After avoiding an upset, Tennessee hosts Duke

(10) Duke (5-1) vs. (4) Tennessee (4-1)
Game Info: 7:30 pm EST Thu Dec 2, 2004

Coming off two straight subpar performances, fourth-ranked Tennessee knows it will need a much better effort Thursday night when it hosts No. 10 Duke at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Lady Vols shot just 33 percent (23-of-70) and committed 18 turnovers in losing 74-59 at then-No. 4 Texas last Thursday. Forward Shyra Ely, a preseason All-American, scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting as Tennessee lost to Texas for the fourth straight time.

Tennessee (4-1) shot just 32 percent (20-of-62), but escaped with a 52-48 victory over Temple on Sunday. The Lady Vols, who have lost only once at home to an unranked team since the polls started in 1976, fell three spots in the Top 25 this week.

Shanna Zolman scored five of her 10 points late in the second half and Ely made a pair of free throws with 11.9 seconds remaining after coming down with a key rebound against Temple. Ely, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Brittany Jackson, finished with eight points in 31 minutes. She and Zolman each made just 3-of-11 shots from the floor.

``I felt like I needed to do something because I wasn't producing offensively,'' Ely said.

Tennessee went almost five minutes before scoring and Temple grabbed a 9-0 lead. The Lady Vols ended the first half with a 13-2 run, but still trailed four times in the final 20 minutes.

``I told our team that we had enough defense to have a few more possessions,'' Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. ``We started with intensity, but we were not very productive. We had no organized offense. I was disappointed with the way our five players started out. I thought our defense down the stretch gave us opportunities to win. We responded with defense when we had to have a stop. When we had to have the ball back, we did just that.

``We found a way to win. I'll take an ugly win. We've had a few of those already. We've got to knock down shots.''

Duke (5-1) has won three straight since a 76-65 loss to then-No. 11 Notre Dame on November 17.

Monique Currie had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a 63-51 win over then-No. 16 Kansas State on Saturday in the championship game of the Junkanoo Jam tournament's Freeport Division.

Alison Bales, a 6-7 sophomore center, had 11 points and 13 rebounds to help Duke to a 45-28 advantage on the boards.

Tennessee leads the all-time series, 4-2. Last January 24, Duke was No. 1 when Ely and Zollman each scored 15 points to lead Tennessee to a 72-69 victory over the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.