Summitt wins No. 1,000

. -- Pat Summitt now has 1,000 victories, an unprecedented height even she finds dizzying.

“It’s a hard number to even comprehend,” the Tennessee coach said.

Summitt became the first Division I basketball coach -- men’s or women’s -- to win 1,000 games Thursday night as her 12th-ranked Lady Vols beat Georgia, 73-43.

It was their second chance in four days at giving their coach her latest and one of her greatest milestones.

With seven freshmen on the roster, these Lady Vols, 17-5 overall and 6-2 in the Southeastern Conference, are nothing like the squads that brought Summitt her seventh and eighth national championships in the previous two seasons.

This is an inexperienced group that had Summitt joking about whether they would even be up to the task of winning the 17 games she needed to reach 1,000 this season.

“It’s a time to reflect on a number of things, the administration saying yes to women’s basketball and giving us an opportunity to play on the biggest stage in the women’s game,” she said. “I appreciate that.”

The landmark win came on the court named for Summitt, who just keeps racking up achievements for others to chase.

All the fans in the arena began standing with about a minute left.

The Lady Vols were given T-shirts with “1000” on the front, and school officials also announced Summitt had signed a contract extension through 2014 and earned a $200,000 bonus with this win.

“I feel like I’ve been extremely blessed,” she told the crowd, “and I thank God for the many opportunities I’ve had to be your coach and work with these young ladies, and so I want to thank all of you.”

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Summitt points

Winningest college basketball coaches: Pat Summitt, 1,000; Bob Knight, 902; Jody Conradt, 900.

By comparison: No other NCAA Division I women’s team has 1,000 wins, let alone one coach.

Schedule quality: More than 400 of Summitt’s victories have come against ranked teams.

Coaching legacy: Seventy of Summitt’s former players, assistant coaches, operations directors, graduate assistants or team managers are coaching basketball.

First win: Jan. 10, 1975, against Middle Tennessee State.

Source: Associated Press