Adams: Lady Vols sure of selves when it really counts : govolsxtra.com

TAMPA, Fla. - Early in the season, when it was obvious the Lady Vols once again had national championship talent, I couldn't resist comparing them to UT's unbeaten 1997-98 team.

My conclusion: This team had deeper talent but lacked the killer instinct that was so apparent with the 1997-98 national champions.

But the critique has become slightly outdated as UT prepares to play Stanford for the national championship this evening.

These Lady Vols might not be as intent on breaking the will of their opponents by halftime. But when the game's outcome is hanging in the balance, they're every bit as sure of themselves.

How else do you explain their last two victories?

First, they defeated Texas A&M in the Elite Eight despite making only five field goals in the second half. Next, they made only 30.4 percent of their field-goal tries, went 2-for-7 at the foul line and still pulled out a last-second, 47-46 victory over LSU in the Final Four semifinals Sunday night.

The Lady Vols play the game as though they're acting in a movie. So what if they go nine minutes without a field goal or if All-American Candace Parker is playing with one healthy shoulder. They've read the script. They know the ending.

It ends with them hugging each other, donning national championship caps and cutting down the nets.

Senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle embodies this everything-will-work-out-OK attitude. She misses layups against Texas A&M, then nails a clutch 27-foot, 3-pointer. She misses her first seven shots against LSU, then hits the game winner in the last second.

This isn't just about self-confidence. It's about team confidence.

"You have to have a whole lot of confidence," Hornbuckle said. "But your teammates and coaching staff have to have a whole lot of confidence in you.

"It's a post-season game and you're shooting very poorly, and you feel like you're letting down your team possession after possession. It's kind of tough to keep picking yourself up.

"But you have teammates in your ear saying, 'We need you; we know something good is going to happen.' When you have that, it makes it easier."

Confidence alone doesn't win championships. The Lady Vols figured that out during the regular season when their high level of confidence wasn't necessarily a virtue.

Coach Pat Summitt was asked Monday if she thought her team had become over confident prior to its one-sided loss to LSU in mid-February.

"Oh, definitely," she said. "I mean, they thought they were going to win every game. They thought they were real good.

"I'm not sure they thought they had to work as hard as they worked the previous year. I think that goes with winning a championship."

Following the 78-62 loss to LSU, Summitt blasted her team in a players-coaches meeting. Then, the players met amongst themselves. As the team boarded a bus to Nashville, Summitt was still concerned about how her team would respond against Vanderbilt.

Junior Alex Fuller dropped a note in Summitt's lap on the bus.

"Coach, everything is going to be OK," the note read. "We've had a meeting. We're ready to play. This won't happen again."

Since then, the Lady Vols have played up to the note. They have won 13 consecutive games, and some of their fans have become as confident as their team.

Take Whitney Dailey, for example. Confidence is as much a factor in her being at the Final Four as it is her favorite team.

Dailey, who is a UT student from Birmingham, is here on UT's dime. Hers was the second name drawn from a pool of UT students who had to attend at least 10 Lady Vols home games to qualify for a promotional drawing.

The prizes included free tuition for a year, a free meal plan, an all-expense paid trip for two to the SEC women's basketball tournament

The student whose name was drawn first picked the free tuition. Dailey then picked the Final Four trip, realizing that if UT failed to make it that far in the NCAA tournament, she wouldn't go, either.

But Dailey, who played high school basketball and attended Lady Vols summer camps, was confident enough in the team to choose the Final Four trip.

And if her name had been drawn first, she would have been just as confident.

"I had talked it over with my dad (before the drawing) since he pays my tuition," she said. "I still probably would have picked the Final Four trip."

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