1987–88 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

1987–88 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
1987–88 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 1
Record	31–3 (8–1 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Summitt (14th season);
Assistant coaches	Mickie DeMoss; Holly Warlick;
Home arena	Thompson–Boling Arena
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 3 Auburn	9	–	0	1.000	32	–	3	.914
No. 1 Tennessee^†	8	–	1	.889	31	–	3	.912
LSU	6	–	3	.667	18	–	11	.621
No. 12 Ole Miss	5	–	4	.556	24	–	7	.774
No. 17 Georgia	5	–	4	.556	21	–	10	.677
Alabama	5	–	4	.556	18	–	10	.643
Vanderbilt	4	–	5	.444	18	–	10	.643
Mississippi State	2	–	7	.222	19	–	13	.594
Florida	1	–	8	.111	9	–	18	.333
Kentucky	0	–	9	.000	14	–	15	.483

† 1988 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1987–88 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1987–88 women's college basketball season. Coached by Pat Summitt, the Lady Volunteers finished 31–3 and reached the program's fifth NCAA Final Four. The Lady Vols started the season ranked No. 1 and played their home games at the brand new Thompson–Boling Arena.

Roster

1987–88 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)	Sr		Alcoa, Tennessee
C	11	Kathy Spinks	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr		Forest Hills, Kentucky
C	12	Sheila Frost	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr		Pulaski, Tennessee
F	14	Gay Townson	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr		Loudon, Tennessee
G	23	Kris Durham	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr		Dunellen, New Jersey
F/C	24	Carla McGhee	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So		Peoria, Illinois
F	30	Bridgette Gordon	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	DeLand	DeLand, Florida
C	32	Daedra Charles	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Fr	Saint Martin de Porres	Detroit, Michigan
F	32	Jennifer Tuggle	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr		Etowah, Tennessee
G	33	Tonya Edwards	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	So	Flint Northwestern	Flint, Michigan
F	34	Lisa Webb	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Sr		Milledgeville, Georgia
G/F	35	Melissa McCray	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr		Johnson City, Tennessee
F	42	Pearl Moore	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr		Harriman, Tennessee

Head coach

Pat Summitt

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

^[1]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 27, 1987*	No. 1	vs. Indiana	W 91–52	1–0	Cincinnati, Ohio
Nov 28, 1987*	No. 1	vs. No. 18 Old Dominion	W 83–52	2–0	Cincinnati, Ohio
Dec 3, 1987*	No. 1	Stetson	W 102–59	3–0	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 9, 1987*	No. 1	No. 2 Texas	L 78–97	3–1	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 13, 1987*	No. 1	at UCLA	W 89–63	4–1	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Dec 16, 1987*	No. 3	at Oregon State	W 91–56	5–1	Gill Coliseum Corvallis, Oregon
Dec 19, 1987*	No. 3	Eastern Kentucky	W 115–40	6–1	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 20, 1987*	No. 3	Northern Illinois	W 103–76	7–1	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 3, 1988*	No. 3	at Illinois	W 93–59	8–1	Assembly Hall Champaign, Illinois
Jan 5, 1988*	No. 4	Northwestern	W 78–65	9–1	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 9, 1988	No. 4	No. 2 Auburn	L 68–71	9–2 (0–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 11, 1988*	No. 4	at Georgia Tech	W 96–79	10–2	Alexander Memorial Coliseum Atlanta, Georgia
Jan 14, 1988*	No. 4	Old Dominion	W 91–68	11–2	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 17, 1988	No. 4	Vanderbilt	W 104–67	12–2 (1–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 20, 1988*	No. 4	at South Carolina	W 85–80	13–2	Carolina Coliseum Columbia, South Carolina
Jan 23, 1988	No. 4	Alabama	W 97–70	14–2 (2–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 27, 1988*	No. 4	at Memphis State	W 97–73	15–2	Memorial Fieldhouse Memphis Tennessee
Jan 31, 1988	No. 3	at No. 13 Georgia	W 82–79	16–2 (3–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum Athens, Georgia
Feb 3, 1988*	No. 3	at Notre Dame	W 91–71	17–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 6, 1988	No. 3	at Ole Miss	W 78–67	18–2 (4–1)	Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi
Feb 8, 1988	No. 3	at Mississippi State	W 81–74	19–2 (5–1)	Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi
Feb 13, 1988	No. 3	LSU	W 89–82	20–2 (6–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 15, 1988*	No. 3	No. 5 Louisiana Tech	W 76–74	21–2	Thompson–Boling Arena (7,106) Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 18, 1988	No. 3	at Kentucky Rivalry	W 99–75	22–2 (7–1)	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
Feb 21, 1988	No. 3	Florida	W 108–53	23–2 (8–1)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 25, 1988*	No. 3	at North Carolina	W 88–65	24–2	Carmichael Auditorium Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Feb 27, 1988*	No. 3	Tennessee State	W 104–51	25–2	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1988	(2) No. 3	vs. (10) Kentucky Quarterfinals	W 100–66	26–2	Albany Civic Center Albany, Georgia
Mar 6, 1988	(2) No. 3	vs. (6) No. 17 Georgia Semifinals	W 82–76	27–2	Albany Civic Center Albany, Georgia
Mar 7, 1988	(2) No. 3	vs. (1) No. 1 Auburn Championship game	W 73–70	28–2	Albany Civic Center Albany, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 19, 1988*	(1 E) No. 1	(9 E) Wake Forest Second round	W 94–66	29–2	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 24, 1988	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (4 E) No. 14 James Madison Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 72–52	30–2	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia
Mar 25, 1988	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (2 E) No. 10 Virginia Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 84–76^[2]	31–2	Norfolk Scope Norfolk, Virginia
Apr 1, 1988	(1 E) No. 1	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Louisiana Tech National Semifinal – Final Four	L 59–68^[3]	31–3	Tacoma Dome (8,449) Tacoma, Washington
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

^[4]

Rankings

References

^ "1987-88 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 9, 2024.
^ "Tennessee Eliminates Virginia". The Washington Post. March 26, 1988. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
^ "Louisiana Tech to Play Auburn in Final". The New York Times. April 2, 1988. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
^ "1987-88 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved June 9, 2024.

[1] "1987-88 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved June 9, 2024.

[2] "Tennessee Eliminates Virginia". The Washington Post. March 26, 1988. Retrieved June 10, 2024.

[3] "Louisiana Tech to Play Auburn in Final". The New York Times. April 2, 1988. Retrieved June 10, 2024.

[4] "1987-88 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved June 9, 2024.

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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