Mickie DeMoss Returns to the Lady Vol Basketball Sidelines

After seven years away from the University of Tennessee, Mickie DeMoss has decided to return to the university and the women's basketball program she called home for 18 seasons as an assistant and associate head coach.

The announcement was made by Tennessee Lady Vol Head Coach Pat Summitt this morning.

DeMoss replaces Tennessee staffer Stephanie Glance who became the head coach at Illinois State University on April 20, 2010.

"I guess Mickie had the `seven-year itch'," joked Summitt. "Seriously, we are thrilled to have Mickie back in the Lady Vol program. She is tied in to so much of our championship success throughout the years. She is a tremendous recruiter, teacher of the game and a great bench coach as well.

"While she was away, she had a chance to be a successful head coach at Kentucky and also to serve on the staff at the University of Texas. Mickie's forte has always been recruiting and working with the post players. Her résumé is so much richer now as a result of her experiences over the past seven years.

"She is excited about coming back and helping us to continue to compete for championships," said Summitt.

DeMoss and current Associate Head Coach Holly Warlick both joined Tennessee's coaching staff prior to the 1985-86 season. For the next 18 years, the coaching trio of Summitt, DeMoss and Warlick, posted six NCAA Championship titles (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997 and 1998) while advancing to 12 NCAA Final Fours. During this span, the Lady Vols had a 554-77 overall record (.878). In 2000, DeMoss was promoted to associate head coach at Tennessee.

"It is just great to be coming back to Knoxville," said DeMoss. "When I left Tennessee to become the head coach at the University of Kentucky, it just seemed to be the right time in my development and growth as a coach. Following that, the opportunity I had to become an assistant coach at the University of Texas was what I needed at the time. As a result, I gained a different perspective and grew a great deal as a coach and person from those experiences.

"Now, I really feel like I'll be coming home. The University of Tennessee, the Lady Vol family and the Knoxville community have always been such a big part of my life. I was honored and excited when Pat asked if I would be interested in coming back to Tennessee," said DeMoss.

DeMoss, who just finished her 33rd season on the sidelines as a women's basketball coach, left the Lady Vols after the 2002-03 season to take the head coaching job at Kentucky. In four seasons, she guided the Wildcats to a 71-56 record including consecutive 20-win seasons (for the first time in 16 years) and three postseason appearances (one NCAA and two WNIT) for the first time in school history.

In 2005-06, DeMoss was named the SEC Coach of the Year, a first for a UK coach, as she guided the 22-9 Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven seasons and punctuated the trip with an NCAA win. This breakout year also included a victory over number one ranked Tennessee, 66-63, in Rupp Arena in front of a school-record crowd of 13,689. It marked UK's first win over a top-ranked team in school history. In 2006-07, UK was 20-14 and advanced to the WNIT. That season, DeMoss' Cats attracted a school record attendance of 5,863 fans per game.

She elected to step aside as head coach at Kentucky in April 2007.

Her coaching hiatus ended when she accepted an assistant coaching position at the University of Texas in the summer of 2007. Since then, she has been the Longhorns' top recruiter while also coaching the post game.

Prior to joining the Tennessee staff in 1985, she had been an assistant coach at Auburn University (1983-85), a head coach at the University of Florida (1979-83) and an assistant at Memphis State (1977-79).

DeMoss received her undergraduate degree in physical education from Louisiana Tech University in 1977, where she starred at point guard. She then received her master's degree in education at Memphis State University in 1979. She is a native of Tallulah, La.

The Mickie DeMoss File

Full Name: Mickie Faye DeMoss
Hometown: Tallulah, La. (Delhi High School)
Education: B.S. (Physical Education), Louisiana Tech, 1977; M.S. (Education), Memphis State, 1979

COACHING EXPERIENCE
The University of Texas
• Assistant Coach (July 2007-May 2010)
The University of Kentucky
• Head Coach (April 2003-April 2007)
• Four-year record: 71-56
• Led UK to first back-to-back 20-win seasons in 16 years (22-9 in 2005-06, 20-14 in 2006-07)
• Led UK to 2006 NCAA Tournament and to the 2005 and 2007 WNIT
• 2005-06 SEC Coach of the Year
The University of Tennessee
• Associate Head Coach (July 2000-03)
• Assistant Coach (July 1985-July 2000)
• Assisted in helping program to a 554-77 overall record
• Helped Tennessee to 12 NCAA Final Fours, six NCAA national championships (1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998) and three NCAA finals (1995, 2000, 2003)
Auburn University
• Assistant Coach (1983-85)
The University of Florida
• Head Coach (1979-83)
• Four-year record: 45-68
Memphis State University
• Assistant Coach (1977-79)
COLLEGIATE PLAYING EXPERIENCE
• Louisiana Tech (1973-77)

Bjorklund and Stricklen Earn Associated Press All-America Honors

University of Tennessee junior Angie Bjorklund and sophomore Shekinna Stricklen have both been named Honorable Mention Associated Press All-American.

They become the 11th and 12th Lady Vols to earn All-America honors from the Associated Press.

"I'm very proud and happy for both Angie and Shekinna. This honor is a testament to the hard work and energy that both have invested in improving their game," said Head Coach Pat Summitt. "Angie has really elevated her game. She's been devoted to getting in the gym and getting in extra shots, which has keyed her success. Angie was really a difference maker for us. Shekinna did a great job of running the point and her size out front is a definite advantage. She has learned to attack the paint, and when you factor that in with her pull-up game and her three-point shooting, she is a complete package."

Bjorklund was a unanimous choice to the First Team All-SEC by the league coaches and was also selected First Team All-SEC as chosen by the Associated Press. In addition, she was named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was tabbed to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team. The Spokane Valley, Wash., native has climbed through the Tennessee record books in her third year at Rocky Top. Bjorklund has moved into third place on the career three-pointers list with 232 triples made and finished the campaign in second place in UT's single-season record books with 201 threes made. She led the team with 13.9 ppg, dished out 2.9 apg and grabbed 2.7 rpg.

Stricklen was named Second Team All-SEC by the conference coaches and the AP. She is a finalist for the Wooden Award, is a candidate for the Naismith Award and was named to the State Farm Wade Trophy Watch List. Stricklen recorded only the second triple-double in Lady Vol history when she scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and dished out a career-best 12 assists against #14/15-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 3, 2010, at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Morrilton, Ark., native was second on the team with 12.7 ppg, third with 6.1 rpg and boasts a team-high 3.9 apg.

Lady Vols Fall to Baylor, 77-62, in NCAA Sweet 16

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Freshman sensation Brittney Griner has grown up a lot this season -- just ask Tennessee. Kim Mulkey knew her Lady Bears would be a good team some day. That day arrived Saturday in the Sweet 16 as Baylor toppled No. 1 seed Tennessee. Story Griner scored 27 points and blocked 10 shots, leading fourth-seeded Baylor to a 77-62 win over the top-seeded Lady Vols on Saturday to advance to the NCAA tournament regional finals.

"She was the X factor," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, whose team was taken out in the first round last season.

Baylor's only other appearance in the round of eight was in 2005, the same year it won the national championship. The Lady Bears (26-9) will face either No. 2 seed Duke or 11th-seeded San Diego State on Monday night.

The Lady Vols' loss spoiled the highly anticipated matchup between Tennessee and Connecticut, which could have happened in this year's national semifinals. The Lady Vols, who lost in the first round last season, haven't missed out on back-to-back Final Fours since 1993-94.

Tennessee (32-3) successfully limited the 6-foot-8 Griner in its 74-65 win over Baylor in the first game of the season but couldn't do it again even with as many as four players on her at a time. Griner hit several shots while double-teamed or passed to an open Lady Bears teammate for an easy layup.

"You're watching a phenom out here play above the rim," Mulkey said. "That's what needs to be written in every article from this day forward, because she's such a sweet child as you can see."

Griner had been somewhat tentative on offense since she was suspended for two games after throwing a punch against a Texas Tech player in early March. She was back to her dominant self on both ends of the court.

"I just knew I had to come out and play my game and go back to the old Brittney," Griner said. Griner's 26 blocks in the NCAA tournament ranks her second in history. Duke's Alison Bales holds the NCAA tournament record with 30 in 2006, and Connecticut's Rebecca Lobo's 22 now ranks third.

The teams went back and forth throughout the first half and early in the second, trading the lead 10 times and tying four times. With both 6-foot-6 Kelley Cain and 6-foot-3 Alyssia Brewer on the floor to guard Griner, Tennessee found some success inside and was up 55-50 with just under eight minutes left.

The Lady Vol orange-clad crowd fell silent as Griner hit back-to-back layups and had a three-point play as part of a 21-1 run as Tennessee's defense unraveled.

Tennessee (32-3) turned to its shooters in desperation. Though Angie Bjorklund and Shekinna Stricklen managed to hit jumpers in traffic and knock down a few 3s in the first half, they missed left and right in the second half.

The Lady Vols managed to hit only 32.9 percent, only slightly better than their season-worst 32.8 percent against Stanford, and finished with 22 paint points. The Lady Vols allowed the Lady Bears 49.1 percent shooting -- a season high for a Tennessee opponent -- and 36 paint points.

"I can't believe it. I'm just really excited that to get to the Elite Eight we had to go through the best, and the best in this region was Tennessee," Baylor's Morghan Medlock said.

Stricklen led Tennessee with 18 points, and Bjorklund added 12.

"I think anytime you play against a 6-8 player, it's is going to be tough to shoot over her," Bjorklund said. "At the same time, I thought when our posts did have the ball they did a good job. Going against her, we just needed to give the posts more touches."

Tennessee fell to 23-5 in regional semifinal games.

Tennessee Storms past Dayton into Sweet Sixteen, 92-64

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- After an unprecedented early loss in the NCAAs last year, it's back to business as usual for Tennessee.

The No. 1-seeded Lady Volunteers beat eighth-seeded Dayton 92-64 in the second round of the tournament on Monday night.

Tennessee (32-2) will make its 28th appearance in the regional semifinals Saturday, this time playing 350 miles from home in Memphis. The Lady Vols' lone absence from the round of 16 in the tournament's 29-year history came after last season's 71-55 loss to Ball State in the opening round.

And the Lady Vols are ready to prove that loss was an anomaly.

"I thought I could feel the energy in the locker room, and I mean they were wanting to get out on the court ASAP. With all that energy, I thought: they're ready to play," coach Pat Summitt said.

Alicia Manning scored a career-high 17 points and had 10 rebounds and a career-high seven assists to lead Tennessee after fouling out of the opening-round game with two points. Manning was among five Lady Vols who had double-digit scoring against Dayton.

"I felt like last game I kind of let the team down getting in foul trouble, so I definitely felt like I needed to pick it up and make up for what I didn't do in the other game," she said.

Tennessee will face either No. 4 Baylor or No. 5 Georgetown in Memphis.

Dayton (25-8), which managed to rally from an 18-point deficit in its 67-66 win over TCU in the first round, was tasked with playing only its second NCAA tournament game in front of about 10,000 orange-clad fans on the court named "The Summitt."

A three-point play by Shekinna Stricklen launched a 17-2 scoring run for Tennessee. The Lady Vols had their way under their own basket, hitting wide-open shots from the perimeter and slashing the lane to take easy layups.

