Stanford’s Tara VanDer veer sets record for wins.
Tara VanDerveer became the winningest women’s college basketball coach Tuesday night, passing the late Pat Summitt with her 1,099th victory as No. 1 Stanford romped to a 104-61 victory over host Pacific.
Dressed casually in all black, VanDerveer received the game ball after the final buzzer. Her dancing players chanted “Tara! Tara!” and gave her a new oversized pullover reading “TDAWG” to celebrate the latest milestone for the Hall of Fame coach in her 35th season on The Farm and 42nd overall as a college head coach. The wearable blanket was Francesca Belibi’s idea.
No. 1
Stanford 104, Pacific 61
“It’s really sweet,” VanDerveer said. The 67-year-old VanDerveer improved her career record to 1,099-253. The road to this historic night began with her first head coaching job at the University of Idaho from 1978-80, and then moved to Ohio State (1980-85) and Stanford, where she is 947-202. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma is right behind at 1,093 wins.
“This is special because of the magnitude of that many wins,” VanDerveer said. “I never thought, ‘Well, I’m going to try to win 1,000 games’ or anything like that. This is special, currently having the No. 1 team, being undefeated, playing in a pandemic, I will never forget this, for sure.“
After the history-making win in a draped-off area upstairs that served as Stanford’s locker room, VanDerveer was set to receive a plaque containing a piece of the f loor from Stanford’s home court at Maples Pavilion. A framed proclamation from Palo Alto Mayor Adrian Fine was another memento.
Just as the humble VanDerveer prefers, she broke Summitt’s mark going largely under the radar and with little fanfare given the game took place in California’s Central Valley — about 80 miles from the Bay Area. No fans were allowed into Spanos Center, either.
“I really hope Pat Summitt is looking down and saying, ‘Good job Tara, keep it going,’ ” VanDerveer said. “I loved coaching against Pat, and we miss her.”
Stanford (5-0) couldn’t play a home game with the Tigers on Nov. 29 be
cause of a positive coronavirus test in the Pacific program and then again Tuesday because of COVID-19 restrictions in Santa Clara County that sent the Cardinal on the road for three weeks.
Men’s Top 25
No. 10 Tennessee 79, Appalachian State 38: Victor Bailey had 13 points and Tennessee put its stif ling defense on full display in a victory over Appalachian State (4-2). The Volunteers (3-0) held the Mountaineers scoreless for the first 6:22 while jumping out to a 13-0 lead.
No. 12 Wisconsin 77, Loyola Chicago 63: Brad Davison and D’Mitrik Trice each scored 17 points as host Wisconsin (5-1) capitalized on its sizzling 3point shooting to beat Loyola Chicago (3-1).
No. 13 Illinois 92, Minnesota 65: Kofi Cockburn scored a career-high 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in only 25 minutes to lead host Illinois (5-2) past Minnesota (6-1) in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Virginia Tech 66, No. 24 Clemson 60: Tyrece Radford scored 15 points and Virginia Tech (5-1) beat visiting Clemson (5-1) in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener.
West
UCLA has postponed its men’s basketball game against Long Beach State for a second time out of “an abundance of caution” based on COVID-19 protocols within the Beach’s program.
New Mexico 104, Our Lady of the Lake 65: Saquan Singleton had 13 points and 10 rebounds to carry New Mexico (2-0) to a win over Our Lady of the Lake in Houston.
Stanford 82, Cal State Northridge 71: Oscar da Silva scored a career-high 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Stanford (3-2) beat host Cal State Northridge (3-2).
Utah 75, Utah Valley 67: Timmy Allen scored 19 points, Branden Carlson added 14 with three dunks and four blocks and Utah (3-1) survived a furious challenge from visiting Utah Valley.
Portland 88, College of Idaho 74: Ahmed Ali had 22 points as host Portland (5-1) beat College of Idaho.
Santa Clara 88, Fresno Pacific 65: Josip Vrankic had 17 points as host Santa Clara (6-0) cruised.
Saint Mary’s 80, E. Washington 75: Guard Tommy Kuhse scored 34 points and added six rebounds and six assists as host Saint Mary’s (7-1) rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Eastern Washington (1-4).