The Tennessee Lady Volunteers basketball team is one of the most prominent teams in U.S. women's college basketball. Coached by Pat Summitt, the team has been a contender for national titles for over thirty years, having made every NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship tournament since the NCAA began sanctioning women's sports in the 1981-82 season. The team is more frequently referred to as the Lady Vols; the formal "Volunteers" nickname is regularly shortened by many fans of both men's and women's teams to "Vols", and sports media in the U.S. more commonly refer to Tennessee women's teams by the shortened version.

The university considers either "Lady Volunteers" or "Lady Vols" acceptable. The Lady Vols have won 15 SEC regular season championships, most recently in 2010, 14 SEC tournament championships, most recently in 2010, made 18 Final Four appearances, most recently in 2008, and won 8 national championships, most recently in 2008. The Lady Vols have been coached by Pat Summitt for over three decades.

Under Summitt, the Lady Vols have won numerous SEC titles, appeared in 18 NCAA Final Fours and 4 AIAW Final Fours, and won 8 NCAA titles including an undefeated season. Additionally, Tennessee has appeared in all 28 NCAA Tournaments and 27 straight NCAA Sweet 16s, the only team to do so. Summitt's teams are known for participating in a grueling regular season schedule (47% of games are against ranked opponents), often toughest in the nation, in order to prepare the team for the NCAA tournament.

This tough schedule has caused Tennessee to build up rivalries with many prominent teams, including Texas, Stanford, Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion, and, most notably, Connecticut. Like all other Tennessee teams, the Lady Vols compete in the SEC, which has historically been the most dominant conference in the sport. Within the conference, Tennessee's main rivals are LSU, Vanderbilt, and Georgia.

Summitt has led Tennessee to 1000 victories, with an 84.2% win rate. The numbers at home are even stronger, as Tennessee has won 91% of home games and 93.1% of in-conference home games.

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