CLEMSONS RECORD-Clemson finished the 1996-97 record with a 19-11 record overall, and an 8-8 mark in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
CLEMSON WOMENS BASKETBALL RECEIVED NCAA TOURNEY BID-The Clemson womens basketball team received a NCAA Tournament bid for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons under Head Coach Jim Davis. This is also the schools 10th NCAA bid, as Clemson played at the inaugural event in 1982.
LADY TIGERS ADVANCE TO ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME-Clemson defeated N.C. State, 87-75, in the quarterfinals, and Virginia in the semifinals, 77-75, to advance to the championship game of the 20th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. North Carolina defeated Clemson in the championship game 62-58. The Lady Tigers were seeded sixth in the ACC Tournament, and Clemson was the first sixth-seeded team to advance to the championship game.
LADY TIGERS NAMED TO ALL-ACC TOURNAMENT TEAM— Itoro Umoh and Laura Cottrell were named to the first-team all-tournament team, while Natasha Anderson was named to the second-team. This marked the fourth time Clemson has advanced to the championship game, the third under Head Coach Jim Davis.
UMOH NAMED SECOND-TEAM ALL-ACC-Clemsons Itoro Umoh was named second-team All-ACC as announced by the Atlantic Coast Sports Writers Association Monday, February 24. Coach Jim Davis has had at least one player on the All-ACC team in each of his 10 seasons at Clemson.
LADY TIGER RANKINGS-Clemson was ranked 21st in the final Associated Press poll and 25th in the final USA Today poll. The highest Clemson was ranked in 1996-97 was 10th in both polls during the week of January 20. The 10th place ranking in the Associated Press poll was the highest in the history of the Lady Tiger Basketball program.
LADY TIGER LEADERS-Clemson was led in scoring by Itoro Umoh with a 13.0 ppg. average. Laura Cottrell led the Lady Tigers in rebounding with a 6.8 rpg. mark. Umoh led the team in assists (76) and steals (69). Umoh was just the third player in Clemson history to lead the Lady Tigers in assists, steals, and scoring in the same year. The others are Cheron Wells (1991-92) and Melinda Ashworth (1985-86).
DAVIS IS CLEMSONS WINNINGEST COACH-Coach Jim Davis has compiled a 208-102 record during his 10 years at Clemson. He became the Lady Tigers all-time winningest coach in 1996-97. He passed former Lady Tiger Head Coach Annie Tribble (1976-87), who compiled a 200-135 mark during 11 seasons.
COTTRELL REACHES CAREER MILESTONE-Laura Cottrell finished her career with 1108 points and 808 rebounds. She is the fifth Clemson player in history to have over 1000 points and 800 rebounds in a career. She scored her 1,000th point against Texas on February 1.
PLAYING TIME FOR EVERYONE-Nine players on the Clemson roster averaged at least 10 minutes per game this past season. Only three Lady Tigers averaged over 20 minutes per game.
GIANT KILLERS-Clemson defeated four top-ten teams in 1996-97. The list of top 10 teams Clemson defeated in 1996-97 included: Georgia (2) Virginia (9), N.C. State (10) and Virginia (10). Over the years, Clemson Head Coach Jim Davis has defeated 32 teams ranked in the Associated Press poll, including 12 top-10 teams.
CLEMSON PLAYED IN ITS 10th NCAA TOURNAMENT-Clemson played in its 10th NCAA Tournament this past season since the NCAA Tournament was started in 1982. Head Coach Jim Davis has led Clemson to the NCAA Tournament nine of his 10 years at Clemson.
COTTRELL ONE OF CLEMSONS BEST ALL-TIME REBOUNDERS–Laura Cottrell moved into fifth place on the Clemson career list for most rebounds with 808. Jaci Stimson finished her career in 12th place on Clemson’s career list for most career rebounds with 535. Jeanette Davis is 22nd on Clemson’s all-time top rebounders list with 444. Cottrell and Stimson were both 1996-97 seniors.
RETURN TO SENDER– Kerri Thomas is seventh on the schools career list with 57 blocked shots. She needs 25 to move into sixth place.
CLEMSONS CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS LEADERS Name Years Blocked Shots 1. Peggy Caple 1981-85 298 2. Jackie Farmer 1989-91 129 3. Barbara Kennedy 1978-82 128 4. Jaci Stimson 1993-97 125 5. Shandy Bryan 1989-93 96 6. Louise Greenwood 1985-89 81 7. Kerri Thomas 1994-97 57
THREE-POINT WEAPON-Amy Geren is in third place on the Clemson career list for most three-point field goals scored in a career (75).
CLEMSONS CAREER LIST FOR MOST 3PT GOALS MADE Name Yrs Years GP FGA FGM 1. Tara Saunooke 4 1991-95 121 586 252 2. Kerry Boyatt 4 1989-93 121 450 178 3. Amy Geren 2 1995-97 60 225 75
CLEMSONS DEFENSE– Under Coach Jim Davis, the Clemson Lady Tigers have held opponents to 50 points or less 37 times and have never allowed an opponent to reach the 100-point plateau. All 37 games have resulted in Lady Tiger victories. The Lady Tigers have only been held to 50 points or less twice during Davis tenure.
ALL-TIME HOME RECORD-Clemson has a 228-70 record when playing in Littlejohn Coliseum for a .767 mark. Last season the Lady Tigers were 9-3 at home.
