she served as the head coach of the university of tennessee lady vols basketball team from 1974 to 2012, before retiring at age 59 because of a diagnosis of early-onset alzheimer's disease. she won eight ncaa championships (a ncaa women's record when she retired), a number surpassed only by the 10 titles won by ucla men's coach john wooden and the 11 titles won by uconn women's coach geno auriemma. she was the first ncaa coach, and one of four college coaches overall, with at least 1,000 wins.