Manning cut through the paint to hit a layup that gave Tennessee a 19-4 run with 13:31 left in the first half. Taber Spani, who hit her first seven shots, sank a smooth 3 from the sideline to push Tennessee's lead to 23 points, and the Lady Vols entered halftime with a 50-30 lead.

"We knew we had to take away their inside game, so we were hoping they wouldn't go crazy on us. And they went crazy on us," Dayton coach Jim Jabir said. "I don't know if they do that usually. If they do, you should raise the ticket prices because that's some really good basketball."

At the break, Tennessee led in every category except rebounds -- something Summitt emphasized in the first round game. The two teams each had 20 at halftime.

But the Lady Vols didn't need the boards as they took care of the ball on offense and scored 13 off seven Dayton turnovers in the first half.

Tennessee scored the first 10 points of the second half, and Manning reached her career high on a fast-break layup that put the Lady Vols ahead 73-44 with 12:11 left.

Justine Raterman led the Flyers with 17 points.

The Lady Vols hit 53.9 percent of their shots as their lead ballooned to 34 points off a layup by Glory Johnson with 14:59 left. The Flyers hit 41.5 of their shots.

The Flyers struggled nearly every time they reached their end of the court. They had at least a half-dozen airballs in the first half, and Tennessee blocked 10 shots -- six by Kelley Cain.

And with 10 minutes to go, both Olivia Applewhite and Casey Nance had fouled out for Dayton.

"Offensively I thought we just looked nervous," Jabir said. "Justine doesn't shoot a lot of airballs and neither does Kendel [Ross]. I think both of those guys had rim bypasses a couple of times."

Top-Seeded Lady Vols Breeze By Austin Peay, 75-42

KNOXVILLE -- When Tennessee lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year, coach Pat Summitt sent the team to the practice court immediately.

That extra work helped the Lady Vols secure a No. 1 seed this season and return to their winning ways with a 75-42 victory over No. 16 seed Austin Peay on Saturday in the opening round of the NCAA women's tournament.

"They were confused why would we go right back to practice. They thought it was punishment," Summitt said. "I said, 'No, it's an opportunity for this basketball team to get better.'"

The Lady Vols (31-2), playing in their NCAA-record 29th first-round game, had advanced out of the opening weekend every season until last year's 71-55 loss to Ball State in the first round as a No. 5 seed. They're now 43-1 in the first two rounds.

The Lady Vols' work ethic wasn't the only difference in the two games.

This time Tennessee played at "The Summitt" and in front of mostly orange-clad fans. Summitt said her players were also more committed playing well.

"[It's] just a little bit different," Tennessee's Angie Bjorklund said of the atmosphere of the arena and the postgame locker room.

Tennessee also lost Kelley Cain in the first half of last year's tournament game to a knee injury.

This time, Cain had 18 points and 12 rebounds and hit a jumper 30 seconds into the game. The Lady Vols scored the first 15 points before Austin Peay hit a basket.

Austin Peay coach Carrie Daniels said the Lady Govs had experience with players who were bigger them but hadn't seen anyone quite like the 6-foot-6 Cain.

"Prior to this game we brought out broomsticks and made the players shoot over them to simulate," Daniels said.

The Lady Govs (15-18) got their first points when Ashley Herring hauled in a rebound off Brooke Faulkner's missed jumper and hit a jumper with 13:14 left in the first half.

"At the start when shots aren't just aren't falling, what can you do?" Herring said.

Herring scored 21 points for Austin Peay, which worked its way into tournament as only the eighth team in history with a losing record by winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

By halftime, the Lady Vols had expanded their lead to 37-16 and that margin grew to 38 points in the second half off a 3-point shot by Taber Spani that made it 73-35 with 3:45.

Austin Peay turned the ball over 14 times in the first half, leading to 17 Tennessee points. Despite being smaller at every position, the Lady Govs found success in the paint against the imposing Lady Vols posts and scored all but two of their first-half points in the lane. They finished with 20 points in the paint.

And Austin Peay's loss still wasn't as bad as the last time it visited Knoxville, when it lost 80-38 to Tennessee in the opening round of the 2001 NCAA tournament.

Tennessee went everywhere to score, putting up 36 points in the paint and getting 14 points from Angie Bjorklund around the perimeter.

If the Lady Vols defeat either No. 8 Dayton or No. 9 TCU, who were to meet later Saturday, Tennessee gets the privilege of staying in state to play in the semifinals of the Memphis regional, 350 miles away from Tennessee's campus but still saturated with Lady Vols fans.

Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt Named Finalist For Prestigious Naismith Coaching Award

Atlanta, Ga. - After leading her team to a record 20th No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summitt was named one of four finalists for the prestigious Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Third-ranked Tennessee (30-2 overall) claimed the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles for the first time since 2000, and the Lady Vols were the first SEC school to pull off the super sweep in a decade. The Lady Vols won their 15th SEC regular season title and the 14th SEC Tournament title in 2009-10. She will be leading Tennessee into to its 29th NCAA Tournament this weekend, the only school to have appeared in all 29 championships.

Summitt has won the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year five previous times. She claimed the honor after winning the 1987, 1989 and 1998 national championships. Summitt also earned the award in 1994 and 2004.

The other finalists are Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Nebraska's Connie Yori and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.

The finalists were voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country.

ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, has presented the Naismith Trophy every year since UCLA's Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969. Old Dominion's Anne Donovan won the inaugural Women's Naismith Trophy in 1983.

The Naismith Award has become the most prestigious award in all of college basketball, recognizing the Men's and Women's College Basketball Player of the Year, Men's and Women's College Basketball Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high school basketball, officiating, and contribution to the game.

For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com.

Lady Vol Coach Pat Summitt Named Finalist For Prestigious Naismith Coaching Award

Atlanta, Ga. - After leading her team to a record 20th No. 1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, University of Tennessee Lady Vol basketball coach Pat Summitt was named one of four finalists for the prestigious Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Third-ranked Tennessee (30-2 overall) claimed the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles for the first time since 2000, and the Lady Vols were the first SEC school to pull off the super sweep in a decade. The Lady Vols won their 15th SEC regular season title and the 14th SEC Tournament title in 2009-10. She will be leading Tennessee into to its 29th NCAA Tournament this weekend, the only school to have appeared in all 29 championships.

Summitt has won the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year five previous times. She claimed the honor after winning the 1987, 1989 and 1998 national championships. Summitt also earned the award in 1994 and 2004.

The other finalists are Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Nebraska's Connie Yori and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.

The finalists were voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Club's National Voting Academy, comprised of leading basketball journalists, coaches and administrators from around the country.

ABOUT THE ATLANTA TIPOFF CLUB The Atlanta Tipoff Club, an Atlanta Sports Council property, is committed to promoting the game of basketball and recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of those who make the game so exciting. The Atlanta Tipoff Club, founded during the 1956-57 season, has presented the Naismith Trophy every year since UCLA's Lew Alcindor first won the award in 1969. Old Dominion's Anne Donovan won the inaugural Women's Naismith Trophy in 1983.

The Naismith Award has become the most prestigious award in all of college basketball, recognizing the Men's and Women's College Basketball Player of the Year, Men's and Women's College Basketball Coach of the Year, as well as awards for outstanding achievement in high school basketball, officiating, and contribution to the game.

For more information, visit www.naismithawards.com.

Three Basketball Lady Vols Earn Associated Press All-SEC Honors

After sweeping the Southeastern Conference regular season and tournament titles for the first time in 10 years, the Tennessee Lady Vols landed a trio of cagers on the Associated Press' All-SEC Teams today. Junior Angie Bjorklund and redshirt-sophomore Kelley Cain each earned First Team All-SEC accolades, while sophomore Shekinna Stricklen earned Second Team honors. Tennessee featured the most student-athletes on the two squads.

"I'm extremely proud of our student-athletes for being recognized by the league media for their success this season," said Head Coach Pat Summitt. "They all invested a great amount in the offseason both on and off the court. These honors reflect the improvement that they have made in becoming better basketball players and we have made in becoming a better basketball team. It is a tremendous reward for that hard work."

Bjorklund started 31 of 32 regular season contests for the Lady Vols and led UT with 14.1 ppg and added 2.8 apg and 2.8 rpg. The Spokane Valley, Wash., converted 42.6 percent of her field goals and made 93-of-217 three pointers. The junior sharp-shooter led the SEC in three-point field goal percentage, 42.9, and was third in three-pointers made, 2.9 per game. Bjorklund was a unanimous choice to the All-SEC First Team as voted on by the league coaches and was selected as SEC Player of the Week once during the 2009-10 campaign.

Cain dominated the low post and set a single-season school record of 103 blocks, topping the previous mark of 99 set by former Player of the Year Candace Parker in 2006-07. She also set a single-game record of 12 blocks against LSU on Feb. 22, 2010, at Thompson-Boling Arena. The Atlanta, Ga., native led the SEC and was fourth in the NCAA with 3.2 bpg. The 6-6 center tossed in 10.2 ppg and was sixth in the SEC with 7.4 rpg. Cain converted 60.3 percent of her field goals, which is the second best clip in the SEC. She was also selected to the All-SEC First Team and All-Defensive Team as voted on by league coaches.

Stricklen, a finalist for numerous national post-season awards, earned a selection to the Second Team All-SEC after averaging 12.8 ppg, 6.1 rpg and a team-best 3.8 apg. She is the only Lady Vol to have started all 32 games. The Morrilton, Ark., native posted just the second triple-double in Lady Vol history when she tallied 17 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists against #14/15-ranked Oklahoma on Jan. 3, 2010. Stricklen led the SEC in free throw percentage, converting 76-of-89 attempts, good for a 85.4 percent conversion clip, and ranked sixth in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 1.4 (123 assists to 86 turnovers). She was named SEC Player of the Week three times during the year, earned SEC All-Tournament honors and All-SEC Second Team honors as voted on by the league coaches.

The Lady Vols earned their 20th No. 1 seed in the 2010 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 16 seed Austin Peay at 12:16 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, at Thompson-Boling Arena. The arena will also host the first round contest between the No. 8-seeded Dayton Flyers and the No. 9-seeded TCU Horned Frogs, which will tip off at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The two winners will face off at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 22, and all three games will be aired on ESPN2.

Lady Vols Get No. 1 Seed in Memphis Regional

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee's offseason work paid off. The Lady Vols have earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament a year after their worst postseason finish.

"They wanted to get better," coach Pat Summitt said. "I think they were embarrassed. They made history in a bad way, so now I think they want to make history in a good way."

The Lady Vols drew a No. 5 seed last year -- their lowest ever -- and lost to Ball State in their first opening round defeat in school history.

This year, all is right in Knoxville again -- so far.

Winning the Southeastern Conference's regular-season and tournament titles helped Tennessee (29-2) grab the top seed in the Memphis, Tenn., regional, which will be played 350 miles away from its campus. It's the 20th time the program has earned a No. 1 spot.

"It feels great because usually Tennessee is a No. 1 seed, and I just feel like we're back to Tennessee -- the way Tennessee is supposed to be," sophomore guard Shekinna Stricklen said.

