The players come and go, but Tennessee’s women’s basketball schedule stays the same — tough.
The Lady Vols return only one starter from the 2008 national champion team, but coach Pat Summitt didn’t lighten the load on the road to the 2009 NCAA tournament.
Besides the usual Who’s Who list, UT’s schedule includes two former Lady Vols bringing teams to Thompson-Boling Arena, where they well be welcomed warmly — until tip-off.
Stanford, Texas, Duke, LSU and Rutgers headline the familiar marquee names on the two-time defending national champion’s 2008-09 schedule released Tuesday.
As for why first-time opponent San Francisco pops up on opening night (Nov. 15), look to the bench. Tanya Haave, a 1980s star and member of the Lady Vols Hall of Fame, is making her head-coaching debut.
Kellie Jolly Harper, point guard during the 1996-98 NCAA three-peat, brings her fifth Western Carolina team to Thompson-Boling Arena on Nov. 25.
Fourteen opponents come from last year’s NCAA tournament bracket.
“I’m thrilled that we’ll be playing 17 home games (counting two exhibitions) in our arena,’’ Summitt said. “Our young team will certainly benefit from playing in front of our great fans.’’
Anjie Bjorklund is the only returning starter and even she was coming off the bench behind Alberta Auguste during the NCAA tournament run.
The roster includes seven freshmen, four sophomores and senior Alex Fuller.
One of the home games will be Stanford on Dec. 21, a rematch of UT’s 64-48 victory in the 2008 NCAA tournament title game. The Cardinal was one of two teams to beat Tennessee last season, a 73-69 overtime decision in December.
Duke, DePaul, Louisiana Tech, Virginia and MTSU also come to Knoxville.
Key non-conference road games are at George Washington, Texas, Old Dominion and Rutgers.
The Lady Vols also play Oklahoma in Oklahoma City on ESPN2’s Feb. 2 “Big Monday” package. The other “Big Monday” game is Duke on Feb. 16.
A Dec. 30 road trip to Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash., is a first for the program.
Tennessee plays UT-Chattanooga on its home floor for the first time since 2004.
The 14-game SEC slate includes two games each against Vanderbilt, Kentucky and Mississippi State. Tennessee plays the other eight league teams once apiece.
The SEC opener is Jan. 8 at home against Kentucky. The Lady Vols travel to LSU — which beat them 78-62 in Knoxville last year — on Feb. 26.
“Once again this year, the SEC, from top to bottom, will be as strong as it has ever been,’’ Summitt said.
“We’ve had an infusion of some new coaches making a tough league even tougher.’’
Dawn Staley is the new coach at South Carolina. Wendell Hudson takes over at Alabama.
The SEC Tournament moves to North Little Rock, Ark., March 5-8.
NCAA tournament games begin March 21. McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga is among the first-round sites.
The four regionals are: Raleigh, N.C.; Berkeley, Calif.; Oklahoma City; Trenton, N.J.
The Final Four is April 5-7 in St. Louis.
2008-09 TENNESSEE LADY VOL BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
as of July 29, 2008
DATE OPPONENT SITE TV TIME
THURS., NOV. 6 CARSON-NEWMAN (EXH) KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
SUN., NOV. 9 LOVE & BASKETBALL (EXH) KNOXVILLE 3 p.m.
SAT., NOV. 15 SAN FRANCISCO KNOXVILLE 2 p.m.
MON., NOV. 17 VIRGINIA KNOXVILLE 7:00 p.m.
FRI., NOV. 21 at Chattanooga Chattanooga 7 p.m.
SUN., NOV. 23 LOUISIANA TECH KNOXVILLE 3 p.m.
TUES., NOV. 25 WESTERN CAROLINA KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
SUN., NOV. 30 DEPAUL KNOXVILLE 3 p.m.
TUES., DEC. 2 at George Washington Washington, D.C. 7 p.m.
THURS., DEC. 11 MIDDLE TENNESSEE KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
SUN., DEC. 14 at Texas Austin, Texas FSN TBA p.m. CT
THURS., DEC. 18 at Old Dominion Norfolk, VA 7 p.m.
SUN., DEC. 21 STANFORD KNOXVILLE ESPN2 7 p.m.
