024: South Carolina

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