The Lady Vols, who finished ranked third in the final Top 25 poll, will open against Austin Peay on Saturday on their home court in Knoxville named for Summitt. The Govs (15-17) are the eighth team in NCAA history to make the tournament with a losing record.

Two of Summitt's brothers attended Austin Peay, which is located in Clarksville, Tenn., 200 miles from Knoxville and just 13 miles from her hometown of Henrietta, Tenn. The Lady Vols have won all five meetings between the two teams.

Austin Peay lost to top-ranked Duke in the first round of last season's NCAA tournament.

"Tennessee is a tremendous team and has had a great season, and you know they're going to make a great run in the tournament," Austin Peay coach Carrie Daniels said "We're going to go step on the court having the experience of being in the tournament last year. Hopefully we'll draw from that experience and go out there and give them a good game."

Also in the Memphis regional are: No. 2 Duke, No. 3 West Virginia, No. 4 Baylor, No. 5 Georgetown, No. 6 Texas and No. 7 LSU. Tennessee beat Baylor, Texas and LSU during the regular season.

But the more anticipated matchup is the possible Final Four meeting with undefeated Connecticut. Geno Auriemma's Huskies have won an NCAA record 72 straight games, but none of them have come against the Lady Vols since Summitt ended their annual matchup in 2007.

"A lot of this (bracket arrangement) has to do with what they want to see," Summitt said. "I think a lot of people feel this is a matchup that we've got to have for the NCAA tournament and women's basketball. I'm not looking down the road at all though."

The Lady Vols graduated only one player last year and the three juniors, seven sophomores and three freshmen who returned worked harder in the offseason than any Tennessee team had for the better part of a decade to improve.

It paid off with Tennessee's first regular-season SEC title in three seasons and a 70-62 win over Kentucky in the SEC tournament championship. It's the first time the Lady Vols have taken both crowns since 2000, when they lost to Connecticut in the NCAA championship game.

"We've worked hard, and we've proven a lot," Stricklen said. "I feel like we've really earned that No. 1 spot."

Double Up: Lady Vols Win SEC Tournament

DULUTH, Ga. -- Pat Summitt encouraged her team to reach for a No. 1 NCAA seed during the SEC tournament championship game.

Then the Tennessee coach reached for the high notes in a surprise postgame song.

Shekinna Stricklen scored 20 points and No. 4 Tennessee beat Kentucky (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) 70-62 on Sunday night to win the Southeastern Conference tournament and possibly wrap up that No. 1 seed.

Summitt was so pleased she brought down the house by grabbing the microphone and singing "Rocky Top" in front of the scorer's table to the Tennessee fans who dominated the Gwinnett Arena crowd, while her players cut down the nets.

"I thought she was just going to say, 'Thank you fans, for coming out,'" said guard Angie Bjorklund. "When she started singing, I just looked at our team and I started laughing. We all started laughing. It was great."

Most players left the net-cutting ceremony to stand in front of Summitt. After the short song, she said "You are the best fans! We love you!"

Said Summitt after leaving the court: "I did that for the fans. I know I don't have a great voice, but our fans love 'Rocky Top.'"

Tennessee (30-2) completed its first sweep of the SEC's regular-season and tournament championships in 10 years. In each case, the decisive win came against Kentucky, which improved from a .500 finish a year ago to play in its first tournament final in 28 years.

Tennessee's 14th straight victory gave Summitt her 19th 30-win season.

The Lady Vols were focused on more than the conference title. Summitt said she talked to her players during the game about needing to win to claim a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

"I told them we needed this tonight to make sure we get a No. 1 seed," Summitt said. "We talked about that even during the game. I said, 'We're not losing a No. 1 seed. If we do, that's not going to be good for us.'"

Kentucky (25-7) played tough in its first championship game appearance since winning its only title in 1982. The Wildcats, led by Victoria Dunlap's 21 points, played even with the Lady Vols until midway through the second half.

"We came here to win and came up a little short," said Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell, a former graduate assistant for Summitt at Tennessee. "But I thought our players battled against a really fine basketball team today, and I thought we found out a lot about our team."

Tennessee set a school record with 15 blocks when it clinched the SEC regular-season title with its 81-65 win over Kentucky on Feb. 25. The Wildcats showed no sign of intimidation in the rematch, even after Tennessee took an early 19-9 lead.

Kentucky answered to take its first lead with 5 minutes remaining in the half.

A layup by A'dia Mathies cut the Tennessee lead to 23-22. Amber Smith then stole the ball, drove toward the basket and made a behind-the-back pass to Dunlap, who was fouled as she scored. Dunlap's free throw gave Kentucky a 25-23 lead.

Freshman Kamiko Williams, who didn't score in Tennessee's first two tournament games, answered Dunlap's three-point play by scoring Tennessee's next four baskets, helping the Lady Vols lead 35-29 at halftime.

Tennessee center Kelley Cain picked up two quick fouls and played only three minutes in the first half. The Lady Vols' depth showed as they held a 31-14 advantage in rebounds even playing most of the half without the 6-foot-6 Cain. They finished with a 51-32 advantage.

Cain had 11 points, all in the second half.

Kentucky opened the second half with an 13-3 run for a 42-38 lead. Stricklen's three-point play and 3-point shot helped Tennessee pull even at 46-46.

Following the last tie at 50-all, Tennessee took the lead for good with an 11-3 run, which included another 3-pointer from Stricklen.

Tennessee's Alyssia Brewer, who had eight points, was the tournament MVP.

Lady Vols Down Vandy to Earn Spot in SEC Final

DULUTH, Ga. -- The rest of the Southeastern Conference has only one more chance to disprove a conclusion stated by Tennessee coach Pat Summitt after her team's 13th straight win.

"I think we have the best team," Summitt said following No. 4 Tennessee's 68-49 victory over Vanderbilt in Saturday's SEC tournament semifinal.

Added Summitt: "I wouldn't have known that when the year started."

Tennessee's argument for SEC supremacy is looking as strong in the postseason as in the regular season.

The Lady Vols (29-2) moved within one victory of a sweep of the SEC regular-season and tournament championships, something they've accomplished six times. They'll play Kentucky or Mississippi State for the title on Sunday night.

Tennessee won 15 of 16 conference games in the regular season before opening the tournament with a 76-51 rout of Mississippi. The Lady Vols' third win of the season over Vanderbilt (22-10) was just as lopsided.

Summitt said her players are motivated by sweeping the regular-season and tournament championships for the first time in 10 years.

"I think our team is very motivated," she said. "The regular season, I think, gave them a lot of confidence and also inspired them. I think they want more. They want to win here.

"It's their idea and it works a whole lot better when it's their idea."

Vanderbilt trailed 45-36 following a 3-pointer by Marsh with 9:17 remaining, but Tennessee pulled away with 11 straight points.

Angie Bjorklund finished with 12 points for Tennessee, while Hannah Tuomi had 12 points before fouling out and Merideth Marsh added 11 for Vanderbilt.

The challenge facing the smaller Vanderbilt team was obvious from the minute starting lineups were announced. Tennessee's shortest starter, 6-foot Bjorklund, was as tall as Vanderbilt's tallest starters, Tuomi and Tiffany Clarke.

Vanderbilt's top scoring threat, the 5-foot-6 Marsh, was guarded by 6-foot-2 Shekinna Stricklen and 6-foot-1 Alicia Manning. Tuomi was looking up at 6-6 Kelley Cain and 6-3 Alyssia Brewer.

Vanderbilt, playing its third game in three days, couldn't overcome the mismatches.

"It's tough because we know each other so well, and they played like Tennessee and we didn't take their strengths away," Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. "They did a better job taking our strengths away."

Tennessee's superior size showed in the first half when its 12 offensive rebounds equaled Vanderbilt's total rebounds. The Lady Vols claimed a 9-0 advantage in second-chance points in the opening 20 minutes, providing the cushion for a 31-22 halftime lead.

Tennessee finished with a 42-27 advantage in rebounds.

Vanderbilt's best chance was the 3-point shot, but Tennessee's defense was ready. The Commodores made only 3 of 17 3-pointers, including 3 of 11 by Marsh.

"I just thought we really bought into our scouting report defense," Bjorklund said. "We knew who were the shooters, who were the drivers. ... I just thought our team did a great job having that sense of urgency to not let them get the open looks that they got the last couple games we played them."

Lady Vols Start SEC Tournament with Rout of Ole Miss

DULUTH, Ga. -- Mississippi coach Renee Ladner has yet to find a good way to defend Tennessee's Alicia Manning.

"Alicia Manning has kicked our butt [three] times we played them," Ladner said. "She's outmanned us, outhustled us and beat us on the boards."

Alyssia Brewer scored 21 points, Manning had 14 points with a career-high 14 rebounds, and No. 4 Tennessee beat Mississippi 76-51 in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Friday.

The Lady Volunteers (28-2) have won 12 straight overall and 17 consecutive in the SEC second round.

Bianca Thomas scored 15 points for Ole Miss (17-14), which has dropped two of three and nine of 12 overall. The Rebels have lost 20 straight and 28 of 30 to Tennessee.

The Lady Vols were determined to hold Thomas' production down following her 34-point performance in Tennessee's 12-point home win against Ole Miss last Sunday.

"We were really focusing on limiting her touches, keeping a hand in her face at all times, getting in her shooting rhythm so she couldn't get her shots off," Manning said. "I think we did a pretty good job of that."

Brewer hit nine of 11 shots from the field. Her layup with 6:10 remaining made it 72-40 and gave Tennessee its biggest lead.

After scoring 20 points in victories over Alabama and Florida earlier this season, Brewer had her SEC career high against Ole Miss.

"I think it's been some of the confidence factor, having confidence in my shot," said Brewer, a sophomore forward. "Also as a team, whenever we start moving, it opens different shots for each of us."

The Lady Vols are trying to win the SEC regular-season and league tournament titles in the same year for the seventh time overall and the first time since 2000.

Angie Bjorklund added 16 points and five assists for Tennessee, which stretched its SEC second-round winning streak to 17 games.

"We had some great possessions and we had some ugly possessions," Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said. "We've got to be more efficient. I think our team understands that, but overall a great win."

Ole Miss' Kayla Melson, the SEC assists leader, was helped off the floor with 12:29 left in the game after injuring her right ankle. She finished with 14 points and three assists. The Rebels dropped to 1-10 when the junior guard has fewer than five assists.

Melson described the injury as a mild sprain.

"My ankles have been tweaked since I've been [at Ole Miss]," she said. "I've sprained both ankles numerous times. This time was kind of different because I felt something I usually don't feel."

The Rebels, who last made the SEC semifinals in 1993, lost their seventh straight second-round game.

Ladner gave Manning much of the credit.

"Once again she came in and got a double-double," Ladner said. "She is getting better every time I see her play, particularly against us."

Tennessee won the rebounding battle 48-22.

"Ole Miss is a really aggressive team," Manning said. "We just had to match that, try to be more aggressive than them."

