Tag: Nikki Fargas

Candace Parker becomes first player to win WNBA championship with three teams

Former Lady Vol Candace Parker becomes first WNBA player to win WNBA title with three teams.

Las Vegas defeated New York, 70-69, in game No. 4 of the WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn New York, to win the 2023 WNBA championship.

Las Vegas won the best-of-five series, 3-1.

Former Lady Vol Candace Parker became the first WNBA player to win a championship with three teams. She won titles in 2016 with Los Angeles and in 2021 with Chicago.

Parker did not play during the postseason. She last played July 7, before having season-ending foot surgery. In 18 games in 2023, Parker averaged 9.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

The Aces also won the WNBA championship in 2022. Former Tennessee player and assistant coach Nikki Fargas has won back-to-back WNBA championships as president of Las Vegas.

PHOTOS: Candace Parker through the years

Breaking down the 5 LSU teams that have undergone coaching changes since 2020

Each of LSU’s major sports has undergone coaching transitions in the last two years. Let’s take a look at all of them.

Since August 2020, what could be considered LSU’s five major sports have all undergone coaching changes.

Those five sports are football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, and gymnastics.

The situations leading to each change were wildly different, and sometimes not even in the same stratosphere. Nonetheless, the changes did occur and the athletic department looks a whole lot different than it did when 2020 began.

Gymnastics was the first to transition and also the most seamless, when [autotag]D-D Breaux[/autotag] retired, associate head coach [autotag]Jay Clark[/autotag] was tabbed to assume the head position.

Next, in what was the most impressive hire, [autotag]Kim Mulkey[/autotag] came to LSU after building a dynasty at Baylor. Not long after that, [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] was hired to helm the baseball program after the retirement of [autotag]Paul Mainieri[/autotag].

I doubt many people need refreshers on what happened in football or men’s basketball, given how dramatic and high-profile each situation was, but [autotag]Brian Kelly[/autotag] took over after a wild conclusion to the [autotag]Ed Orgeron[/autotag] era. Most recently, [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] was hired after the [autotag]Will Wade[/autotag] saga came to an inevitable ending.

With all five coaches now in place, let’s take a look back at each transition, and where each sport stands going forward.

Lady Vols outlast LSU, 64-63

Recapping Lady Vols’ victory over LSU Sunday.

The Lady Vols made a trip to Baton Rouge and left with the narrowest of victories Sunday afternoon, edging LSU, 64-63, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

It was Tennessee’s first win over the Tigers (4-6, 2-2 SEC) on the road in its last four tries.

It was also a game that featured head coaches Kellie Harper and Nikki Fargas. Harper and Fargas both played for the legendary Pat Summitt at Tennessee.

Junior Rae Burrell scored 18 points to pace Tennessee (8-1, 2-0). She also had three rebounds and three blocks for the Lady Vols.

Tamari Key scored 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds for UT, which overcame a first-quarter deficit to take a 33-32 lead at halftime.

Jordan Horston finished with 12 points and Kasi Kushkitua chipped in with eight points and seven rebounds. Rennia Davis scored eight points and grabbed nine rebounds.

LSU’s Khayla Pointer led all scorers with 25 points.

[vertical-gallery id=31959]