Wednesday, November 24, 2004

UT cuts down George Washington

KNOXVILLE -- No. 1 Tennessee finally got around to its home opener on Tuesday night, following two straight road wins within a three-day span.

The Lady Vols (3-0) were in their comfort zone at last and played like it, showing better chemistry offensively on the way to overwhelming visiting George Washington University, 71-41, at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee got a more aggressive effort from starting center Tye'sha Fluker, who scored three of the first seven baskets in a 15-2 run, and then went to veteran shooting guard Shanna Zolman for fire power from the perimeter, taking complete control as the contest began.

Zolman led all scoring in the game with 14 points, including 6 of 12 shooting from the field, and freshman guard Alexis Hornbuckle came off the bench for 11 points as UT's 10-player rotation was once again too much for an opponent to handle.

``I thought our offense was better (than against N.C. State on Sunday),'' coach Pat Summitt said. ``Rather than be confused with (the Colonials') switching defenses, we just called one offense and said let's attack no matter what we're in.

``Shanna has expanded her offensive game this season and is much better off the dribble, and I thought Nicky Anosike defended well, as did Hornbuckle. Those two freshmen have brought a lot of energy off the bench and give us a big lift.''

Anosike, a freshman post player, had eight boards and three blocks in the game, while Fluker, who put in extra practice time with assistant coach Dean Lockwood after a poor shooting performance on the road, was 4 of 7 from the field with eight points, six rebounds and three steals.

``Tye knows she needs to step up for us and be a scorer in the paint,'' Summitt said. ``Tonight she got great position. That'll make us a much better basketball team with an anchor inside.''

The Lady Vols outrebounded the Colonials, 44-30, in the game and forced 22 turnovers, holding George Washington (2-1) to only 32 percent shooting from the field.

``Most of our wounds were self-inflicted,'' Colonials coach Joe McKeown said. ``But this kind of environment forces you to play out of your comfort zone.

``We're a young team and today we started two freshman guards. We're still getting used to playing with one another. It was a tough environment to put our freshmen into. They (the Lady Vols) come at you in waves.''

Veteran forward Anna Mantanana scored 12 points for the Colonials, and transfer Jessica Simmonds, who sat out last season under NCAA rules, equaled her with 12.

But George Washington was only 6 of 23 from the field in the first half, and Tennessee took full advantage.

``We got our feet back under us at one point where we cut it to 17-9,'' McKeown said. ``But then we got confused a little, and I knew we'd get behind so far that we couldn't catch up. Everybody thinks you've got to defend them (Lady Vols) to beat them. That's crap. You've got to score.''

When George Washington cut Tennessee's early lead down to six points, 15-9, in the first half, the Lady Vols responded with more defensive pressure and a round of substitution that kept the offense moving. Hornbuckle, Dominique Redding and Anosike came off the bench and combined with Sidney Spencer and Zolman to give Tennessee a 28-11 lead with 3:54 to play, increasing it to 38-16 at the half.

In the second period, the Lady Vols looked for Zolman and senior Shyra Ely to get things going again, and the game was all but over when UT took a 45-22 advantage with 16:28 still to play.

``We executed a lot better tonight,'' Zolman said. ``There were still times when we stood (on offense), but we were concentrating more on communicating and that helped.''

The Lady Vols next travel to face Texas in the Big XII/SEC Challenge on Thursday night in Austin. It will be Tennessee's fourth game in less than a week since opening at UT Chattanooga last Friday.

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