Four Lady Vols Earn SEC Basketball Awards

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference announced its 2010 women's basketball postseason awards Tuesday, highlighted by Kentucky's Victoria Dunlap being named Player of the Year and Matthew Mitchell being named Coach of the Year. Mississippi State's Armelie Lumanu was named Defensive Player of the Year, Alyssia Brewer was named 6th Woman of the Year, while Kentucky's A'dia Mathies was given Freshman of the Year honors. First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team, All-Defensive team, along with Player, Coach and Freshman, Defensive Player, 6th Woman and Scholar-Athlete of the Year were chosen by the league's 12 coaches.
The 2010 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament begins Thursday, March 4 and runs through Sunday, March 7 in Duluth, Ga.

The complete 2010 SEC Women's Basketball Postseason Awards follow.

First Team All-SEC
Ashley Houts, UG
*Victoria Dunlap, UK
*Allison Hightower, LSU
Bianca Thomas, UM
Alexis Rack, MSU
*Angie Bjorklund, UT
Kelley Cain, UT
Jence Rhoads, VU

Second Team All-SEC
Alli Smalley, AU
A'dia Mathies, UK
Shekinna Stricklen, UT
LaSondra Barrett, LSU
Armelie Lumanu, MSU
Kelsey Bone, SC
Valerie Nainima, SC
Merideth Marsh, VU

All-Freshman Team
Morgan Toles, AU
Jennifer George, UF
Jasmine Hassell, UG
*Jasmine James, UG
*A'dia Mathies, UK
*Kelsey Bone, SC
Elan Brown, VU
*Tiffany Clarke, VU

All-Defensive Team
Victoria Dunlap, UK
Allison Hightower, LSU
Armelie Lumanu, MSU
Chanel Mokango, MSU
Kelley Cain, UT

Coach of the Year
Matthew Mitchell, Kentucky

Player of the Year
Victoria Dunlap, Kentucky

Freshman of the Year
A'dia Mathies, Kentucky

Defensive Player of the Year
Armelie Lumanu, Mississippi State

6th Woman of the Year
Alyssia Brewer, Tennessee

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Angie Bjorklund, Tennessee

Lady Vols Close Regular Season with 75-63 Win over Ole Miss

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee coach Pat Summitt could tell a difference in her team in its first game since clinching the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship.

She was hardly happy about it.

Shekinna Stricklen scored 23 points to help the No. 4 Lady Volunteers fight off a second-half rally from Mississippi for a 75-63 victory Sunday night, but Summitt was in no mood to celebrate Tennessee's 11th consecutive win to close out the regular season.

"Do I look like I'm happy? Do I sound like I'm happy?" Summitt said. "I'm disappointed in our team not bringing it all the time. If you are a team on a mission, you can see it. You can feel it, you know, and it's just obvious. But no, in this game, we decided to pick and choose, and we had two players step up and play great."

Alicia Manning recorded her first double-double with a career-high 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Vols (27-2, 15-1 SEC), and Stricklen also had 10 rebounds.

"We won, and I know it's not one of our best games," Stricklen said. "But right now, we just have to let it go and just get ready for tournament time, and just go hard in every one of the games we play."

The Rebels (16-13, 6-8) got 34 points from Bianca Thomas and erased a double-digit deficit in the second half only to lose for the eighth time in 10 games and the second time this season against Tennessee.

Elizabeth Robertson's putback with 12:37 remaining completed Mississippi's comeback to tie the score at 50, but Tennessee put away the game by scoring 17 of the next 21 points.

Thomas, the SEC's leading scorer, hit 11 of 27 field goals and four of her 10 3-point attempts to post the second-highest point total of her senior season.

"I think she proved to everyone again tonight that she is one of the top players in the conference," Rebels coach Renee Ladner said. "She's still the leading scorer in the conference. I've said it all year. I think she's been a little disrespected, and she continues to prove people wrong. She was just outstanding for our team."

This one lacked some of the late drama of the last two meetings between the teams, both of which were won on last-second shots by Lady Vols guard Angie Bjorklund.

"It's happened two years straight," Thomas said. "Angie got a shot at the end in Oxford. It was very heartbreaking, not only to me but to the whole team."

The two teams could meet again in just a few days. The loss dropped Mississippi to the No. 9 seed for this week's SEC tournament in Duluth, Ga., where the Rebels will open Thursday against eighth-seeded South Carolina.

The winner will advance to play Tennessee for the third time this season on Friday.

"If we have to play Ole Miss again, that's a big challenge," Summitt said. "South Carolina is playing well."

The Lady Vols scored the game's first eight points in less than two minutes -- including two 3s by Stricklen -- and took a 40-32 advantage into halftime.

Stricklen finished with double-digit scoring for the sixth consecutive game for Tennessee, which shot 42.6 percent and scored 34 points in the paint.

"I think she's been in the gym and getting up just shot after shot after shot," Summitt said of Stricklen. "She's just committed to being a player that's going to have repetition offensively, and not just occasionally but often."

Lady Vols Claim SEC Regular Season Title with 81-65 Win over Kentucky

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- When Kentucky upset Tennessee a year ago, Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt revoked her team's locker room privileges for nine months.

On Thursday night, the Lady Vols showed their demanding coach just how far they've come since that lowly day.

Fourth-ranked Tennessee celebrated another Southeastern Conference championship in that same locker room after an 81-65 win over Kentucky (No. 14 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 AP).

"We went crazy in the locker room," said Tennessee sophomore Shekinna Stricklen, who was one of five Lady Vols in double figures.

The victory gave Tennessee its 15th SEC regular-season title and first since 2007, when they won the school's seventh national championship.

"I think they understand what it takes now," Summitt said. "I think this game meant a lot to our team. They wanted to win something, something very important."

Tennessee (26-2, 13-1) used several runs to pull away in the first half and stayed firmly in control in the second half thanks to consistent play inside and near-perfect free-throw shooting (25-for-27).

Kelley Cain, who was coming off a school-record 12-block performance against LSU on Monday, led the Lady Vols with 14 points and seven blocks, even though she sat out the final 16:46 of the first half after picking up her second foul.

She scored 11 of her points, pulled down all six of her rebounds and had all but one of her blocks in the second half.

Victoria Dunlap scored 22 points for Kentucky (23-5, 11-4). But the fourth-leading scorer in the SEC shot just 6-of-19 from the field.

Trailing from the opening minutes, the Wildcats managed to get within 23-16 on a layup by Amani Franklin, but the Lady Vols followed that with a 14-0 run that included consecutive 3-pointers from Angie Bjorklund.

"I watched a lot of film on them, and I think tonight they showed you another gear that they had," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said.

Alyssia Brewer added 10 points, as Tennessee outscored Kentucky 36-26 in the paint.

"We're excited we finally won something," Bjorklund said. "We're all pretty excited after this game. That was our focus. If we take this team out, then we win SEC. That's our first goal, and we accomplished it."

The Wildcats did not have the size to match up against a Tennessee team with all five starters at 6-foot or taller.

"Sometimes it's tough to handle big people when you don't have somebody on your bench that has the same kind of body that they have, but that's not the mentality you have to take," Dunlap said. "If they're bigger or smaller, you just have to play hard the whole time and not worry about it."

Tennessee now has 29 blocks in its past two games.

"I think if teams watch film, they have to take that into account," Bjorklund said. "This team, they're tall, they get a lot of blocks inside, and that helps us keep people out of the middle."

But the Lady Vols got balanced scoring from their backcourt as well, with Bjorklund and Stricklen each adding 12 points.

"Obviously some nights guard play is going to be more open than post game," Summitt said. "I think having balance is important, but at the same time, you have to take what good looks you have."

Lady Vols Earn Share of Regular-Season Title with Win Over LSU

KNOXVILLE -- Former Tennessee center Ashley Robinson phoned Pat Summitt recently to check on her old team and coach.

"Ashley called the other day and asked about our post game. I told her, 'Well, Kelley Cain is pretty good,'" Summitt said.

Good enough to break Robinson's single-game blocks record, it turns out.

Cain scored 16 points and blocked 12 shots to help Tennessee (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) beat LSU (No. 20 AP) 70-61 on Monday night. Robinson had eight blocks against Rutgers on Dec. 11, 2003, a mark Cain tied against Arkansas on Feb. 4.

With the win, Tennessee (25-2, 13-1 Southeastern Conference) grabbed a share of the SEC regular-season title.

Cain, with Summitt's permission, skipped a trip to Alabama on Thursday to focus on a class that she had missed several times because of recent road trips. The Lady Vols barely pulled out a 74-67 win without her.

Midway through the first half against LSU (18-8, 7-7), it looked as if Cain again wouldn't be able to help her teammates much. After scoring six points and blocking two shots, she picked up her second foul with 10:27 before halftime and sat out the rest of the half.

While Cain was on the bench, the Lady Vols scored eight straight points in a three-minute span and grabbed a 32-21 lead with 57 seconds left before halftime. Four of those points came from Cain's fellow post player, Alyssia Brewer, who led Tennessee with 18 points.

LSU's Courtney Jones hit a 3-pointer as the first-half clock expired and Allison Hightower hit a jumper just after the break to cut Tennessee's lead to six points.

That's when the 6-foot-Cain and her 82-inch wingspan went to work on both ends of the court.

"She's a force. It's like their guards ran into a force field and got rejected," Brewer said.

Cain blocked a shot by Jasmine Nelson, and Alicia Manning's defensive rebound helped set up the first of back-to-back 3s by Shekinna Stricklen that gave Tennessee a 43-30 lead with 15:59 left.

Glory Johnson added 12 points for the Lady Vols, and Angie Bjorklund and Stricklen scored 10 each as Tennessee scored 44 points in the paint and committed just seven turnovers.

"They're big, athletic and strong. It was a problem for us, but who doesn't have a problem with a 6-6 player," LSU's Katherine Graham said.

Hightower led the Lady Tigers with 18 points. Graham and LaSondra Barrett both chipped in 13.

LSU threatened once more after a traditional 3-point play by Graham and a free throw by Hightower cut the Lady Vols lead to nine points, but this time Brewer answered. Brewer hit a jump shot in the paint and blocked Jones' next shot.

"Brewer and Cain are just unbelievable," LSU coach Van Chancellor said. "I've never seen two players on the same team that could score, that could get the ball."

LSU, the only team in the nation to beat Tennessee at least once in each of the past five seasons, had entered the game with some momentum off a three-game winning streak in which it recorded blowouts against Florida, Auburn and Vanderbilt.

The Lady Tigers are one of only five SEC teams that have managed to win at least two games in Knoxville, with victories at Thompson-Boling Arena in 2006 and 2008.

During the preseason, the media had picked LSU to win the SEC regular season title with Tennessee finishing second. The loss dropped the Lady Tigers to a three-way tie with Florida and Georgia for fourth in the league.

Meanwhile, Tennessee can win the conference outright with a victory over Kentucky, who will visit the Lady Vols on Thursday.

"They've got a shot," Chancellor said. "They've got a legitimate shot."

Lady Vols Win 74-67, But Summitt Not Pleased

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- This was one win that didn't come close to making Pat Summitt happy.

Tennessee was outrebounded and hard-pressed to put away the Southeastern Conference's last-place team Thursday night before holding on for a 74-67 victory. The performance left the fifth-ranked Lady Vols' coach fuming at her team late in the game and not much calmer afterward.

