KNOXVILLE — On the night before Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt's first crack at 1,000 career wins, the buzz of her cell phone interrupted dinner with coaches and staff.
It was a text message from Georgia coach Andy Landers, who had words of encouragement for the Hall of Fame coach as she prepared for Monday's game against second-ranked Oklahoma.
“If you don't win tomorrow ... I’m gonna be (mad),” Landers wrote.
Landers understood his team was next in line if the Lady Vols lost Monday, and he wanted no part of a milestone game.
Now that's unavoidable.
After the Sooners defeated the Lady Vols 80-70 in Oklahoma City, Summitt can reach the historic mark at 7 p.m. against Landers and the Bulldogs at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“He's coming in here mad,” Summitt said of Landers.
But Summitt said during her weekly teleconference Wednesday that her relationship with Landers native has tempered in recent years.
“In our younger days it was so competitive that I'm not sure we were as cordial, but with so many years behind us and so many games that we've played I guess we had to learn to keep things in perspective,” Summitt said.
Landers, a native of Maryville, Tenn., owns 14 victories in the UT-Georgia series — the most for any coach against Tennessee.
“I have a lot of respect for the job he's done,” Summitt said. “I think our programs have brought out the best in each other.”
But Summitt is straining to find bright spots in her team's play. The Lady Vols (16-5, 5-2 SEC) put together a run against the Sooners in the first half, but that momentum crumbled after the break.
“I think what we're up against right now is can we become a 40-minute team,” Summitt said.
She expressed disappointment that players didn't commit fully to the scouting report against Oklahoma, a breakdown which has prompted some unorthodox coaching methods this week.
Summitt is enlisting her players to prepare their own scouting reports. She said she wants to discourage “handing them, supposedly, the answers to the test, as opposed to them having to invest in it.”
“We said, ‘You do it and maybe you’ll respect it more and buy into it more.’”
After losing five of seven from Dec. 5 to Jan. 8, the Bulldogs (15-7, 5-2) have won four straight games, including an upset victory over previously unbeaten Auburn on Jan. 29 at Athens. The Tigers dismantled the Lady Vols 82-68 just four days earlier.
Georgia is led by junior guard Ashley Houts from Dade County, who is averaging 12.0 points per game. Forward Angel Robinson, a 6-foot-5 junior, leads the team in rebounding (8.8).
Injury report
The Lady Vols will be without sophomore forward Vicki Baugh for the rest of the season. For the second time, Baugh tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee following a layup during the second half against Oklahoma. Baugh, who suffered the same injury in last year's national championship game, has seen very limited action since suffering a left knee sprain on Jan. 1.
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