1986-87 Tennessee Lady Vols

86-87 team

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NCAA Tournament | Championship Game Statistics
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After four fruitless trips to the AIAW Championship Finals, which included two championship game losses, and three previous appearances in the NCAA Final Four, including one championship game defeat, the Tennessee Lady Vols finally brought home the ultimate trophy in 1987. In Austin, Texas, before a record 9,823 fervid fans, the Lady Vols defeatd their old nemesis, the Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters, by a resounding 67-44 score to win their first NCAA Championship. Sophomores Bridgette Gordon and Sheila Frost and frosh Tonya Edwards each scored 13 points to lead the way. Gordon and Frost controlled the boards, pulling down 12 and 8, respectively. Head coach Pat Summitt said, "I do not think I could go without recognizing that it was a tremendous team effort... has been for the last three weeks. This team has played as hard and as smart as I could ask any team to play." Edwards was named the tournment's Most Outstanding Player.


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1986-87 ROSTER

NO. NAME               POS.  HT.   YR.  HOMETOWN
-----------------------------------------------------------
 4  Dawn Marsh          G   5-6    Jr   Alcoa, TN
11  Kathy Spinks        C   6-2    Jr   Forest Hills, KY
12  Sheila Frost        C   6-4    So   Pulaski, TN
14  Gay Townson         F   5-9    Sr   Loudon, TN
23  Shelley Sexton      G   5-7    Sr   Lake City, TN
24  Carla McGhee        F   6-3    Fr   Peoria, IL
30  Bridgette Gordon    F   6-0    So   DeLand, FL
32  Jennifer Tuggle     F   6-2    Jr   Etowah, TN
33  Tonya Edwards       G   5-10   Fr   Flint, MI
34  Lisa Webb           F   5-9    Jr   Milledgeville, GA
35  Melissa McCray      G   5-10   So   Johnson City, TN
40  Sabrina Mott        G   5-9    Fr   Brentwood, TN
44  Cheryl Littlejohn   C   6-3    Sr   Gastonia, NC
55  Karla Horton       F/C  6-2    Sr   Kershaw, SC

Assistant Coaches: Mickie DeMoss
                   Holly Warlick
                   Shelia Collins (GA)
                   Heidi Van Derveer (GA)

THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Opening Round:    defeated Tennessee Tech, 95-59
Mideast Regional: defeated Virginia, 66-58
	          defeated Auburn, 77-61
Semifinals: Tennessee 74, Long Beach State 64
	    Louisiana Tech 79, Texas 75
______________________________________________________

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME STATISTICS

LOUISIANA TECH   FG-FGA  FT-FTA  REB   PF    MIN   PTS
-------------------------------------------------------
Davis             0-0     1-3     6     1     39     1
Lewis             4-11    4-6     7     3     40    12
Harrison          3-11    2-5     8     5     33     8
Weatherspoon      4-11    3-3     3     5     29    11
Lawson            1-4     0-0     1     2     17     2
Stall             3-7     2-3     7     4     23     8
Westbrooks        0-3     0-2     3     0      7     0
Chambless         0-0     0-0     0     0      1     0
McDonald          1-1     0-0     0     0      1     2
Team                              1
-------------------------------------------------------
Totals           16-48   12-22   36    20    190    44
                                            (200?)
=======================================================

TENNESSEE       FG-FGA  FT-FTA   REB    PF   MIN   PTS
-------------------------------------------------------
Gordon           5-19    3-4     12      3    34    13
Horton           4-8     1-2      5      3    38     9
Spinks           1-3     0-0      1      2    10     2
Sexton           4-8     0-0      2      3    24     8
Edwards          4-13    5-8      7      4    32    13
Marsh            1-2     4-4      3      1    19     6
Frost            6-10    1-5      8      2    29    13
McCray           0-0     0-0      0      2     7     0
Webb             1-3     1-1      2      1     3     3
Littlejohn       0-1     0-0      1      0     2     0
Tuggle           0-0     0-0      0      0     1     0
McGhee           0-0     0-0      0      0     1     0
Team                              6
-------------------------------------------------------
Totals          26-67   15-24    47     21   200    67
=======================================================
SITE: Austin, TX
ATTENDANCE: 9,823
HALFTIME: Tennessee 33, Louisiana Tech 24
PERCENTAGES: Tennessee - 38.8 fg, 62.5 ft
             Louisiana Tech - 33.3 fg, 54.5 ft
ASSISTS: Tennessee (12) - Sexton 4, Edwards 4, Gordon 2,
                          Marsh 1, Frost 1
         Louisiana Tech (6) - Weatherspoon 3, Lewis 1,
                              Harrison 1, Stall 1
TURNOVERS: Tennessee (12) - Sexton 3, Edwards 3, Marsh 2,
                            McCray 2, Gordon 1, Horton 1
           Louisiana Tech (20) - Weatherspoon 6, Harrison 4,
                                 Lewis 3, Stall 3, Davis 1,
                                 Lawson1, Westbrooks 1, Chambless 1
BLOCKS: Louisiana Tech (5) - Harrison 4, Davis 1
STEALS: Tennessee (9) - Gordon 3, Marsh 2, Horton 1, Sexton 1,
                        Edwards 1, Littlejohn 1
        Louisiana Tech (5) - Lewis 2, Weatherspoon 2, Stall 1
OFFICIALS: June Courteau, Patty Broderick
______________________________________________________

