It’s impossible to tell the story of the past four decades of college basketball without Tara VanDerveer. The Stanford icon, USA Basketball coach, and overall standard-bearer for West Coast basketball is an integral character in the growth of the women’s game since Title IX. And with two more wins, VanDerveer will stand alone as the winningest coach in college, men’s or women’s, passing former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
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In anticipation of her potential record-breaking win this weekend, we will publish stories this week that focus on her esteemed career. Here is a look back at some of Van DerVeer’s monumental victories:
1. Win No. 1
Dec. 1, 1978: Idaho 70, Northern Montana 68 (OT)
Before win No. 1,201 there was win No. 1. As the head coach of Idaho, VanDerveer faced Northern Montana College (now known as Montana State-Northern) in her opening game. It was the program’s fifth season of existence — the Vandals didn’t even belong to a conference yet — and they had tapped a 25-year-old who had been an Ohio State assistant for two seasons to lead them.
Idaho was up with one possession to play, but the Vandals committed a foul and went to overtime, where they edged out the Polar Bears by two. As VanDerveer…
