Lady Vols try to shut down one of nation's top players as they meet TCU

TCU (7-3) vs. (9) Tennessee (6-2)
Game Info: 1:30 pm EST Sun Dec 19, 2004

Coming off a draining victory on the road, Tennessee hopes to hold Sandora Irvin in check as it takes on visiting TCU on Sunday.
Playing a tough non-conference schedule, the ninth-ranked Lady Vols (6-2) are riding wins over No. 21 DePaul and Louisiana Tech -- and the competition doesn't get any easier with this matchup against the Lady Frogs (7-3).

Containing Irvin, one of the best players in the nation, is Tennessee's top priority. Irvin, now TCU's all-time leading scorer, is averaging 21.6 points and 13.2 rebounds.

``Irvin is a great offensive player,'' Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. ``As a coaching staff, we are looking to see if we have an answer for a player like Sandora. We are in a situation where we will have to defend by committee.''

On Wednesday, Alexis Hornbuckle scored 17 points as Tennessee topped Louisiana Tech 70-59, handing the Lady Techsters consecutive losses at home for the first time in 14 seasons.

With about five minutes to go in the first half, Summitt drew a technical after Louisiana Tech went ahead 23-22 on a 3-point basket by Aarica Ray-Boyd.

``But I think that wound up firing us up a little,'' Summitt said. ``After that, I told our team, 'now let's start playing and get to winning this game.'''

Junior Shanna Zolman added 15 points for the Lady Vols.

The Lady Frogs started the season 6-1 before dropping two of their last three games, ending TCU's two-week stay in the Top 25.

TCU hasn't played since an 85-72 loss at Utah last Saturday.

Irvin led the Lady Frogs with 20 points and nine rebounds, and became the school's all-time leading scorer. The 6-foot-3 forward ended the game with 1,451 points, breaking Janice Dziuk's career mark of 1,448, set from 1986-90.

Heading into this season, Irvin already held TCU's career marks for rebounds, rebounding average and blocked shots.

Her three blocks against Utah tied her for ninth on NCAA's all-time career blocks list with 359.

Tennessee has won all three meetings between the teams, including an 86-72 victory in Knoxville on Feb. 11.