Dangerous curves for Lady Vols

WASHINGTON — Tennessee nearly lost its way on a road trip Tuesday night.

The Lady Vols traveled a long, hard route to a 71-59 victory over George Washington before a crowd of 3,459 at the Smith Center.

UT’s 13-point second-half lead melted to two with 6:03 left. The Colonials still were hanging at 59-56 when a pair of Alex Fuller free throws with 3:14 left ignited a decisive scoring run.

“I’m glad we found a way to win,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “We have to have a lot more composure.

“Fortunately we can learn from this game without going home with a loss.”

Glory Johnson led No. 7 Tennessee (6-1) with 16 points. Senior forward Alex Fuller, who played the entire second half, scored a season-high 13. Shekinna Stricklen added 12.

Tara Booker led George Washington (4-3) with 14 points.

The Lady Vols parlayed a 51-35 rebounding advantage into a decisive 24-10 edge in second-chance points.

“I think a game like this shows us we need our defense and our rebounding,’’ Fuller said. “We relied on our defense. We relied on our boards. We relied on each other.”

The Lady Vols leaned pretty heavily on Fuller as well. Her 28 playing minutes matched her season high and her points surpassed the nine she scored against DePaul on Sunday. Fuller’s 4-for-6 field-goal shooting included her first two 3-pointers of the season. Both came during a rough-and-tumble second half.

“It’s about time,’’ she said. “I kind of relaxed and stopped thinking about it. Me and Coach met today and she told me to relax and take that responsibility off (myself).”

Fuller sensed that what she said on the court was as important as anything she did.

“I think they just needed to hear my voice,’’ she said, referring to her teammates. “They needed a leader on the floor. That’s my role.”

Tennessee’s youth showed against determined George Washington, which trailed by 13 points in both halves.

Summitt’s patience with UT’s freshmen wore thin. In the case of Amber Gray, who failed to close out on a Booker trey to end the first half, and Alyssia Brewer, who shot 0-for-4 from the floor and had three turnovers before the break, Summitt’s patience ran out. Those two Lady Vols didn’t play in the second half. Neither did Alicia Manning, who played just two minutes.

“I know it’s youth and I should have more patience,’’ Summitt said. “But tonight I didn’t have enough patience.”

Summitt tore into Stricklen after she committed a turnover and was largely responsible for another sloppy possession shortly before halftime. The freshman guard was benched to start the second half. She received a second chance, however, and delivered a clutch driving jumper for a 56-52 lead with 5:45 left. Stricklen banked in another jumper with 2:10 remaining, stretching Tennessee’s lead to 64-56.

“I just made a mistake and I apologized to my team,’’ said Stricklen, referring to the first-half miscues. “When she put me back in, I knew I had to step up.”

Tennessee was hurt by its inability to make shots. The Lady Vols’ field goal percentage dipped below 30 percent on several occasions and never rose above 40 percent, settling at 35.3 (24-for-68).

Yet the Lady Vols shot 72 percent from the free-throw line (18-for-25) and were hitting above 80 percent while the game was in doubt.

Johnson covered for her 3-for-15 field-goal shooting by making 10 of 12 free throws.

“It’s our fault if we’re not making free throws,’’ said Johnson, whose father, Bassey, was in attendance. “That’s not a contested shot.”

UT also had its most accurate game from behind the 3-point line, hitting 5 of 11 attempts. Angie Bjorklund’s trey with 1:12 left provided a 67-59 lead and finally pointed the way to a win.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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