Feb. 3, 2013
As part of Vanderbilt’s annual women’s basketball reunion, members of the Commodores’ 1993 Final Four team received special recognition on Sunday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the school’s only Final Four team.
The 1992-93 team finished 30-3 overall, 9-2 in the SEC and won the SEC Tournament before falling in the national semifinals in Atlanta.
Members of the 1993 team in attendance at Sunday’s reunion included Renee Allen, Rhonda Blades, Mara Cunningham, Misty Lamb and Julie Powell.
Before the game, Charlie Mattos – whose first season calling Vanderbilt women’s basketball games was the historic 1993 season – interviewed Blades and Cunningham. Watch Interview
“I think we were excited (for the season), but I don’t think we had any idea how good we were going to be,” Blades recalled of the 1993 team. “I think without the Internet or all the media, we were just the 12 of us in a gym and whatever Coach (Jim) Foster told us to be, that is pretty much what we were.”
“We came in and gave it our all, and not only that, we gave it 110 percent,” Cunningham added. “There was not a weak link on that team. We worked each other hard everyday in practice, challenging to trying to improve the skills that we had and the skills of our teammates because we cared and really had a great time.”
The 1993 team was ranked as high as No. 1 in the country and its only three losses came to Tennessee, Auburn and in the Final Four to Texas Tech.
“I just think we were blessed to have a bunch of people that bought into what we were trying to do,” Blades recalled of the 1993 team.
The members of the 1993 team were recognized in a special on-court ceremony at halftime of Sunday’s game against Ole Miss. They were joined on the court by other former Vanderbilt women’s basketball players as part of the reunion, and received a commemorative plaque in recognition of the anniversary.
As part of the celebration, the first 200 fans in attendance at Sunday’s game received commemorative posters featuring the 1993 team and the 2013 team.
