1985–86 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

1985–86 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
1985–86 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 15
Record	24–10 (6–3 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Summitt (12th season);
Assistant coaches	Mickie DeMoss; Holly Warlick;
Home arena	Stokely Athletic Center
	Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 2 Georgia ^†	9	–	0	1.000	30	–	2	.938
No. 9 LSU	6	–	3	.667	27	–	6	.818
No. 7 Auburn	6	–	3	.667	24	–	6	.800
No. 11 Ole Miss	6	–	3	.667	24	–	8	.750
No. 15 Tennessee	5	–	4	.556	24	–	10	.706
Kentucky	4	–	5	.444	18	–	11	.621
No. 20 Vanderbilt	4	–	5	.444	22	–	9	.710
Alabama	3	–	6	.333	20	–	9	.690
Florida	2	–	7	.222	10	–	18	.357
Mississippi State	0	–	9	.000	8	–	20	.286

† 1986 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1985–86 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1985–86 women's college basketball season. Coached by Pat Summitt, the Lady Volunteers finished 24–10 and reached the program's third NCAA Final Four. The Lady Vols started the season ranked No. 9 and played their home games at Stokely Athletic Center.

Roster

1985–86 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	10	Pam Marr	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr		Winter Park, Florida
G	15	Kristie Snyder	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	Sr		Knoxville, Tennessee
G	23	Shelley Sexton	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Jr		Lake City, Tennessee
F	30	Bridgette Gordon	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Fr	DeLand	DeLand, Florida
F	34	Lisa Webb	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	Jr		Milledgeville, Georgia
F	42	Valerie Freeman	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr		Milledgeville, Georgia
C	44	Cheryl Littlejohn	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	Jr		Gastonia, North Carolina
F	53	Amy Gamble	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Jr		Glen Dale, West Virginia

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 24, 1985*	No. 9	East Carolina	W 74–56	1–0	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Nov 27, 1985*	No. 9	Illinois	W 71–57	2–0	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 1, 1985*	No. 9	No. 1 Texas	L 52–74	2–1	Stokely Athletic Center (3,031) Knoxville, Tennessee
Dec 13, 1985*	No. 11	at No. 4 USC	L 77–85	5–2	L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, California
Feb 22, 1986	No. 14	Mississippi State	W 72–51	20–9 (5–4)	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Feb 24, 1986*	No. 14	Memphis State	W 94–79	20–9	Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
SEC tournament
Mar 1, 1986*	No. 14	vs. No. 12 Ole Miss Quarterfinals	L 78–83	21–9	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 16, 1986*	(4 ME) No. 15	(5 ME) Iowa Second round	W 73–68	22–9	Stokeley Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee
Mar 21, 1986*	(4 ME) No. 15	(1 ME) No. 2 Georgia Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 85–82	23–9	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Mar 23, 1986*	(4 ME) No. 15	(2 ME) No. 9 LSU Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 67–65	24–9	Carver–Hawkeye Arena Iowa City, Iowa
Mar 28, 1986*	(4 ME) No. 15	vs. (1 W) No. 3 USC National Semifinal – Final Four	L 59–83^[2]	24–10	Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ME=Mideast.

^[3]

Rankings

References

^ "1985-86 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
^ "USC Women Win, and It's Without a Fight". The Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1986. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
^ "1985-86 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2024.

[1] "1985-86 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved April 24, 2024.

[2] "USC Women Win, and It's Without a Fight". The Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1986. Retrieved April 24, 2024.

[3] "1985-86 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved April 24, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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