NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt can joke about freshman Candace Parker's height. But there's nothing funny about it to the Georgia Lady Bulldogs.

"I don't know if Candace is 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 or 6-5," Summitt said with a smile. "Anyway, she can see over the defense."

Her sight line was crucial in UT's 89-79 victory over Georgia in the SEC tournament semifinals at Alltel Arena on Saturday night.

Parker, who looks to be 6-foot-5 but is listed as 6-3, repeatedly used her height to see over Georgia's pressure defense.

"I thought we did a nice job of passing the ball," Summitt said. "It's hard to beat Georgia off the dribble because of their quickness.

"We didn't want to rush our offense. We didn't want to turn it over. I thought we had more composure tonight than in (a 58-55 victory over Georgia last month) Athens."

Although Parker had five turnovers, she often got the best of Georgia's defense while setting up the UT offense and sharing the ball-handling duties with guard Shanna Zolman.

The increased playmaking duties didn't hinder the rest of Parker's game. She finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

None of that should have surprised the Lady Bulldogs, who have been unable to contain Parker in three losses to UT.

In three games against the Lady Bulldogs, Parker totaled 71 points and 36 rebounds.

Parker scored both inside and outside against the smaller Lady Bulldogs, and again teamed with center Tye'sha Fluker to give UT a powerful one-two punch inside.

Fluker had 19 points and five rebounds against the Lady Bulldogs. Fluker has averaged more than 20 points in her last four games.

Nicky Anosike also contributed to UT's overwhelming front-line advantage against the Lady Bulldogs. Anosike had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

"I think this was a pretty hard-fought game, but it was difficult to fight their height," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "Mostly, the height advantage created problems for us. We can't grow.

"This one really came down to the height and being out-rebounded. We can't compete with their height."

Georgia power forward Tasha Humphrey backed up her coach's assessment.

"I tried to step up and make plays," Humphrey said. "But there are some things you can't gain - height. We have been outmanned due to injuries and height."

The Lady Vols' height advantage showed up in the rebounding. They outrebounded Georgia 40-22.

UT's front line has shot as well as it has rebounded in the two tournament games. Anosike, Parker and Fluker have combined to make 34 of 50 field-goal attempts in victories over Auburn and Georgia.

Their production is the best reason for UT to be optimistic in the championship game against SEC regular-season champion LSU, which beat the Lady Vols 72-69 last month in Thompson-Boling Arena.

"I think we're a better team than when we played LSU (the first time)," Summitt said.

She was reminded that the Lady Vols had point guard Alexis Hornbuckle for the first meeting with the Lady Tigers.

"That's not to say if we had Lex, we wouldn't be a whole lot better," Summitt said. "Obviously, on the defensive end, we miss her. But I think we may be better offensively because of our passing."

UT's offense will face its strongest challenge of the tournament against LSU and center Sylvia Fowles, who leads the SEC in rebounding and is third in blocked shots.

There's no question about Fowles' height. She's listed at 6-6 and plays just as big.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.