"I'm very disappointed in the way we came out and played this game," Summitt said. "It was a lack of awareness and defensive intensity. We had no sense of urgency. Rebounding is heart and competitive desire.

"We disrespected the game of basketball tonight."

Or maybe the Lady Vols (24-2, 12-1) just disrespected Alabama (10-16, 2-11), which hasn't beaten them since 1984.

Alyssia Brewer had 20 points and 10 rebounds to help league-leading Tennessee claim its eighth consecutive win, if not in coach-pleasing fashion.

Alabama, which opened with an entirely new starting five, closed to within 54-49 midway through the second half.

Then, Tennessee finally kicked into gear with 10 straight points en route to a 67-51 lead on Alicia Manning's basket with 6:13 left. The Lady Vols missed five straight free throws at that point and made just 11 of 24 attempts from the line to help keep it close.

"We were horrendous from the free-throw line," Summitt said. "They're going to have to invest in that. It wasn't as much what they did, it's what we didn't do. It was just a lack of commitment on defense."

Brewer's one offensive shortcoming in the game: 6-for-12 shooting on free throws.

Shekinna Stricklen had 14 points and Angie Bjorklund added 13 for Tennessee, which forced 24 turnovers.

Tide freshman Celiscia Farmer had a career-high 21 points in her first start on 10-of-15 shooting. She came in averaging just 4.9 points a game but wound up being the team's only double-figure scorer.

Forward Tierney Jenkins was held to two points -- 10 below her season average.

It was the closest meeting between these teams since Tennessee's 67-63 win in 1998. Some of the missteps late in the game left Summitt either glaring at her team, hands on hips, or screaming loud enough at one point that her voice resonated through Coleman Coliseum.

"Are you going to guard anybody?" she yelled at her players as they walked toward the bench for a timeout with the lead shrinking.

Lady Vols center Kelly Cain missed the game, staying in Knoxville because the marketing/logistics major didn't want to miss more classes.

Without her, Tennessee was outrebounded 45-33 after coming into the game leading the league in rebounding margin. Stanford is the only other team to outrebound the Lady Vols this season.

"When we're missing someone, everyone has to step up," Bjorklund said. "Yeah, Cain's a huge inside force and that's hard for us but that's not an excuse. We should have been ready to come and work a lot harder than we did."

Alabama had lost five of its last six games and was coming off a 29-point defeat at Georgia. Tennessee had dominated Florida 83-44 but couldn't put together a similar performance.

Alabama coach Wendell Hudson shook up his lineup with a new starting five because of recent practice effort from his players, and it worked.

"We're going to play the people who play hard," Hudson said. "That was the group that was playing the hardest in practice."

As for his team's performance, he said, "We did not back up. We took the fight to them."

Tennessee finally scored 10 straight points to go up 33-23 late in the first half. But Alabama rallied, then the Lady Vols missed two shots in the final seconds for a 37-31 halftime edge.

They started out shooting just 4 for 13 before warming up.

"We just came out flat," Bjorklund said. "We didn't get off to a good start and let one thing lead to another and it kind of sucked the life out of us. It's just having more of a sense of urgency to start the game.

"If we could put together 40 minutes, everybody coming together, you'd be looking at an entirely different team."

Bjorklund, Cain Lead Lady Vols Past Florida, 83-44

KNOXVILLE -- Up by just six points at halftime against Florida, Tennessee seemed bound for another one of the close calls that have become the norm in Southeastern Conference play.

Coach Pat Summitt preached once again to the fifth-ranked Lady Volunteers about the importance of playing with full effort for 40 minutes.

"I was not happy," Summitt said. "I told them, 'We're not going anywhere in the tournament unless we invest in being a 40-minute team.' There's a reason that we have eight championships. We have to change our level of commitment."

This time, the Lady Vols listened, shooting 64.5 percent and limiting the Gators to 21.2 percent as they beat Florida 83-44 on Sunday.

Nearly half of all SEC games played this season have been decided by single digits, and SEC-leading Tennessee (23-2, 11-1 SEC) has played its part.

The Lady Vols needed a reverse layup by Angie Bjorklund with 2.3 seconds left to pull out a 66-64 win over Florida in Gainesville on Jan. 14. Bjorklund also hit a game-winning 3 in a 61-58 win at Mississippi on Thursday.

Bjorklund still did her part in beating Florida (13-12, 6-6), but this time she helped by scoring 24 points, including six 3-pointers. Kelley Cain added 19 points, Shekinna Stricklen sank 12 and Alicia Manning added 11.

"It feels good," Bjorklund said. "I think once our team got together at halftime and everyone committed to defense and rebounding, that made a huge difference. We need to keep it like that more often and focus on playing a 40-minute game."

The teams traded the lead eight times and tied three times in the first half. Stricklen grabbed the ball from Tessah Holt and hit a layup to cap a 10-0 Tennessee run and give the Lady Vols a 31-21 lead with 2:06 in the first half.

Layups by Trumae Lucas and Jennifer George helped Florida trim the margin, and Tennessee led 34-28 at halftime.

"I thought we showed a lot of fight in the first half," Gators coach Amanda Butler said. "In the second half the fight wasn't there, the intensity wasn't there. The things that you have to do to compete with a team like Tennessee, especially on their home court, weren't there."

The Lady Vols stopped relying so much on their post game after halftime and found some perimeter shooting that had been missing recently, opening the half on a 12-3 run that included 3s by Bjorklund and Manning.

The Gators could only manage 16 points after the break, going long stretches between each basket, and never made it to the free-throw line. Steffi Sorensen led Florida with 12 points.

"This doesn't count, though," Summitt said. "It counts when we have 40 minutes of busting it up-and-down the court, defending and rebounding at both ends."

It was Florida's second blowout in as many games after the Gators 70-30 at home against LSU (No. 23 AP) on Thursday. Their road doesn't get any easier with games left to play against Kentucky (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 17 AP), Georgia (No. 18 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) and Vanderbilt before the end of February.

"After you've had losses like we've had, especially back-to-back, you find out who is tough and who is willing to do the dirty work in games," Sorensen said. "Right now, we have to respond. We can't just roll over and die and accept these losses."

No. 5 Tennessee defeated Mississippi 61-58

OXFORD, Miss. -- Angie Bjorklund is making a habit of beating Mississippi in the final second.

Bjorklund hit a 3-pointer with 1 second remaining as No. 5 Tennessee defeated Mississippi 61-58 Thursday night. It was the second consecutive game Bjorklund hit a game-winning 3 against the Lady Rebels.

Last season, Bjorklund hit a buzzer-beating shot from the corner for the 60-59 win over Ole Miss at home. This time, Bjorklund got free after stepping back from the right wing and nailed the jumper.

"We've got a couple of options on that play but I'm probably Plan B," Bjorklund said. "If we can roll Shekinna (Stricklen) free, it's her shot, but she wasn't open and I made the cut and was open, so it's my shot."

Tennessee (22-2, 10-1 Southeastern Conference) remained on top of the league standings with a one-game lead over Kentucky. Ole Miss (15-9, 6-5) lost for the fourth time in five games and is in a three-way tie for third place.

Stricklen led the Lady Vols with 13 points, while Alyssia Brewer and Bjorklund had 12 apiece. Bjorklund made four baskets, all 3s.

"She's been really big for us," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "This was a very hard-fought game and you have to be happy when you find a way to win."

The decisive margin was inside as the Lady Vols dominated the boards, 47-24, including a game-high 16 from Kelley Cain. Ole Miss compensated by forcing 16 turnovers and hitting 10 3s.

Elizabeth Robertson and Bianca Thomas had 18 points apiece for the Lady Rebels. Thomas, the SEC's leading scorer, pulled Ole Miss into a 58-58 tie with 15 seconds left on a driving layup, setting up Bjorklund for the decisive shot.

"We knew exactly who was going to take that shot," Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner said. "Angie does a good job at making big shots for Tennessee. It's very disheartening because our players fought so valiantly."

The Lady Rebels led 30-25 at halftime and 54-40 with 5 minutes remaining. Ole Miss managed only two baskets the rest of the way and Tennessee's inside dominance set up the successful rally.

"Honestly, we're fortunate to get out of here with the win," Summitt said.

No. 5 Tennessee downs Vanderbilt 69-60

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coaching is never easy in Memorial Gym, not with the benches on the end lines. Pat Summitt couldn’t be happier at how her Tennessee Lady Vols responded Monday night.

Kelley Cain scored a career-high 19 points, and fifth-ranked Tennessee rallied and beat Vanderbilt 69-60 for the Lady Vols’ fifth straight victory.

Summitt said her Lady Vols (21-2, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) easily could have lost a second straight visit to Memorial Gym, something they’ve never done in consecutive seasons and not since 1985 and 1987 when the teams played only once a season. She was telling them not to lose this game when she noticed something.

“Right then, they started talking about what they needed to do. It wasn’t the coaches,” Summitt said. “It was the players. When they take the ownership, you’ll have better execution. Because it’s coming from them, and they want it.”

Angie Bjorklund credited Cain’s play and Shekinna Stricklen for speaking up.

“Once a teammate says we need to pick it up, it builds a lot more energy. It’s different coming from a teammate,” Bjorklund said.

The Lady Vols used their superior size to pound the Commodores inside and beat their instate rival for the 22nd time on their own floor after losing here 74-57 last season—just the seventh loss by Tennessee in this series.

“It’s a new year,” Cain said, who also had five blocked shots. “It’s not like we’re dwelling on last year. We’re concentrating on this year. We hate to lose to anybody, but we also learned you don’t lose to Vanderbilt.”

Vanderbilt (17-7, 6-5) saw its three-game winning streak end.

Bjorklund, Alyssia Brewer and Glory Johnson all finished with 10 points for Tennessee.

Merideth Marsh led Vanderbilt with 19 points. Jence Rhoads added 15, and Lauren Lueders 12.

Tennessee beat Vanderbilt 64-57 in Knoxville on Jan. 17, a game in which the Lady Vols managed only a one-rebound difference on the boards. On a snowy night in Nashville where about half the 6,005 fans wore orange, the Lady Vols took much better advantage of having 10 players 6-foot or taller compared to Vandy’s five such 6-footers and dominated 41-30.

“We let Bjorklund get open for two wide-open 3s down the stretch, you’re going to lose,” said Melanie Balcomb, who’s now 2-16 all-time against Tennessee. “You give away rebound after rebound … After they outrebounded us over and over, it was kind of like our sails went, ssssshh, down.”

In a meeting of the SEC’s top shooting teams, Tennessee also finished with a big edge there as well (44.6 percent to 37 percent) to overcome Vanderbilt’s 7-of-16 shooting from 3-point range.

“We have a confidence in ourselves this year,” Cain said. “If we get down, we have to take it one play at a time to get back in. … Leesy (Brewer) might be 2 inches shorter than I am, and we’re kind of built the same so it has to be a nightmare for people to guard two people 6-4.”

The score was tied six times in the first half, including at 28 at halftime.

Lueders hit a 3 from the right corner to open the second half and keep Vanderbilt ahead. The teams put on a sluggish and physical display, especially when Stricklen got a technical foul for giving a hip check to Jessica Mooney as the Vanderbilt guard came up to her as the Lady Vols tried to inbound the ball with 14:20 left.

