Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt won her 1,000th game February 5 with a 73-43 win over Southeastern Conference rival Georgia.

The milestone win came in front of a raucous home crowd of more than 16,000 in a game that the Lady Vols turned into a runaway early in the second half. After a 32-24 halftime lead, Summitt’s Lady Vols pulled away and led by as much as 31 in the second half.

The win was the 40th over Georgia in the series, the 402nd against SEC foes and the 455th at home. Summitt’s overall mark is 1,000-187 in 35 years, all at Tennessee.

“Yes, we made history tonight because of all the people who are so invested in our program,” Summitt told the crowd during a special presentation immediately after the game. “Remember this night and think about all the people who made it possible.”

Summitt, who said she was proud of her players’ 100 percent graduation rate over time, had special praise for the school administration, who supported women’s basketball “before it was popular” to do so.

Summitt lost her first game as a head coach, but then posted victory No. 1 January 10, 1975, against Middle Tennessee State.

She lost her first attempt at 1,000 three days ago against No. 2-ranked Oklahoma in a game that earned a record rating for a women’s game on Big Monday.

For more on Summitt’s accomplishments, see the Tennessee Lady Vols Web site.

Pat Summitt’s milestone wins

•         No. 1 (January 10, 1975) — Summitt (then Pat Head) records her first collegiate victory in a 69-32 win over Middle Tennessee State at Tennessee’s Alumni Gym in front of 53 people.

•         No. 100 (January 13, 1979) — The Lady Vols win, 79-66, at North Carolina State’s Reynolds Coliseum.

•         No. 200 (December 3, 1982) — At Detroit’s Coca-Cola Classic, Tennessee turns away St. John’s (New York), 69-56.

•         No. 300 (January 4, 1987) — Summitt collects the milestone at home against North Carolina, 19 wins before the Lady Vols’ first championship.

•         No. 400 (January 25, 1990) — A squeaker at South Carolina, 70-69.

•         No. 500 (November 21, 1993) — Summitt beats former assistant coach Nancy Darsch’s Ohio State squad, 80-45, in the first State Farm Hall of Fame game.

•         No. 600 (November 23, 1996) — Summitt’s defending NCAA champions defeat Marquette, 83-68, in Burlington, Vermont. Vermont Gov. Howard Dean surprises Summitt afterward with a commemorative cake.

•         No. 700 (December 5, 1999) — Summitt joins Jody Conradt as the only women’s coaches to reach the 700-win club with an 85-62 conquest at Wisconsin.

•         No. 800 (January 14, 2003) — A hometown crowd chants “8-0-0” in the waning moments of the Lady Vols’ 76-57 win over DePaul.

•         No. 880 (March 22, 2005) — Summitt guides her Lady Vols past Purdue, 75-54, in a second-round NCAA tournament game. The win boosts Summitt past former University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, men’s coach Dean Smith as the winningest basketball coach in NCAA history. Tennessee officials after the game surprised the Lady Vols’ longtime coach by naming the floor at the Thompson-Boling Arena on the Tennessee campus as "The Summitt."

•         No. 900 (January 19, 2006) — More than 13,000 fans in Nashville watch the Lady Vols dispatch Vanderbilt, 80-68.

•         No. 1,000 — Summitt’s freshman-laden squad moves to 17-5 on the season with a win over longtime rival Georgia at home.