Tuesday, December 30, 2008

No. 8 Tennessee beats Gonzaga 77-58

SPOKANE, Wash. — Angie Bjorklund had a triumphant homecoming with 14 points to help lead No. 8 Tennessee past Gonzaga 77-58 on Tuesday night in the community where she was a high school star.

Alyssia Brewer also scored 14 points and Vicki Baugh had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Lady Vols (10-2). Coach Pat Summitt now has 993 wins in her quest to become the first NCAA coach—male or female—to win 1,000 games.

Heather Bowman led Gonzaga (11-4) with 19 points and Courtney Vandersloot had 13 points and 10 assists.

The Zags played without Jami Schaefer, Bjorklund’s older sister, who is out for six weeks with a knee injury. The game pitting the two sisters against each other was arranged two years ago after Bjorklund signed with Tennessee.

Tennessee, the two-time defending national champions, shot 50 percent and made 6-of-14 from 3-point range. Gonzaga made only 3-of-13 3-point attempts.

After a slow start, Gonzaga made 6-of-7 field goals to take a 23-20 lead, helped in part by eight Tennessee turnovers. But Glory Johnson’s layup tied the score at 24, and Bjorklund’s long 3-pointer put the Lady Vols up 27-24 and they never relinquished the lead.

Tennessee led 38-33 at halftime despite 11 turnovers. Gonzaga shot 43 percent in the half after starting just 4-of-18.

That five-point margin held into the second half, until Tennessee scored seven consecutive points for a 53-41 lead with 11:51 left. The Zags, plagued by poor shooting in the second half, could not make up the difference. They made just 9-of-30 shots in the second half.

The Lady Zags, who average about 1,900 fans per game, sold out the 6,000-seat McCarthey Athletic Center for the first time.

Many in the crowd wore t-shirts saying “TennZaga,” a nod of support for the popular Bjorklund. Gonzaga traveled to Tennessee last season, and Bjorklund scored 23 points in the Vols’ 93-73 victory.

Tennessee was coming off a 79-69 overtime win over Stanford.

The Bjorklund sisters were both stars at University High in the Spokane Valley. Angie became Tennessee’s first recruit from Washington. She scored 2,103 points in high school, averaging 25 points and 10 rebounds as a senior. She started as a freshman at Tennessee last year.

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