Feb. 4, 2018
By Zac Ellis
VUCommodores.com
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 1992-93 season for Vanderbilt women’s basketball remains enshrined in Commodore record books for a number of reasons. But for Heidi Gillingham, that season is best illustrated by her memories of one particular game at Memorial Gym.
The night was Jan. 30, 1993, and undefeated and No. 1-ranked Vanderbilt hosted No. 2 Tennessee in a packed-to-the-brim Memorial Gym. Gillingham, a towering 6-10 junior center for Vanderbilt, recalls a palpable electricity in the air as 15,317 fans filled the arena, hoping to witness one of the premier matchups in women’s basketball.
“The energy on the court. The sold-out crowd. The feeling on the court at the time,” Gillingham said. “The anticipation was tangible. I had never experienced anything like that in my life — and I still haven’t.”
On Sunday, Vanderbilt honored Gillingham, her teammates and head coach Jim Foster on the 25th anniversary of the school’s 1992-93 Final Four team. That squad remains the only Vanderbilt team – men’s or women’s – to reach a Final Four. The weekend included a reunion dinner on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s home game against Tennessee, at which the Final Four team was recognized at halftime.
Charlie Mattos, longtime voice of Vanderbilt women’s basketball, also emceed a “chalk talk” with the Final Four team just prior to tipoff on Sunday. That gave Foster and his players an opportunity to reflect on the 25-year anniversary of an historic season of Commodores basketball.
“I thought we had the makings of a good team,” Foster said. “We had a nice combo of senior leadership and a little youthful enthusiasm.”
That Vanderbilt team took a 17-0 record into its matchup with Pat Summitt and Tennessee. Though the Dores ultimately fell, 73-68, to the Lady Volunteers and later to Auburn, they carried just two regular-season losses into the SEC Tournament in Chattanooga. There, Vanderbilt topped Kentucky, Ole Miss and Georgia to win the conference tournament and advance to NCAAs as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.
In the NCAA tournament, Vanderbilt subdued Cal, Stephen F. Austin and Louisiana Tech before setting up a matchup with Texas Tech at the Final Four in Atlanta. But the Commodores’ remarkable run ended with a 60-46 loss to the Red Raiders, who went on to win the NCAA championship.
Vanderbilt finished the 1992-93 season 30-3 and 9-2 in SEC play. Gillingham (14.6 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game), Julie Powell (12.4 points per game), Shelley Jarrad (11.3) and Misty Lamb (10.2) headlined a deep and talented Commodores squad. That roster went on to produce seven 1,000-pound career scorers in Vanderbilt history.
“That was what was really cool,” said Mara Cunningham, a sophomore center that season. “If somebody having an off day, somebody else would step up.”
Sheri Sam, a freshman in 1992-93 who later played 17 seasons in the WNBA, said she now realizes the true talent of that Vanderbilt team. Along with the Commodores’ SEC record, that team also notched nonconference wins over a Final Four-bound Virginia team and a Connecticut roster boasting a skilled freshman named Rebecca Lobo.
“I was a just freshman, so I didn’t quite get it then,” Sam said, “but looking back, we were a really great team.”
Rhonda (Blades) Brown was a sophomore guard on the 1992-93 Commodores and now coaches basketball at Nashville’s Brentwood Academy. On Sunday, Brown said the expectation instilled by Foster now lingers in her own coaching strategies.
“All I knew was this,” Brown said. “I still try to recreate that with teams I coach. It’s impossible.”
Like Brown, several members of Vanderbilt’s Final Four team have gone on to remain involved in basketball. That includes Foster, who is in his fifth season as head coach at Chattanooga. He has taken the Mocs to four consecutive NCAA tournaments, but on Sunday Foster said he will always remember that special season at Vanderbilt, one that ultimately rewrote the Commodores’ record books.
“It was an eclectic group of personalities,” Foster said. “It’s one of those things you look back on, and it’s an exciting time anytime you’re in select company like that. That excitement and the realization that we’d done something that the school hadn’t done before, it’s not that easy to do.”
Zac Ellis is the Writer and Digital Media Editor for Vanderbilt Athletics.