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1986-87 SEASON STATISTICS


Unofficial - culled from newspaper box scores.
RECORD: (28-6); SEC (6-3)

PLAYER             GP-GS  FGM-FGA   PCT  FTM-FTA   PCT  PTS  PT/G
------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridgette Gordon   34-32  222-459  .484  115-160  .719  559  16.4
Sheila Frost       34-19  161-273  .590   61-102  .598  383  11.3
Karla Horton       33-29  128-279  .459   66-92   .717  322   9.8
Tonya Edwards      34-5   107-248  .431   89-114  .781  303   8.9
Shelley Sexton     34-34  111-240  .463   49-72   .681  271   8.0
Melissa McCray     34-11   81-185  .438   26-35   .743  188   5.5
Dawn Marsh         32-22   60-124  .484   47-65   .723  167   5.2
Lisa Webb          32-0    57-122  .467   30-39   .769  144   4.5
Carla McGhee       34-0    46-97   .474   55-80   .688  147   4.3
Kathy Spinks       30-15   45-99   .455   33-62   .532  123   4.1
Jennifer Tuggle    28-0    29-62   .468   12-21   .571   70   2.5
Cheryl Littlejohn  31-3    21-45   .467   18-26   .692   60   1.9
Gay Townson         9-0     3-6    .500    2-2   1.000    8   0.9
Sabrina Mott        8-0     0-0    .000    7-10   .700    7   0.9
------------------------------------------------------------------
Totals             34    1071-2239 .478  610-880  .693 2752  76.5
                                                      (2758?)
____________________________________________________
PLAYER             REB-AVG   AST  TO  BLK   ST   MIN
----------------------------------------------------
Bridgette Gordon   232-6.8    63  66   12   80   928
Sheila Frost       217-6.4    31  36   56   57   696
Karla Horton       226-6.8    32  53    8   35   824
Tonya Edwards       89-2.7    71  79    4   42   628
Shelley Sexton      91-2.8   108  68    2   40   845
Melissa McCray      73-2.1    41  27    2   26   537
Dawn Marsh          50-1.6   205  85    1   51   839
Lisa Webb           66-2.1    14  33    2   11   312
Carla McGhee       113-3.3    10  35   10   20   336
Kathy Spinks        82-2.7    13  34    4   11   359
Jennifer Tuggle     30-1.1    10  27    5    5   209
Cheryl Littlejohn   41-1.3     8  28    1    8   213
Gay Townson          2-0.2     1   2    1    3    15
Sabrina Mott         4-0.5     1   3    0    1    18
Team               122-3.6
----------------------------------------------------
Totals            1438-42.3  608 576  108  390  6759
                                               (6800?)
______________________________________________________


PER-GAME AVERAGES

                                                       A/TO
PLAYER             FGM   FGA  FTM  FTA  PTS   AST  TO  RATIO  BLK   ST   MIN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bridgette Gordon   6.5  13.6  3.4  4.7  16.4  1.9  1.9  1.0   0.4  2.4  27.3
Sheila Frost       4.6   7.9  1.8  3.0  11.3  0.9  1.1  0.9   1.6  1.7  20.5
Karla Horton       3.9   8.5  2.0  2.8   9.8  1.0  1.6  0.6   0.2  1.1  25.0
Tonya Edwards      3.1   7.3  2.6  3.4   8.9  2.1  2.3  0.9   0.1  1.2  18.5
Shelley Sexton     3.3   7.1  1.4  2.1   8.0  3.2  2.0  1.6   0.1  1.2  24.9
Melissa McCray     2.4   5.4  0.8  1.0   5.5  1.2  0.8  1.5   0.1  0.8  15.8
Dawn Marsh         1.9   3.9  1.5  2.0   5.2  6.4  2.7  2.4   0.0  1.5  26.2
Lisa Webb          1.8   3.8  0.9  1.2   4.5  0.4  1.0  0.4   0.1  0.3   9.8
Carla McGhee       1.4   2.9  1.6  2.4   4.3  0.3  1.0  0.3   0.3  0.6   9.9
Kathy Spinks       1.5   3.3  1.1  2.1   4.1  0.4  1.1  0.4   0.1  0.4  12.0
Jennifer Tuggle    1.0   2.2  0.4  0.8   2.5  0.4  1.0  0.4   0.2  0.2   7.5
Cheryl Littlejohn  0.7   1.5  0.6  0.8   1.9  0.3  0.9  0.3   0.0  0.3   6.9
Gay Townson        0.3   0.7  0.2  0.2   0.9  0.1  0.2  0.5   0.1  0.3   1.7
Sabrina Mott       0.0   0.0  0.9  1.3   0.9  0.0  0.4  0.3   0.0  0.1   2.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Team              31.5  65.9 17.9 25.9  76.5 17.3 16.9  1.1   3.2 11.5   ---
____________________________________________________________________________