CLEMSON HAD THREE DOUBLE DIGIT REBOUNDERS AGAINST VIRGINIA ON JANUARY 4-Clemson had three players with double digit rebounding totals in the Virginia game on January 4. Natasha Anderson had 10 rebounds, while Laura Cottrell and Itoro Umoh both had 11 boards. The last time three Clemson players had double digit rebound totals in a single game was on March 3, 1991, against Virginia. Shandy Bryan and Cheron Wells both had 10 rebounds, while Jackie Farmer had 13 in that game. The Lady Tigers upset the number-one ranked Cavaliers that day 65-62.
100% GRADUATION RATE–Since the beginning of the womens basketball program at Clemson in 1975-76, 100% of the players staying for four years have graduated.
CLEMSON TOUGH INSIDE 5:00 MARK-This past season, Clemson had an 18-1 mark when leading with 5:00 left to go in the game. The Lady Tigers made a comeback in the final five minutes of the Boston College game on December 28, in the Dartmouth Tournament. The only loss Clemson had after leading with 5:00 left to go in the game was the North Carolina contest on February 11.
UMOH HAD 152 REBOUNDS-Guard Itoro Umoh had 152 rebounds in 1996-97. She is the second Clemson guard in four years to reach the 100 rebound plateau. Guard Stephanie Ridgeway had 133 rebounds in 1995-96.
CLEMSON SUCCESSFUL WHEN OUTREBOUNDING ITS OPPONENTS-Clemson was 14-4 when outrebounding its opponents in 1996-97.
CARDIAC CATS-Clemson was 7-2 when a game was decided by five points or less in 1996-97.
ACC STAT CHAMPION-Jaci Stimson tied for the best free throw pct. in the Atlantic Coast Conference this past season. Stimson hit 75-90 free throws for an .833 pct. Kira Orr of Duke also hit .833 of her free throws.
GEREN IS CAREER LEADER FOR BEST FREE THROW PCT.– Amy Geren is Clemsons career leader for best free throw pct. with an .822 mark. During her career she is 125-152 from the free throw line.
COTTRELL ON SCHOOLS CAREER LIST FOR MOST POINTS-Laura Cottrell finished her career in 13th place on the schools career list for most points scored with 1108. Jaci Stimson finished her career in 18th place with 901 points.
CLEMSON IN THE 1996-97 POLLSDate Associated Press USA TodayPreseason NR 23N. 18 25 24N. 25 24 25D. 2 20 21D. 9 22 23D. 16 22 22D. 23 21 18D. 30 21 15J. 6 20 16J. 13 12 11J. 20 10 10J. 27 17 15F. 3 19 18F. 10 22 21F. 17 21 22F. 24 22 25M. 3 21 21M. 10 21 22Final 21 25
CLEMSONS RECORD IN REGULAR SEASON TOURNAMENTS-Since Jim Davis took over the coaching reins at Clemson in 1988, the Lady Tigers have won 11 regular season tournaments. and have a 29-6 record in those tournaments. Through the years, Clemson has won 19 regular season tournament championships. In 1996-97, Clemson won the Boise State and the Dartmouth Tournaments.
EARLIEST SEASON OPENING GAME–The November 14th game with Tennessee Tech is the earliest season-opener for the Lady Tigers in the history of the program. The earliest Clemson had opened a season prior to this year was on November 22, 1991 as Clemson defeated UNC-Charlotte 66-54 in the Vanderbilt Tournament in Nashville, TN.
CLEMSON’S HOLIDAY SCHEDULE–Clemson will continue its tradition of traveling around the country participating in holiday tournaments. This year’s stops are two popular tourist attractions-Myrtle Beach, SC and the Bahamas. Clemson will play New Orleans at Myrtle Beach on Saturday, December 20. The Lady Tigers will play Temple on December 22, and Idaho State on December 23 in a pair of games at the Sun Splash Shootout in the Bahamas. Clemson will start the 1997-98 season in the Preseason National Invitational Tournament. The bracket follows:
CLEMSONS RECORD IN 1996-97
When a game is decided by five points or less 7-2 When leading at Halftime 13-5 When trailing at halftime 5-6 When tied at halftime 1-0 Shooting 50% or better from the field 2-0 Shooting Under 50% from the field 17-11 Shooting 40% or better from the field 15-3 Shooting under 40% from the field 4-8 Shooting 60% or better from the FT line 16-10 Shooting under 60% from the FT line 3-1 Shooting 30% or better from the 3PT line 11-0 Shooting under 30% from the 3PT line 8-11 One-Point Decisions 0-0 Two-Point Decisions 3-0 Three-Point Decisions 3-0 Four-Point Decisions 0-2 Five-Point Decisions 1-0 Overtime 1-0
1996-97 LADY TIGER HONORS Boise State Tournament Champions Dartmouth Tournament Champions Finalists, ACC Tournament NCAA Tournament Appearance
ACC Player-of-the-Week December 2-Itoro Umoh
Boise State Tournament All-Tournament Team Laura Cottrell, MVP Jaci Stimson
Dartmouth Tournament All-Tournament Team Jeanette Davis Itoro Umoh, MVP
Second Team All-ACC Itoro Umoh
All-ACC Tournament First Team Laura Cottrell Itoro Umoh Second Team Natasha Anderson
ACC Academic Honor Roll Natasha Anderson Jeanette Davis Marta Forns Amy Geren Anette Percy Angie Salyer Autumn Sam
State of South Carolina Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year (Presented by the Greenville Basketball Club) Jim Davis
April 18, 2024
April 17, 2024