Summitt said she’d never seen that called as a technical in her 36 seasons.

The Commodores led 47-40 when Rhoads scored on a layup, then Tiffany Clarke hit two free throws with 8:41 remaining.

Then Bjorklund, the SEC’s top 3-point shooter, finally got going.

She hit her first 3 with 8:27 left. Cain hit two free throws, then Alicia Manning scored on a layup, Bjorklund hit another long jumper. Cain blocked a shot, Manning got the rebound and then finished off the fast-break with a layup to give Tennessee the lead for good at 52-51 with 5:36 left—the Lady Vols’ first since 14-12.

Cain next stole the ball from Hannah Tuomi, and Manning had another layup. Vanderbilt stayed close, but Glory Johnson, who played only five minutes of the first half with two personal fouls, scored on a layup for her first field goal of the game. She also hit a jumper on the Lady Vols’ next trip down the court.

From there, the Lady Vols just put away the victory.

“I think we kind of gave it to them,” said Rhoads, who missed the game in Knoxville with a broken hand. “Bjorklund made some big shots at the end, but it’s mostly what we didn’t do and gave them the game.”

No. 5 Tennessee beats Arkansas 74-57

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Kelley Cain positioned herself on one post while Alyssia Brewer took the other one. Arkansas could handle one at times, rarely both.

Cain scored 14 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked eight shots, Brewer scored 20 and pulled in nine rebounds and No. 5 Tennessee beat Arkansas 74-57 on Thursday night.

“One of them shoots it on one block, the other one rebounds it on the other block,” Razorbacks coach Tom Collen said. “They’re a nightmare to defend.”

With eight games left in the regular season, Tennessee got its 20th win—a feat that took the Lady Vols (20-2, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) until the final game of the season a year ago. It’s the 34th consecutive season they’ve gotten at least 20 wins under coach Pat Summitt.

And even though the win kept Tennessee on top of the SEC and gave the Lady Vols their 21st win over Arkansas in 22 tries, Summitt still wasn’t completely pleased.

Sloppy screens and shots by the guards kept the Lady Vols from getting off to a fast start against one of the SEC’s worst teams.

The Razorbacks (9-13, 1-8) read the screens and had an easy time predicting the Lady Vols’ passes, making it easy for them to snatch the ball. C’eira Ricketts had five of Arkansas’s 11 steals which helped lead to 10 fastbreak points.

“The guards were trying to do too much,” Summitt said. “I said, ‘Get the ball inside. We’re going to play from the inside, out.’ That really changed how we played.”

Brewer and Cain both hit layups as Tennessee scored seven straight points to pull away from Arkansas in the first half. Glory Johnson missed her first free throw attempt but sank the second to give the Lady Vols an 18-10 lead with 9:12 left in the first half.

Tennessee finished with 40 points in the paint.

“We always emphasize getting the ball inside because we have two of the best posts in the country,” Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund said. “They work really well together. I thought they both really battled inside, and I was proud of them. I hope they continue to play like that.”

The Lady Vols led 31-23 at halftime but could have been much more in control had they not missed six of 10 free throw attempts before the break.

Tennessee entered the game averaging an uncharacteristically low 63.6 percent on free throws in SEC play and hit just 54.5 percent against the Razorbacks.

The Lady Vols pulled away in the second half thanks to some help from Bjorklund, who scored all of her 17 points after halftime, including seven straight points. Shekinna Stricklen finished with 12 points.

They couldn’t completely shake the Razorbacks, who continued to threaten with their outside shooting.

Charity Ford led the way with 18 points and Ricketts added 13. Lyndsay Harris scored four of Arkansas’ nine 3s and finished with 12 points.

“We can’t beat teams that way,” Ford said. “We have to be able to get it inside.”

Summitt put Kamiko Williams at the point guard position in her first-ever start for the Lady Vols in hopes of curing some of her team’s offensive woes. Williams was coming off a career-high 17 points in a sloppy win over South Carolina.

It didn’t work quite as Summitt had hoped. Williams was responsible for two early turnovers, and Summitt pulled her at the first media timeout, opting instead for what she called “point guard by committee.”

“I thought (Williams would) be a lot better, but this is her first start at that position so we’ve got time,” Summitt said.

No. 5 Tennessee gets scare, beats SCarolina 60-55

COLUMBIA, S.C. — After the 40 minutes of sloppy basketball and the media interviews, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt could finally smile when she started signing autographs.

Before that, it was scowls and icy stares as No. 5 Tennessee stumbled its way to a 60-55 win over South Carolina on Sunday, its 38th straight win over the Gamecocks.

The Lady Vols (19-1, 7-1 SEC) fell behind 13-0 and never led until 7:53 was left in the game. Their three best scorers—Angie Bjorklund, Glory Johnson and Shekinna Stricklen—combined for just 19 points, 22 below their combined average this season.

“This team has to make up its mind if it’s going to be a 40-minute team all the time,” said Summitt, whose team finally kicked in during the last five minutes of the game.

The Lady Vols trailed 54-52 before Kelley Cain got consecutive lay-ups to take a two-point lead with 1:57 to go.

The (11-10, 4-5) Gamecocks had their chances down the stretch. La’Keisha Sutton missed two free throws with 1:20 to go that could have tied it, and South Carolina would miss its final six shots and turn the ball over twice in the final four minutes, squandering the team’s best chance to beat the Lady Vols in 30 years.

“We don’t want to live on the edge like this,” Summitt said.

Freshman Kamiko Williams led SEC-leading Tennessee with a career-high 17 points. Alyssia Brewer added 13 and Cain had 10.

After watching her perimeter game struggle for the first 30 minutes, Summitt decided to go to the paint. Brewer’s short jumper gave the Lady Vols their first lead at 47-46, and Brewer would give Tennessee the lead again on a short jumper with 5:12 to go. Cain’s two lay-ups put her team up for good.

It looked like Colonial Life Arena would see its second epic upset in five days for much of Sunday. Tennessee has won every game over South Carolina since January 1980—the last 17 wins have been by at least 12 points. But the Gamecocks have already doubled their SEC win total from last year, and coach Dawn Staley insisted they had the talent to beat the Lady Vols.

The Gamecocks showed their confidence from the start. Sutton buried two open 3-pointers and Valerie Nainima added a 3 of her own as the Gamecocks stormed out to a 13-0 lead.

The Lady Vols then cranked up the defense, though, and the Gamecocks scored just five points in the final 10 minutes of the half to hold on to a 26-25 lead at halftime.

The game went back and forth for most of the second half, but South Carolina couldn’t get the big play at the end. Down by three, the Gamecocks threw away an inbound pass with 21.8 seconds to go. They made 7 of 16 3-pointers, but Nainima missed two 3s late that could have cut the deficit to two.

“We have a lot of young players who have never been in that position,” Staley said. “And sometimes when you can win a game like this, you start thinking instead of just reacting.”

Sutton led South Carolina with 19 points, while Nainima scored 16 and Kelsey Bone added 11.

Staley isn’t accustomed to losing to anyone. She turned Temple into a winner in her eight years at the school, and already has led the Gamecocks to one more win than last season’s 10-18 squad. She reminded her team of its 37-game losing streak against Tennessee during practice before the game, telling them that’s the kind of win that can reverse a program’s fortunes.

South Carolina has just two winning SEC seasons since joining the league in 1991.

“We were hoping to change that,” Sutton said. “We’ll probably see them on down the road in the SEC tournament.”

Summitt waited until she called her first time-out with her team down 10-0 to remind them of their dominance over South Carolina, Williams said, staring down her team and saying, “We don’t want to be the team who loses to them.”

And for the 38th time, she was right.

No. 5 Tennessee defeats Auburn 85-56

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A huge grin spread across Shekinna Stricklen’s face as soon as her third 3-point basket of the night swished cleanly though the net.

Fifth-ranked Tennessee already had enough points to beat Auburn, but the shot meant something else. The Lady Volunteer guards were back from a long slump.

“Aw, man it felt so good,” Stricklen said after Tennessee beat Auburn 85-56 Thursday night. “When we hit shots, we were all just smiling. We felt like the guards haven’t had a good game like this in a long time.”

Angie Bjorklund led the way with 20 points for Tennessee and Stricklen finished with 17. The Lady Vols’ posts contributed to the offensive outpouring, too, with Glory Johnson scoring 15 and grabbing 13 rebounds, and Alyssia Brewer adding 11 points.

Tennessee (18-2, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) entered the game averaging 75 points overall but only 64.8 points in league play.

Bjorklund entered the game leading the team with 14.8 points per contest, but her production was down to an average 8.8 points in the past four games. Stricklen’s had dropped to 7.3 per game from her season average of 12.7 in the past three games.

Coach Pat Summitt said it’s still a learning process with the young team, her first without a single senior.

“Our perimeter game is getting better,” Summitt said. “If you look at the stats, they see that they need to get in the gym. Otherwise, don’t expect minutes. Everyone has to be invested. I think they got the message.”

A 3-pointer by the Bjorklund capped a 14-2 run that gave Tennessee a 22-14 lead with 11:05 in the first half, and the Lady Vols did not trail again. Bjorklund hit 6 of 12 from behind the arc.

Even Johnson, known more for driving the paint and working the backboards, contributed from outside, getting her first career 3-pointer on a desperation shot with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. She scrambled for a loose ball and shoveled it into the air while falling backward.

“It was lucky. No skill involved,” Summitt said, rolling her eyes.

The Tigers (11-10, 2-6) are even younger than the Lady Vols, returning just one starter from the team that last season got an unprecedented back-to-back wins over Tennessee.

The lone returning player, Alli Smalley, was the only Tigers player that didn’t appear to struggle, and she led the team with 21 points.

“We know we are young,” Smalley said. “We know that each night in the SEC is going to be a tough game because every team in the SEC is good. It was certainly tough to get off shots against the Tennessee defense, especially with them switching out on everything.”

Despite being bested by Tennessee in nearly every statistical category, Auburn still got off to the better start. The Tigers hit the first five points of the game and grabbed a 12-8 lead before the Lady Vols launched their scoring run.

Auburn’s main threat in the paint, KeKe Carrier, helped disrupt the Lady Vols early despite being hampered by a hamstring injury suffered a week ago. Carrier didn’t last long, quickly committing two fouls and spending much of the first half on the bench.

“You just keep working hard,” Auburn coach Nell Fortner said. “They have to not lose their belief in what we’re doing and just continue to compete. I thought our effort was good tonight. I thought we worked hard tonight. We just didn’t have enough.”

No. 3 Vols rebound with 55-43 win at No. 18 LSU

BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 3 Tennessee’s offense struggled in its 55-43 victory over No. 18 LSU on Sunday night, but coach Pat Summitt was still pleased—with a tough zone defense.

“I thought our coverage out of the zone was really good,” Summitt said. “We extended it. We were aggressive, we got after it. Obviously we wanted to make sure we were not just giving them good open looks or a lot of chances to get in the paint.”

The Lady Volunteers, who scored about 20 points below their average, held LSU to 26 percent shooting from the field.