TUES., DEC. 30 at Gonzaga Spokane, WA 7 p.m. PT
SAT., JAN. 3 at Rutgers Piscataway, NJ CBS Noon
THURS., JAN. 8 KENTUCKY KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
SUN., JAN. 11 at Vanderbilt Nashville 2 p.m. CT
THURS., JAN. 15 at Mississippi State Starkville, MS 7 p.m. CT
SUN., JAN. 18 SOUTH CAROLINA KNOXVILLE 3 p.m.
THURS., JAN. 22 at Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 7 p.m. CT
SUN., JAN. 25 at Auburn Auburn, AL 2 p.m. CT
THURS., JAN. 29 MISSISSIPPI KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
MON. FEB. 2 vs. Oklahoma (“Big Monday”) Oklahoma City, OK ESPN2 6:30 p.m. CT
THURS., FEB. 5 GEORGIA KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
SUN., FEB. 8 at Florida Gainesville, FL 2 p.m.
THURS., FEB. 12 ALABAMA KNOXVILLE 7 p.m.
MON. FEB. 16 DUKE (“Big Monday”) KNOXVILLE ESPN2 7:30 p.m.
THURS., FEB. 19 at Kentucky Lexington, KY 7 p.m.
SUN., FEB. 22 MISSISSIPPI STATE KNOXVILLE 3 p.m.
THURS., FEB. 26 at LSU Baton Rouge, LA 7 p.m. CT
SUN., MAR. 1 VANDERBILT KNOXVILLE ESPN2 7 p.m.
Thurs.-Sun., Mar. 5-8 SEC Tournament N. Little Rock. AR
Thurs., Mar. 5 SEC Tournament N. Little Rock, AR FOX
Fri., Mar. 6 SEC Tournament N. Little Rock, AR FOX
Sun., Mar. 8 SEC Championship Game N. Little Rock, AR ESPN2
Sat.-Tues., Mar. 21-24 NCAA Tournament (1st & 2nd Rounds) Campus sites* ESPN/ESPN2
*(Eight pre-determined sites: First- and Second-Rounds: The Pit/Bob King Court, Albuquerque, N.M. Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge, La.; E.A. Diddle Arena, Bowling Green, Ky.; McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Comcast Center, College Park, Md.; Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio; Arena at Gwinnett, Duluth, Ga.; Jack Breslin Student Events Center, East Lansing, Mich.; Carver-Hawkeye Arena, Iowa City, Iowa; United Spirit Arena, Lubbock, Texas; Joyce Center, Notre Dame, Ind.; Galen Center, Los Angeles, Calif.; Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, N.J.; Cox Arena, San Diego, Calif.; Bank of America Arena, Seattle, Wash.; Harry A. Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Conn.)
Sat.-Tues., Mar. 28-31 NCAA Tournament (Regional) ESPN/ESPN2
Raleigh Regional (3/28 & 3/30): RBC Center, Raleigh, N.C.; Berkeley Regional (3/28 & 3/30): Haas Pavilion Berkeley, Calif.; Oklahoma City Regional (3/29 & 3/31): Ford Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Trenton Regional (3/29 & 3/31): Sovereign Bank Arena, Trenton, N.J.
Sun. & Tues., Apr. 5 & 7 NCAA Final Four (Scottrade Center) St. Louis, Mo. ESPN
ALL TIMES, DATES AND TELEVISION SCHEDULES ARE TENTATIVE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Vanderbilt 93, Tennessee 79, Feb. 9…
Signing day celebration at Neyland…
Notre Dame beats Tennessee 72-44…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 16
thsvolfan15 writes:
GO LADY VOLS!!!
rockytopron writes:
#9 in '09 on the way!
ladivolfan writes:
WOO HOO! But who or what is Love & Basketball? An internet search only turns up a movie.
bowerst#242774 writes:
Don't you love it? "helps us prepare for our post-season play"
There's never any question about them being in the thick of the race for the Final Four, is there?
Of course not! Pat is why K'town is Title Town!
vol4gzus writes:
Will anyone be serving Geno's pizza rolls? Yes I'll have some mayam...moore please. Go Lady Vols!! It will be hard like every year is.....
volboy81#211803 writes:
The NCAA BETTER send us to Chattanooga this year!!!!
miamiVOL writes:
Good Luck Lady Vols, as always a top notch schedule
andefromtn#212139 writes:
It will be fine with 9 in '09! Go Lady Vols.
BigOrangeVol writes:
We're playing half of the Top Six and half of the Top Ten teams from last season. Add eight of the Top 15 to that, nine games against the Top 20 and eleven against the Top 25. When you throw in Texas, DePaul and UTC we will have played 14 games against Top 40 teams before the NCAA Tourney.
