Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tennessee hangs on to beat Mississippi 60-59

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Angie Bjorklund hit a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to give Tennessee coach Pat Summitt her 999th victory and help the 13th-ranked Lady Vols narrowly avoid a big upset with a 60-59 win over Mississippi on Thursday night.

After yet another dramatic come-from-behind win, Summitt will go for her 1,000th win when the Lady Vols face No. 2 Oklahoma on Monday night at Oklahoma City.

Shantell Black hit a 3 with 1:16 left to give the Lady Rebels (13-8, 2-4 Southeastern Conference) a 59-54 lead, but Tennessee (16-4, 5-2) scored the final six points.

Tennessee's Glory Johnson, who went 4-of-11 from the free-throw line, hit one of two charity shots after being fouled by Kayla Holloway.

Black was called for traveling, and Bjorklund hit a jumper with 1:03 left to cut the margin to 59-57.

Black then missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 20 seconds left.

Alex Fuller grabbed the rebound and charged down court. She found Bjorklund, who calmly pulled up and knocked down the winning basket.

Bjorklund led the team with 13 points, and Fuller finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Bianca Thomas led Mississippi with 11 points, and Black added 10.

The Lady Rebels nearly grabbed their first win over the Lady Vols since a 78-72 victory on Feb. 4, 1996 at Oxford. Mississippi has not beaten Tennessee in Knoxville since a 69-65 decision on Jan. 31, 1987.

Tennessee could have taken control of the game with free throws, but after entering the game shooting 68.6 percent from the line, the Lady Vols hit 16 of 31 for 51.6 percent.

Frustrated with her team falling behind in games, Summitt drilled her team through intense practices this week.

She was especially frustrated with her team's 23 turnovers in a loss at Auburn on Sunday. Against Mississippi, the Lady Vols turned it over 24 times.

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