Alyssia Brewer made the most of her third Southeastern Conference start, scoring 14 points and grabbing seven rebounds for Tennessee. Kelly Cain added 11 points and Angie Bjorklund had 10 for the Lady Vols (17-2, 5-1).

Allison Hightower led LSU (14-4, 3-3) with 17 points and LaSondra Barrett had 12. Jasmine Nelson had 10 rebounds for the Tigers.

LSU scored only 5 points in the first three minutes of the game.

“I think during those plays we had a lot of breakdowns,” said Hightower. “We fouled the shooter and put them on the line. They got a few easy looks in the post. I guess we had a lot of breakdowns at key moments in the game— blocking out and rebounding.”

Tennessee, playing its second straight road game, led by as much as seven in the first half and took a 24-22 lead at the break.

LSU took its only lead of the game with 12:18 remaining in the second half, going up 35-32 before the Vols answered with an 18-2 run to put the Lady Tigers away.

The much bigger Lady Vols gave LSU problems under the basket, holding the Tigers to only 12 points in the paint. Tennessee outrebounded LSU 39-32.

LSU retired former player Seimone Augustus’ jersey before the game. Augustus, a two-time national player of the year, led the Tigers to their first Final Four as a sophomore and ranks in LSU’s top 10 in every major category. Augustus is the first female athlete at LSU to have her jersey retired. It now hangs beside those of Pete Maravich, Shaquille O’Neal, and Bob Petit.

The rivalry game, normally a big draw, played second fiddle to the New Orleans Saints taking on the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC championship game, which kicked off at the Superdome shortly after the tip in Baton Rouge.

No. 8 Georgia knocks off No. 3 Lady Vols

ATHENS, Ga. (AP)— Even with Georgia ranked in the top 10, there were still lingering doubts about whether the Lady Bulldogs truly belonged among the nation’s elite.

The skeptics got their answer Thursday night.

Pulling off one of its biggest victories in years, No. 8 Georgia won a down-and-dirty scrap with the school that all others in the Southeastern Conference measure themselves by. Porsha Phillips scored the go-ahead basket off a pass from Ashley Houts with 39 seconds remaining, then added two free throws that clinched a 53-50 upset of third-ranked Tennessee.

“The thing I’m most proud of is where our team has come from,” said Houts, one of three Georgia starters who played the entire 40 minutes. “This year, we focused on the word change. We focused on getting prepared for where we need to be. We wanted to be a team that could compete with the best teams out there. I think we’ve shown the potential to do that.”

Houts led the Lady Bulldogs (18-1, 5-1) with 12 points and Phillips had 10, but this bruising game was decided at the defensive end. Georgia shot just 36 percent from the field—including a 3-of-19 start to the second half—and was outrebounded 37-23.

The home team made up for its shortcomings when the Lady Volunteers (16-2, 4-1) had it. The Lady Dogs hustled back every time, swatted at the ball every chance they got and wound up forcing Tennessee into a staggering 23 turnovers.

“You’ve not going to get a selfish player to play defense,” Georgia coach Andy Landers said. “So the greatest compliment you can pay our team is this is a very, very unselfish group of kids. We don’t put anybody on the floor who doesn’t just play her tail off on the defensive end.”

The Lady Dogs didn’t put many players on the floor—period. Houts, Jasmine James and Meredith Mitchell played the entire game. Angel Robinson was on the court for all but three minutes, while Phillips went to the bench for a mere four minutes. Only two other players even checked in for Georgia.

Aware of just how fatigued his players were, Landers screamed at the manager to make sure everyone had enough water for the final 18 seconds. Feisty to the end, Georgia never gave the Lady Vols a good look at a potentially tying 3-pointer, finally forcing Shekinna Stricklen to heave up a jumper from far beyond the arc. It never had a chance.

Asked how the manager reacted to his tongue-lashing, Landers quipped, “I think I hurt her feelings. I’ll take her to IHOP later to make her feel better.”

Alyssia Brewer converted a three-point play that put the Lady Vols ahead with 1:07 left, but Phillips scored the final four points to give Georgia a validating victory.

The Lady Dogs haven’t made the Final Four since 1999 and last made it to a regional final in 2004. A year ago, they were knocked out in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“This is Georgia’s tradition,” Landers said. “This is why I hope these players chose to come here.”

Georgia snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Lady Vols, posting its first victory in the series since the 2004 SEC tournament. The Lady Dogs had not beaten Tennessee in Athens in a decade—a 78-51 victory on Jan. 17, 2000.

Glory Johnson scored 14 points for Tennessee, but the Lady Vols took a huge blow when Kelley Cain fouled out with 4:13 left. She picked up her fourth foul, complained about the call and drew a technical that sent her to the sideline for the rest of the night.

“I think the official misunderstood what came out of her mouth,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “But that was costly. She shouldn’t have said anything.”

Summitt was more disappointed by the play of her guards, Stricklen and Angie Bjorklund. They combined for just 14 points on 6-of-21 shooting, while committing 13 of the turnovers.

“That’s guard play. Georgia’s guard play was better than ours,” the coach said. “It’s hard to win when you’ve got two players playing pretty much by themselves and they’re not making shots.”

Georgia managed only seven points over the first 15 minutes of the second half, and Tennessee pulled away to a four-point lead that matched the biggest margin for either team.

Then, a stunning sequence sent the Lady Dogs into the lead. Houts swished a 3-pointer from the top of the key. At the other end, the senior guard knocked the ball away, broke out ahead of the pack and received a return pass from James for a layup that suddenly put Georgia ahead, 42-41.

After Cain put Tennessee back in front with a short hook off the baseline, the 6-foot-6 sophomore—a native of nearby Atlanta—let her temper get the best of her. She was whistled for a foul on Mitchell as the Georgia player drove the lane and mouthed off to an official, who tacked on the T.

Cane was done.

As few minutes later, so was Tennessee.

No. 4 Tennessee hangs on to beat Vanderbilt 64-57

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has had it with her Lady Volunteers waiting until the last minute to seal their wins.

After squeaking by Florida on Thursday, the fourth-ranked Lady Vols needed a few late shots and defensive stops to get by Vanderbilt 64-57 on Sunday night.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased we found a way to win, but our coaching staff doesn’t want to be living on the edge the rest of this season,” she said. “We want to separate ourselves from the rest of the pack.”

It’s a dangerous way to live in a Southeastern Conference that appears to have some parity this season. Vanderbilt was looking for its second straight upset of a top 10 team after beating sixth-ranked Georgia handily in Nashville on Thursday.

Despite having an obvious size advantage, Tennessee (16-1, 4-0) struggled to stop the Commodores’ outside shooting as Vanderbilt (13-5, 2-3) hit 10 of 19 from 3-point range.

“Every one of them can shoot lights out, so if you give them room they’re going to hit it,” Tennessee’s Angie Bjorklund said.

Elan Brown hit a shallow jump shot with 1:41 left to cut Tennessee’s lead to 57-55. Glory Johnson, who led the Lady Vols with 17 points, answered by driving through the lane and hitting her own jumper.

The Lady Vols, who hit an uncharacteristically low 57.7 percent of their free throws, sank five of their last six to seal the win.

They made the mistake of leaving Merideth Marsh wide open on the perimeter. Marsh, who is filling in for an injured Jence Rhoads at point guard, led Vanderbilt with 23 points and hit five 3s. Brown added 10.

“(Marsh) is a senior. She’s our rock right now,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. “She’s doing everything she can. She’s a leader. She’s making shots. She doesn’t want to lose.”

Tennessee used a 14-0 run to take a commanding lead early in the first half. Alyssia Brewer grabbed a rebound and hit a layup to put the Lady Vols up 27-7 with 8:05 in the first half.

Vanderbilt, which has never won in Knoxville in 25 tries, immediately answered with an 11-0 run that included three consecutive 3-point shots. Another 3 by Brown cut Tennessee’s lead to 33-29 with 1:48 before halftime.

But while Marsh hardly missed a shot, she struggled to control the ball in her unfamiliar role at the point. The Commodores committed 27 turnovers—nine by Marsh—leading to 28 Tennessee points.

The Lady Vols used their height advantage inside to score, despite facing a physical Commodores defense. Kelley Cain helped Johnson out in the paint with 14 points, and Shekinna Stricklen added 10.

Vanderbilt struggled down the stretch with a bench that’s short because of injuries and includes three freshmen.

“We didn’t execute on offense the way we needed to down the stretch,” Balcomb said. “We’re trying to put those freshmen in a position where they don’t have to make decisions late. For us to not be able to execute down the stretch was kind of expected.”

Bjorklund comes alive, helps No. 4 Vols win 66-64

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Angie Bjorklund’s reverse layup with 2.3 seconds remaining lifted No. 4 Tennessee to a 66-64 victory over Florida on Thursday night.

Bjorklund missed her first seven shots and was scoreless until she hit a huge 3-pointer with about 9 minutes to play. She added another one a few possessions later, cutting into an eight-point lead and sparking a comeback.

Bjorklund’s late surge helped the Lady Vols (15-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) win despite one its worst games of the season. Tennessee had a season-high 25 turnovers, just three steals and no blocked shots.

Florida (9-8, 2-2) had a final chance, but Lonnika Thompson’s 3-pointer clanged off the rim. Steffi Sorensen led the Gators with 12 points, all from behind the arc.

Kelley Cain, who dominated the post early and late, led the Lady Vols with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

No. 4 Tennessee gets 79-62 win over South Carolina

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Icy roads kept about 9,000 of Tennessee’s usual fans away.

Coach Pat Summitt’s cold stare kept the Lady Volunteers motivated after a slippery start.

Angie Bjorklund scored 23 points and Shekinna Stricklen added 21 to help No. 4 Tennessee open the SEC schedule with a 79-62 win over South Carolina on Thursday night.

“Coach Summitt’s look stirs a fire in us,” center Kelley Cain said. “We just came together and decided that they weren’t going to beat us in our house, especially not when we had fans come out despite the bad weather.”

The 1,462 fans who did brave the roads got to see the Lady Vols’ 37th consecutive win over South Carolina, their longest streak over any Southeastern Conference team. The Gamecocks last won on Jan. 23, 1980.

The small crowd in the cavernous Thompson-Boling Arena couldn’t stir up much energy as South Carolina jumped out to a 19-14 lead. The Gamecocks were physical on defense and accurate on offense early, prompting the Summitt glare.

“We have to start the game at a different level of intensity and with a better commitment on the defensive end,” Summitt said. “Everyone that we have played is coming in and just running. When you have players shooting the ball like Shekinna and Angie are, sometimes the other players stand around and watch.”

Tennessee answered by holding the Gamecocks without a field goal for 5:33 and going on a 17-1 run helped by three 3-point shots by Angie Bjorklund. A long jumper by Bjorklund sent the Lady Vols (13-1, 1-0) into halftime with a 47-33 lead.

The Gamecocks (7-7, 0-2) narrowed their deficit to seven points in the second half, but another 3 by Bjorklund launched a 13-1 run to help the Lady Vols pull away as South Carolina ran out of energy.

Valerie Nainima led South Carolina with 16 points. Charenee Stephens had 10 rebounds.

