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There simply is no other current record like it in men's or women's college basketball: seven national championships in the last twenty-one years, six in twelve years. That is the record of the unquestioned "queenpins" of women's college basketball: the University of Tennessee Lady Vols, coached by the summit of all court coaches, the incomparable Pat Head Summitt. This dominant force on the hardwood has averaged a national title every three years since its first championship back in 1987.
Seven: The National Championship Teams of the Tennessee Lady Vols presents an intimate portrait of those championship seasons, with a thorough look at the makeup, execution, and final achievement of each championship squad. The chapters include the turning point of each season, the highs and lows, the rivalries, the highlight moments, the stars, and the force behind them all: Coach Pat Summitt. The teams include the 1987 "Corn-fed Chicks," the first title team, and the Bridgette Gordon-led Vols of 1989, whom NCAA runner-up Auburn coach John Ciampi once praised inadvertently, saying, "She's the best. God bless her. Graduate and get out of Tennessee!"
Here is the story of the team that "unretired" Coach Summitt: the 1991 Lady Vols, underdogs to No. 2 Virginia in the NCAA finals, who rode the hot hand of Dena Head down the stretch in one of the greatest women's basketball games ever played. Then came the unprecedented three-year dynasty of the 1996-98 Lady Vols, headed by All-American Chamique Holdsclaw and capped by the 39-0 season of 1998, the school's sixth NCAA women's crown in twelve seasons. The just-completed 2007 season, led by the awesome athletic skills of sophomore All-American Candace Parker, culminated in Tennessee's seventh national championship.
Alan Ross presents a courtside look at the heated rivalry with the "Lady Vols of the North," the University of Connecticut Huskies, as well as a look at all the great Tennessee stars: Parker, Shannon Bobbitt, Holdsclaw, Kara Lawson, Tamika Catchings, Michelle Marciniak, Daedra Charles, Head, Gordon, Tonya Edwards, Sheila Frost, and the other magnificent players who helped cut down the nets for the champion Lady Vols.
