Video by USA
Today - double click for full screeen
Ms Summitt led the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers to eight
national championships during her storied, 38-year career with the team.
She also
had 1,098 career victories, the most in Division I college basketball history
for both a men's or a women's coach, and led the women's national team to
Olympic glory.
Her death
comes five years after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.
Her son,
Tyler Summitt, issued a statement saying his mother died peacefully at Sherrill
Hill Senior Living in Knoxville ,
surrounded by family.
"Since
2011, my mother has battled her toughest opponent, early onset dementia,
Alzheimer's Type, and she did so with bravely fierce determination just as she
did with every opponent she ever faced," he said.
"Even
though it's incredibly difficult to come to terms that she is no longer with
us, we can all find peace in knowing she no longer carries the heavy burden of this
disease."
'Pivotal figure in drive for
equality'
Video by Associated Press - double click for full screen
Over the next four decades, no one
would do more than Summitt to raise the profile of women's college basketball,
taking it from a niche sport to one that outranks all but men's football and
men's basketball in popularity.
With her
death on Tuesday at age 64 from complications from early onset dementia,
Alzheimer's type, the world has not just lost a great basketball coach but a
pivotal figure in women's drive for equality in both sports and the world beyond.
Ms Summitt
announced in 2011 she had been diagnosed with early-onset dementia at the age
of 59.
She coached
one more season before stepping down in 2012.
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