Hey Guido Auri-enema, keep scheduling those powerhouses like Stony Brook; W. Mich.; Holy Cross; Siena; Pepperdine; Buffalo; George Mason; Indiana State; Cleveland State; Hofstra; Albany; Army; Richmond; Colgate; Fairfield; Rhode Island; Boston Univ. and Sacred Heart so you can be assured of a 30-win season but you'll fall before the NCAA Title Game for the next four years just like the last four.
BigOrangeVol writes:
Auri-enema, glad you got that commitment from Ellena-Dellenadonnella. In a letter from to me, Mr. Richard Feder from Storrs Connecticut asks… Dear BOV, now that Elenna Dellenadonnella has left UConn I'm depressed, my face broke out, I'm nauseas, I'm constipated, my cheeks swell, my gums are bleeding, my sinuses are clogged, I got heart burn, and I got gas. What should I do?
Well Mr. Feder, you sure do ask a lot of stupid questions for a guy from Storrs Connecticut! Actually you belong in Connecticut. Ellena-Dellenadonnella is obviously a spoiled, pampered, immature little Daddy’s girl that thinks the World revolves around her exclusively. Perhaps both of you need to join a fitness club and work off some of that stress.
I know exactly what you're going through, cause once, I, BOV quit school because I was homesick and stressed-out. To get back in shape, I had to join one of those fancy shmancy health clubs. You know, the ones where it's really expensive to join but it's worth it because you get to see a lot of people that you don't know naked. Like some people got them bulgy, bulgy thighs, the ones that get chafed just 'cause they're always scraping together. And there's other people there that got them funny bellybuttons. Like some go in, and some go out, some are like a ball, or curl around, or it's like a little knob on it like a door. Some people even got little pieces of their sweater still in it. Some of them even look like a little shell or a clam or something you don't know what they are. But personally, I, BOV, don't like to walk around with no clothes on in front of other people. Not that I don't have a great body, but why should I waste it on a bunch of fat people in a health club? Anyway, they got this thing there that's a little room that's hot inside and you go in there to sweat like a pig. So I go in there, but before I sit down, I put this clean towel on the bench 'cause there's a lot of people been there and you don't know where they been. But who do you think is sitting next to me but Guido Arui-eneme. That Hobbit of a coach from UConn who thinks he knows everything. But what this basketball coach didn't know was that he had this little, teeny, tiny ball of sweat right here, hanging off the tip of his nose. It was just hanging there! It wouldn't fall off! Like if he turned his head, it wouldn't fall off. If he stood up it didn't fall off, if he stretched it wouldn't come off, and when he picked little pieces of his sweater out of his bellybutton it wouldn't fall off. That little sweat ball just wouldn't fall off. So I yelled at him, I said, "Hey, Guido! Flick that sweat ball off your nose! What are you trying to do, make me sick?
BigOrangeVol writes:
Well, it just goes to show you, it's always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Either you quit school and bail on your new team or you have a sweat ball hanging off your nose. It's just like a song we used to sing on Thanksgiving when I was a little Vol. Everybody would come over to my house all dressed up pretty and everything, and my mother would make the turkey with stuffing and for dessert, we'd have the traditional Big Orange cake. Before we ate, we'd bow our heads and we'd all sing: 'We gather together to ask the lord's blessing. Please love down upon the BOV folks. Bring peace to our fathers, good health to our mothers, and please don't make me sweat like Guido Auri-enema.”
ladivolfan writes:
Good one, BOVanna BOVanna Danna!
BigOrangeVol writes:
Because Guido is a liar and a cheat that has bitten the hand that feeds him too many times.
ladivolfan writes:
bama - it's because Tennessee doesn't have enough hair gel to keep Geno stocked up while he's here.
AllLadyVol writes:
Big Orange Vol, LOL LOL LOL.
I'm disappointed that Knoxville will not be hosting LSU and North Carolina....but I will be in my regular seat as always. Can't wait!
BigOrangeVol writes:
Glad I could put a smile on a few faces today! :-)
I almost dumped it because I didn't figure there were that many folks on here old enough to remember. It pales without Gilda's voice though!!!
Losing Gilda was terrible and for anyone to have passed away at 42 is awful! Ladies please make yourselves aware of the symptoms of this silent killer, Ovarian cancer. A blood test called CA-125 is available to screen for markers but sadly it doesn't work very well detecting early stages of OC.
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