South Carolina, which opened its SEC season Sunday with a loss to No. 11 LSU, struggled to get shots past the Lady Vols defenders, who combined for 11 blocks.

Kelsey Bone, who as a top incoming freshman was heavily recruited by Summitt but signed with the Gamecocks instead, likes that kind of physicality in the paint. Bone, who entered the game averaging 10.2 rebounds, grabbed only five boards but still scored 10 points.

“The SEC is known for its physicality,” Bone said. “It’s expected. It’s just a matter of me being able to handle the physical nature.”

South Carolina has had success with its transition defense this season, but it was Tennessee who prevailed. The Lady Vols scored 18 points off 13 South Carolina turnovers, while the Gamecocks scored only six points off eight Tennessee turnovers.

South Carolina is now 1-5 against ranked teams this season having beaten only San Diego State.

Coach Dawn Staley knows her players have the talent to put an end to Tennessee’s streak but need a little more experience. They’ll have another shot at the Lady Vols in Columbia on Jan. 31.

“When we add some experience to the talent we have, we will start making these games a lot closer than what they are,” Staley said.

Stricklen helps Tennessee beat Oklahoma 96-75

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Pat Summitt didn’t like what she saw with Shekinna Stricklen’s play early against Oklahoma, so she benched her for a few minutes.

“When she took me out she told me I wasn’t playing like a point guard and that I needed to step my game up to another level,” Stricklen said. “I just said, ‘Yes ma’am, and I responded.”’

She responded by posting the second triple-double in Tennessee history, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists in the fourth-ranked Lady Vols’ 96-75 victory over No. 14 Oklahoma on Sunday night.

Stricklen said she noticed she was close to a triple-double at halftime when her line was nine points, seven rebounds and seven assists. She completed it with her 10th rebound with 8:58 left.

The only other Lady Vol to accomplish the feat was Shelia Collins, who had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals against Florida State on Feb. 8, 1985.

“I think she was sleeping,” Summitt said about Stricklen’s play early. “She just wasn’t attacking. Sometimes players just need a reminder.”

Angie Bjorklund led Tennessee with 25 points, hitting 5 of 8 3-point attempts. Alyssia Brewer added 13 points, and Kelley Cain had 10.

Tennessee (12-1) led 47-43 early in the second half, then slowly pulled away, helped by two early 3s by Bjorklund. Stricklen hit a layup with 11:18 left to give the Lady Vols a 10-point advantage at 64-54 lead. The Sooners (10-3) would not get any closer.

Amanda Thompson led Oklahoma with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Nyeshia Stevenson had 17 points, Carlee Roethlisberger added 14, and Danielle Robinson had 10.

Oklahoma jumped out to a 14-4 lead early in the first half, helped by a pair of 3s from Roethlisberger and Stevenson. Tennessee went inside to keep up and grabbed a 27-22 lead with 8:50 left in the first half after a 13-2 run.

“It was a great game for women’s basketball,” Sooners coach Sherri Coale said. “Shots were going in on both ends, and it was pretty clean. Great effort, great athleticism, up-and-down the floor.”

Coale kept her rotation short, substituting her seventh and last player with only 1:23 left in the game. The Lady Vols played 10, wearing the Sooners out in the fast-paced, physical game.

It showed on the boards, where Tennessee pulled down 48 rebounds compared to Oklahoma’s 31. The Lady Vols put up 21 second-chance points and finished with 44 points in the paint.

“Once we settled down, especially after halftime, we played with a lot more composure,” Summitt said.

The Lady Vols, who now hold a 4-1 lead in the series that dates to 2002, got revenge for an 80-70 loss to the Sooners last season. The loss denied coach Pat Summitt in her first attempt at her 1,000th win.

“They’re older and wiser,” Coale said. “They are more experienced. Last year they were so young, I don’t think they had an identity. Now I think they know who they are and how they have to win.”

The Sooners have played well this season considering the graduation of post powerhouses Courtney and Ashley Paris and the loss of shooter Whitney Hand, who tore a knee ligament in November. Still, the 2009 Final Four team has lost all three of its games this season against ranked opponents.

Stevenson said the Sooners are trying to not let the absence of the Paris twins and Hand hold the rest of the team back.

“Basically we made a pledge and honor to each other that we were going to give a little bit more. We had great post players leave, and we’re trying to make up for that. As far as the guards go, it’s just a matter of everybody giving a little piece of what Whitney did.”

Tennessee beats longtime foe Old Dominion 102-62

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Already leading Tennessee in scoring, Angie Bjorklund still heeded coach Pat Summitt’s suggestion that the Lady Vols spend some extra time in the gym shooting this week.

It certainly didn’t hurt. Bjorklund, who entered the game averaging 14.9 points, scored all but three of her 19 points in the first half as No. 4 Tennessee beat Old Dominion 102-62 on Wednesday night.

“If you said what player you think has worked the hardest to get where they are right now it’s Angie Bjorklund,” Summitt said. “I think other players are recognizing what she can do on the floor.”

Bjorklund, who scored a career-high 29 points a season ago at Old Dominion, hit an early 3, a fastbreak layup and a fadeaway jumper as the Lady Vols (11-1) scored the first 11 points of the game. She hit one final 3-pointer for the first basket of the second half, earning some rest time for much of the second half.

With 70.3 percent shooting, Tennessee led 57-31 at halftime. Old Dominion (2-8) hit just 33.3 percent of its first-half shots.

“I asked Pat for the fire extinguisher at halftime,” Lady Monarchs coach Wendy Larry joked. “I think Angie Bjorklund has distinguished herself as one of the best there is. She certainly put on a clinic in the 20 minutes she played.”

As the Lady Vols’ veteran, Bjorklund’s hard work has also lit a fire beneath many of her teammates, Summitt said. All players put in some extra time in the gym after shooting just 32.8 percent in a 67-52 loss at No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 19.

Glory Johnson recorded her eighth career double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for Tennessee. Alyssia Brewer scored 16 points, and Briana Bass and Kamiko Williams both added 11.

“Just an extra 200 to 300 shots before or after practice really helps,” Bjorklund said. “It helps mentally too.”

Jasmine Parker led the Lady Monarchs with 13, and Tia Lewis scored 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Shadasia Green added 12 points.

Tennessee got a scare when two-time Southeastern Conference player of the week Shekinna Stricklen awkwardly landed on the floor after grabbing a rebound and left the court clutching her right knee. Initial tests showed her injury was not serious and she will be day-to-day as the Lady Vols prepare to face No. 14 Oklahoma on Sunday.

It was the 43rd meeting between the traditional women’s basketball powerhouses, but the Lady Vols have won 14 straight and hold a 34-9 lead over the Lady Monarchs dating back to 1977.

Old Dominion has had a tough nonconference road, facing teams such as Stanford, Maryland, North Carolina State, Syracuse and Louisville before making the trip to Knoxville.

The Lady Monarchs open Colonial Athletic Association play Sunday at Delaware and they hope that the especially tough schedule helps them cruise to an 18th conference championship in 19 seasons.

“I haven’t played in the CAA, I’ve only watched it. From what I’ve seen it’s aggressive but not as aggressive as the teams we’ve played,” Lewis said.

Summitt, in her 36th season and Larry, in her 26th season, have developed a strong friendship over their history of playing each other. Larry attended a celebration in Knoxville in May honoring Summitt and her 1,000 career wins wearing an orange blouse and carrying and orange purse.

“Took them back,” Larry said. “I left the tags on.”

No. 4 Tennessee bounces back from loss to rout USF

SAN FRANCISCO — Pat Summitt sat down with each of her players in recent days, trying to gauge who is invested in doing the extra work to maintain Tennessee’s status as a top program.

Her challenge to Angie Bjorklund sure worked.

Bjorklund scored 19 points in 17 minutes and moved into third place on Tennessee’s all-time 3-pointers list with 165, and the fourth-ranked Lady Vols bounced back from a tough loss with an 89-34 victory over San Francisco on Tuesday night.

“The team did the work. They can critique themselves,” Summitt said. “It showed me that they’re taking ownership. As coaches, when that happens, it’s amazing what a team can do.”

Kamiko Williams had a breakout game with 14 points, eight rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks for the Lady Vols (10-1), who stayed in the Bay Area after a 67-52 loss to No. 2 Stanford on Saturday at Maples Pavilion. Glory Johnson added 13 points and nine rebounds for Tennessee, down one spot in this week’s poll.

“I thought we did really well and responded to the loss,” Bjorklund said. “I think the game was very important to see where we’re at. We took two days to say, ‘Hey, this is where I need to improve,’ and we had an opportunity two days later to go back and apply that.”

For the first time in 10 years visiting the area, Tennessee had time to do some sightseeing, such as visiting the Golden Gate Bridge and Fisherman’s Wharf — not to mention shopping downtown.

“Oh, I love this city, so much fun,” Bjorklund said.

San Francisco (4-10), of the mid-major West Coast Conference, is coached by Lady Vols Hall of Famer Tanya Haave and Summitt always works to schedule games against her former players who have become head coaches. Haave was a three-year starter for Tennessee from 1980-84 and reached three Final Fours during her time in Knoxville.

Dons assistant Abby Conklin also played at Tennessee, where she was a four-year letterwinner and helped lead the Lady Vols to back-to-back NCAA titles in 1996 and ’97.

Rheina Ale scored 11 points to lead USF. Tennessee forced 10 first-half turnovers and 18 in all and outrebounded the Dons 52-32 in front of a crowd of 3,255 at Memorial Gym.

“It was an exciting atmosphere tonight. We’ve never had that 3,200 in our gym,” Haave said. “Tennessee’s size, skill and athleticism was too much for us. No question, you’ve got the eight-time national champion, all that they are and all that they have been, there’s going to be some intimidation.”

Bjorklund’s 3 at the 11:56 mark of the first half started a 26-6 run that gave Tennessee a comfortable 48-17 lead at the break. USF matched its lowest halftime score of the season, shooting 24.1 percent and going 3 for 13 from long range.

Bjorklund, a junior, went 7-for-10 with four 3-pointers and also had four assists and two steals. She came into the game tied with Brittany Jackson with 161 3s. Shanna Zolman’s 266 career 3-pointers are the most in program history, followed by 256 from Kara Lawson.

Tennessee had only four assists in the loss to Stanford—a number Summitt believes is a record low for the program—but finished with 17 on Tuesday, already doubling its Saturday total late in the first half. The Lady Vols scored only 18 points in the first half Saturday to match their sixth-lowest halftime total.

Summitt wasn’t about to stand for another slow start. She quickly called timeout after her team fell behind 4-2 and let her players have it.

“I got a pit in my stomach when I saw they lost,” Haave said. “You don’t want to play them after they lose. She knows exactly what to do after a loss and she hates to lose with a passion.”

USF, which lost for the seventh time in its last eight games, hosted a top-five team on the Hilltop for only the third time in school history. The Dons are 2-5 at home against ranked teams since 1995.

Tennessee took last season’s meeting in Knoxville 68-39, the only other matchup in the series.

USF appreciates getting to face such a quality opponent.

“I think it’s good for us,” Ale said. “We need to play against better teams to get better ourselves. I like our schedule. I like playing against big teams.”