1995–96 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team

1995–96 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
1995–96 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball
NCAA tournament National champions; SEC tournament champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 4
Record	32–4 (9–2 SEC)
Head coach	Pat Summitt (22nd season);
Assistant coaches	Mickie DeMoss; Holly Warlick;
Home arena	Thompson-Boling Arena
	Seasons ← 1994–95 1996–97 →

1995–96 SEC women's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 Georgia	10	–	1	.909	28	–	5	.848
No. 4 Tennessee^†	9	–	2	.818	32	–	4	.889
No. 12 Vanderbilt	7	–	4	.636	23	–	8	.742
No. 10 Alabama	7	–	4	.636	24	–	8	.750
No. 19 Auburn	6	–	5	.545	23	–	9	.719
No. 16 Florida	6	–	5	.545	21	–	9	.700
No. 24 Ole Miss	6	–	5	.545	18	–	11	.621
LSU	4	–	7	.364	21	–	11	.656
Mississippi State	4	–	7	.364	13	–	14	.481
Arkansas	3	–	8	.273	21	–	13	.618
South Carolina	2	–	9	.182	16	–	12	.571
Kentucky	2	–	9	.182	8	–	19	.296

† 1996 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

The 1995–96 Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team represented the University of Tennessee as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1995–96 women's college basketball season. Coached by Pat Summitt, the Lady Volunteers opened the season ranked No. 6 in the AP poll, and played their home games at Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee. These Lady Vols finished 32–4 (9–2 SEC) while playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation, and closed out the season on a 15-game win streak. After falling in the National championship game the prior season, the 1995–96 squad started a run of three national championships back-to-back-to-back.

Roster

1995–96 Tennessee Lady Volunteers women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	3	Michelle Marciniak	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Sr	Americus	Allentown, Pennsylvania
C	4	Tiffani Johnson	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	Jr		Charlotte, North Carolina
G	14	Kellie Jolly	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	White County	Sparta, Tennessee
F/C	23	Chamique Holdsclaw	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Fr	Christ the King	Astoria, New York

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
Dec 16, 1995*	No. 2	at No. 9 Stanford	L 72–90	7–1	Maples Pavilion Palo Alto, CA
Jan 2, 1996	No. 4	No. 21 Florida	W 87–67	10–1 (1–0)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Jan 6, 1996*	No. 4	No. 2 Connecticut	L 53–59	10–2	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Jan 8, 1996	No. 4	at No. 7 Georgia	L 71–77	10–3 (1–1)	Stegeman Coliseum Athens, GA
Jan 11, 1996*	No. 4	No. 15 Old Dominion	W 69–47	11–3	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Feb 22, 1996	No. 5	at LSU	W 88–75	22–4 (8–2)	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
Feb 25, 1996	No. 5	at No. 10 Vanderbilt	W 79–71	23–4 (9–2)	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, TN
SEC tournament
March 2, 1996*	(2) No. 4	vs. (7) No. 23 Ole Miss Quarterfinals	W 73–51	24–4	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, TN
March 3, 1996*	(2) No. 4	vs. (6) No. 18 Florida Semifinals	W 74–63	25–4	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, TN
March 4, 1996*	(2) No. 4	vs. (4) No. 10 Alabama Championship game	W 64–60	26–4	McKenzie Arena Chattanooga, TN
NCAA tournament
March 16, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	(16 E) Radford First round	W 97–56	27–4	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
March 18, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	(9 E) Ohio State Second round	W 97–65	28–4	Thompson–Boling Arena Knoxville, TN
March 23, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	vs. (4 E) No. 20 Kansas Regional Semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 92–71	29–4	University Hall Charlottesville, VA
March 25, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	at (3 E) No. 11 Virginia Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 52–46^[2]	30–4	University Hall Charlottesville, VA
March 29, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	vs. (1 ME) No. 2 Connecticut National Semifinal – Final Four/Rivalry	W 88–83^[3] ^OT	31–4	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
March 31, 1996*	(1 E) No. 4	vs. (2 MW) No. 5 Georgia Championship	W 83–65^[4]	32–4	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, NC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[5]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	6	4	3	2	2	4	5	4	4	6	4	3	6	5	5	5	4	4	Not released
Coaches	6	2	2	2	2	4	4	4	5	5	5	3	6	5	5	5	4	4	1

References

^ "1995-96 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
^ "Lady Vols Turn Tables on Cavaliers". The Washington Post. March 26, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
^ "UConn's Title Dreams Ended By Semifinal Loss to Tennessee". The New York Times. March 30, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
^ "Tennessee Takes Title, Beating Georgia, 83-65". The Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
^ "1995-96 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 2024.

[1] "1995-96 Tennessee Volunteers Women's Schedule and Results". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 3, 2024.

[eliteeight-2] "Lady Vols Turn Tables on Cavaliers". The Washington Post. March 26, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

[semi-3] "UConn's Title Dreams Ended By Semifinal Loss to Tennessee". The New York Times. March 30, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

[4] "Tennessee Takes Title, Beating Georgia, 83-65". The Los Angeles Times. April 1, 1996. Retrieved June 19, 2024.

[5] "1995-96 Women's Basketball Schedule". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved March 3, 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