Saturday, November 27, 2010

Turnovers, Threes Doom Lady Vols, 69-58

ST. THOMAS, U.S VIRGIN ISLANDS - The fourth-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team got a taste of its own medicine on Saturday night at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center in the final game of the "Reef Division" at the 2010 Paradise Jam.

The No. 12/13-ranked Georgetown Hoyas forced the Lady Vols to commit 29 turnovers, resulting in 31 points en route to a 69-58 victory.

Heading into this matchup, Tennessee had committed just 25 turnovers in two games on the island and forced the opposition (Missouri and Georgia Tech) into committing 49 turnovers that resulted in 60 points.

"They had 31 points on turnovers," Lady Vol head coach Pat Summitt said. "Our team did not come to the gym on a mission to win. I'm very disappointed. I think Georgetown came in here and was tougher and more aggressive."

The Lady Vols drop to 6-1, while the Hoyas improve to 5-1. Georgetown captured the "Reef Division" title behind the play of guard Sugar Rodgers, who scored 28 points against the Lady Vols and was named MVP.

Joining her on the all-tournament team were RaeShara Brown, of Missouri, Alex Montgomery, of Georgia Tech, Monica McNutt, of Georgetown, and Tennessee's Glory Johnson and Meighan Simmons.

Johnson had her second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 12 boards, while Simmons scored 11 points.

Johnson averaged 11.7 ppg and 13.0 rpg during the three-day tournament and Simmons led Tennessee with 13 ppg on the island. The 5-9 freshman guard from Cibolo, Texas has started her career with seven straight double-figure scoring games.

"We need to bounce back pretty quickly," Johnson said. "We let Georgetown's up-tempo play dictate how we ran our offense and defense."

Georgetown came into the game shooting just 27-percent from three, but hit three treys in the first two minutes, 15 seconds of the game and raced out to a 29-22 lead at halftime.

The Hoyas took advantage of Tennessee's 2-3 zone by shooting 50 percent (7-14) from behind the arc in the first half. Georgetown finished the game shooting 55.6 from three (10-18) - the best a team has shot against the Lady Vols this season.

Georgetown stretched the lead to as much as 17 points, 59-42 in the second half when point guard Rubylee Wright found Alexa Roche for a layup on a backdoor play with 7:14 left in the game.

The Lady Vols fought back to within nine, 65-56, with 59 seconds left in the game on a layup by Johnson, but the Hoyas, who never trailed, held on for the victory.

Tennessee junior guard Shekinna Stricklen was fouled on a shot attempt with 1:01 left in the contest and took a hard fall. She was taken off on a stretcher as a precaution, and as a result of the fall suffered back spasms.

Tennessee returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Lamar at 7 p.m. at Thompson-Boling Arena.

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