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1986-87 SCHEDULE

DATE   OPPONENT           SCORE  RECORD   ATTENDANCE  POINTS              REBOUNDS
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Iowa Hawkeye Classic - at Iowa City, IA
Nov 29  vs. Providence    86-70 W (1-0)   1500, est.  Gordon-24           Horton-9
Nov 30  vs. Iowa          74-56 W (2-0)   1836        Gordon-18           Horton-11
Dec  4 DAYTON             66-40 W (3-0)   1406        Gordon-15           Frost, Gordon-10
Dec  6 NO. CAROLINA ST.   86-65 W (4-0)   1751        Gordon-19           Horton-6
Dec 14 at Texas           85-78 W (5-0)   8835        Gordon-26           Gordon-9
Dec 20 UCLA               81-58 W (6-0)   4012        Horton-19           Horton-10
       Orange Bowl Classic - at Miami, FL
Dec 27  vs. St. Joseph's  76-66 W (7-0)    451        Spinks-20           Spinks, Horton-7
Dec 28  vs. Southern Cal  89-75 W (8-0)    500, est.  Gordon-26           Horton-11
Dec 29  vs. Texas         74-88 L (8-1)   1200, est.  Gordon-14           Horton-7
Jan  4 NORTH CAROLINA     87-68 W (9-1)   3658        Gordon-21           Gordon, Horton-6
Jan  7 at Old Dominion    99-90 W (10-1)   970        Edwards, Gordon-20  McCray-8
Jan 11 KENTUCKY*          76-64 W (11-1)  4883        Gordon-24           Horton-11
Jan 14 at Auburn*         69-75 L (11-2)  5089        Gordon-14           Horton-9
Jan 17 at Florida*        90-72 W (12-2)  3500        Gordon-14           Gordon-14
Jan 20 at Northwestern    74-71 W (13-2)   205        Frost-18            Horton-11
Jan 24 GEORGIA*           78-72 W (14-2)  8623        Frost-23            Frost-18
Jan 28 MEMPHIS STATE      91-81 W (15-2)  3150        Littlejohn-13       Frost-7
Jan 31 MISSISSIPPI*       65-69 L (15-3)  3394        Gordon-15           Gordon-13
Feb  2 GEORGIA TECH      100-74 W (16-3)  2346        Gordon-14           Horton-8
Feb  4 at Vanderbilt*     76-77 L (16-4)  4297        Frost-24            Frost, Gordon-9
Feb  7 at Louisiana St.*  84-73 W (17-4)  2359        Horton-17           Gordon-13
Feb  9 at Louisiana Tech  60-72 L (17-5)  4770        Horton-11           Frost-8
Feb 14 NOTRE DAME         90-55 W (18-5)  3155        Sexton-16           McGhee-8
Feb 19 SOUTH CAROLINA     80-56 W (19-5)  2420        Edwards-13          Gordon-10
Feb 21 MISSISSIPPI ST.*   84-53 W (20-5)  4033        Frost-21            Edwards, Webb-6
Feb 25 at Alabama*       108-77 W (21-5)  4695        Gordon-18           Gordon-11
Mar  1 NC-CHARLOTTE       91-44 W (22-5)  7067        Gordon-15           Horton-8
       SEC Tournament - at Albany, GA
Mar  5 vs. L.S.U.         64-63 W (23-5)  1100        Gordon-17           Horton, McGhee-9
Mar  6 vs. Auburn        96-102 L (23-6)  3500        Spinks-24           Spinks-11
       NCAA Tournament - at Knoxville, TN
Mar 15 vs. Tennessee Tech 95-59 W (24-6)  5998        Gordon-23           Frost-11
Mar 19 vs. Virginia       66-58 W (25-6)  5420        Gordon-21           Frost-8
Mar 21 vs. Auburn         77-61 W (26-6)  7533        Gordon-33           Frost-13
       NCAA Tournament - at Austin, TX
Mar 26 vs. Long Beach St. 74-64 W (27-6) 15615        Edwards, Gordon-21         Gordon-11
mar 28 vs. Louisiana Tech 67-44 W (28-6)  9823        Gordon, Edwards, Frost-13  Gordon-12

* SEC contest



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---- PC 4/30/01