Before coaching her first game at UF, Amanda Butler talked about lofty goals.
She talked about championships, owning the home court and "climbing the Tennessee mountain."
It sounded an awful lot like optimistic "coach speak."
This was a Gators program coming off a 9-22 record in its 2006-07 season. UF had defeated Tennessee only two times in 39 meetings.
Better make that three wins in 40 meetings after UF beat Tennessee 66-57 on Sunday.
It's time to say Butler may have known what she was talking about.
Last year, she used pretty much the same roster as the nine-win squad but turned it into a 19-win team.
Now, the Gators have their best start in program history through 24 games (22-2) and are tied with Auburn atop the Southeastern Conference standings .
UF will likely move into the top 10 of the AP poll this week after earning its fourth win against a ranked opponent.
If the Gators can get through road games against Vanderbilt and LSU this week, they should earn a No. 3 seed (or better) in the NCAA Tournament.
Oh, and about that whole owning the home court thing? The Gators are 13-0 this year and 27-5 in the two seasons under Butler.
Through it all, Butler will say Sunday's victory is just another win.
And while this one certainly won't hold any sort of asterisk, it must be pointed out that this is certainly not one of Tennessee's better teams. Coach Pat Summitt has won 1,000 games and eight NCAA titles. She likely won't be winning her ninth this year.
This was the first time UF ever entered a game against Tennessee as the higher-ranked team (No. 11 vs. No. 12).
But taking down the giant still means a lot, especially in the game of women's basketball, where parity is not common.
"There's no question Tennessee does set the standard," Butler said. "You always know that Tennessee is going to be a contender to win our league and a contender to win the national championship. That's just how it is in women's basketball."
And Sunday was going to be huge, win or lose. ESPN2 televised a women's game from the O'Connell Center for the first time since 2002.
UF was able to get the crowd it wanted, filling the seats with 8,060 people, the second most in program history.
The biggest attendance mark, not surprisingly, came from another UF-Tennessee affair. That game was on Feb. 11, 2001, when the No. 2 Volunteers came to Gainesville to face the No. 6 Gators.
The 12,222 fans in attendance watched Tennessee blow out UF 103-73.
This time, UF responded under the lights.
In Summitt's first game since her 1,000th win, she got outdueled by Butler's Gators in a game that emphatically put them to stay in the national spotlight.
"Is (defeating Tennessee) something to be excited about? Oh my gosh, I grew up in Tennessee," said Butler, a native of nearby Mt. Juliet, Tenn. "Are you kidding me? I went to the Pat Summitt basketball camp when I was 15 years old."
Looks like she learned well.
