CLEVELAND --Tennessee coach Pat Summitt had an unbeaten team in late January, but she wasn't happy about it.

Summitt looked beyond the team's No. 1 ranking and saw the shortcomings. The Lady Vols were uncommitted to defense and too careless with the basketball.

And they were too laid-back for one of the game's most-intense coaches.

But the criticism that Summitt repeated throughout the regular season is no longer relevant. The defense has picked up, different players have stepped up, and a talented team that suffered too many lapses during the regular season has undergone a transformation.

That was apparent when the Lady Vols won the SEC tournament three weeks ago. It was obvious again Sunday afternoon as they advanced to the elite eight of the NCAA tournament with a 76-69 victory over third-seeded Rutgers at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Rutgers is just the kind of team that would have exposed UT's frailties during the regular season. It's tough-minded, defensive-oriented and has a great player in Cappie Pondexter who can capitalize on a lackadaisical defense.

No such vulnerabilities were evident Sunday.

UT limited Pondexter to seven field goals in 20 attempts, matched Rutgers' toughness and got 29 points apiece from Candace Parker and Shanna Zolman. That left the Lady Vols only one victory short of their fifth consecutive Final Four.

It also set up their biggest challenge of the postseason, against No. 1-ranked North Carolina.

The matchup is less daunting now than it would have been during the regular season. And that's not just because the Tar Heels struggled to beat Purdue 70-68 in the second half of the regional doubleheader.

UT has improved enough defensively and in handling the ball to have a chance against the athletic Tar Heels, whose speed and defensive pressure might have overwhelmed UT earlier. Summitt traces her team's improvement to a regular-season-ending 95-93 loss to Florida.

"I think the Florida game was a defining moment for our team and our staff," she said. "We were terribly disappointed that we lost for the first time on senior day. And it was our first loss to an unranked team since we had been in Thompson-Boling Arena.

"We knew if we didn't bring it at the SEC tournament, we would get embarrassed."

Instead of an embarrassment, there was a celebration, as the Lady Vols upset LSU for the tournament championship.

"I guess we're just hardheaded," UT forward Sidney Spencer said. "It took us until the SEC tournament to realize that we're going to have to be solid defensively to advance (in postseason play)."

The loss to Florida got their attention, and the next two practices hardened their resolve.

"All we did was focus on defense," Spencer said. "Those were the toughest practices of the season. Playing the games was so much easier after those hard practices.

"They were really intense. Coach was up in our face. The practice guys were going at us.

"But it was for the best."

Even before the Lady Vols committed themselves to defense and began handling the basketball with more care, they demonstrated their resilience.

They overcame the loss of point guard Sa'de Wiley-Gatewood, who transferred at mid-season. They pulled together after point guard Alexis Hornbuckle suffered a wrist injury that cost her seven games.

"The more that's thrown at us, the better we get," Hornbuckle said. "This team is definitely able to handle adversity. That's a good trait to have."

As long as you have some defense to go with it.