Nicky Anosike was giving herself no credit. None. There was no question in her mind.
Tennessee’s senior center was thinking along those lines before stepping to the free-throw line Monday night.
“I didn’t do anything to help this team,’’ she said. “I didn’t do anything to help us win.”
That trip to the line changed everything. Anosike, a 64.4 percent free-throw shooter, swished a pair with two-tenths of second remaining, doing exactly what the No. 1 Lady Vols needed for a controversial 59-58 women’s basketball victory over Rutgers before a crowd of 17,690 at Thompson-Boling Arena.
“When I was presented with an opportunity to do something,’’ Anosike said, “I had to step up.”
Her free throws, which resulted from a foul called against Scarlet Knights forward Kia Vaughn, came on a rebound putback that TV replays showed occurring after the game clock appeared to freeze with two-tenths left.
At that point, the game clock can only be stopped by a referee’s whistle. The game officials conferred after the call and checked a game monitor before allowing Anosike to proceed to the line.
Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer was incensed by the turn of events and launched into a lengthy tirade afterward.
“The clock froze,’’ she said. “I’ll remember that.”
Rutgers forward Essence Carson was blown away by the whole final UT sequence, which included a Candace Parker rebound attempt of Shannon Bobbitt’s missed jumper. Anosike then grabbed Parker’s miss.
“It’s unbelievable; I don’t understand,’’ Carson said. “I don’t know how anyone can take that many shots in that amount of time and still have time left on the clock. It bothers me.”
The Lady Vols (22-1), on the other hand, were befuddled by how they managed to survive a second half in which they made six baskets and shot 23.1 percent (6-for-26) from the floor.
UT went more than six minutes after halftime before scoring its first basket and was shooting 1-for-15 at one point.
“I’m not sure how we managed to win this game,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said.
In perusing the statistics, she hung the outcome on her team’s ability to minimize turnovers (eight) and at least take shots as well as winning the rebounding battle, 37-32.
The latter achievement factored into the bizarre finish. As for making shots, Parker hit enough from the floor (eight) and the free- throw line (11) to score a game-high 27 points.
Angie Bjorklund (13 points) and Bobbitt also hit crucial 3-pointers to help Tennessee recover from a five-point deficit in the final 1:24.
Bjorklund’s trey gave the Lady Vols a 57-56 lead with 49 seconds left.
“When the ball was in the air, I was looking, praying, ‘Please go in,’ ’’ Parker said of Bjorklund’s shot.
Another statistic to consider was Tennessee shooting twice as many free throws as Rutgers (30-15) and scoring 10 more points (23-13) from the free-throw line.
Epiphanny Prince scored 21 points for No. 5 Rutgers (19-4). Carson added 18, including a jumper with 23 seconds left to give the Scarlet Knights their final lead.
Rutgers recovered from an 11-point halftime deficit with 53.6 percent second-half field-goal shooting (15-for-28) complementing its strong defense.
Tennessee gathered some important assets at the outset in building toward its 34-23 halftime lead. The Lady Vols shot better than 50 percent from the floor for nearly 10 minutes against one of the best defensive teams in the country. Parker was showing no ill effects from a bruised left knee suffered in last Thursday’s game at Mississippi State. She even tumbled to the floor on an aggressive drive to the basket.
At the same time, a liability was accruing in the form of foul trouble. The whistle was blowing both ways, but the first-half calls had more strategic impact on UT.
First, Bjorklund sat down with two fouls, depriving the Lady Vols of a sharpshooter who had started hot with eight points. Her absence was a factor in UT going nearly eight minutes between baskets before halftime, surviving on seven free throws during that time.
Tennessee also chose to play guard Alexis Hornbuckle with two fouls and paid for it when she picked up her third 4:33 before the break.
Rutgers couldn’t take advantage because at that point the Scarlet Knights couldn’t score either. Their strategy to hold the ball paid early dividends with dribble-drive attempts and pull-up jumpers that produced baskets or drew fouls. As the first half wore on, they settled for more stationary jumpers and watched their field-goal shooting percentage plunge below 30 percent.
Catchings Speaking: Former Lady Vols All-American Tamika Catchings will be the guest speaker Wednesday at the Big Orange TipOff Club luncheon, at noon at Calhoun’s On The River.
Old school: Archived photos of UT…
Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group
Comments » 188
dburgin11 writes:
Yeah...what happened with the clock? It not only appeared to "freeze," it then never seemed to start for the last possesion.
Regardless, nice job Lady Vols...you passed that test, let's get ready for the next one
Musicman74 writes:
Great Win Ladies.
GO BIG ORANGE!!!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
I'll admit I gave up. What a comeback. Congrats.
volfanincarolina writes:
Nicky, great free throw shooting but we do need you to step up the whole game though. Great game for Parker and clutch shooting at the end from Angie and Shannon. We just seem like we could not put it in the ocean the last half.
But a win is a win and I take it. Go Vols!!!!
ATLVOLFAN writes:
Good Game, but it could have easly went the other way! Rutgers was amazing!!! GO VOLS!!!!
BigOrangeVol writes:
The clock stopped at 0.2 when the whistle blew for the foul. It wasn't the male ref on the baseline that made the call.
Regardless, it was a hard fought win and you could make a point that both teams deserved it; or neither team deserved it. We're #1 and Rutgers is #5 this week. UT will be unanimous if they take care of LSU. These Big Monday games are fun! I'll be a Pitt Lady Panther fan next Sunday for sure.
tapeworm writes:
I noticed that the LV shot 77% from the line, and Rutgers shot close to 88%. I'm sure Coach Summitt is telling her team that 77% from the line isn't going to win a NC. Can you imagine BP telling that to his team? Heck, in the men's game 77% from the line is F4 stuff if you're solid everywhere else.
We all want the men to improve their performance from the line, but it probably won't happen. And, that will be the downfall of UT in the Dance. But, even if that happens, I'll be eternally grateful for the incredible improvement of the men's team, and the energy BP has brought to this program.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Incredible timely clock stoppage. So this is what it takes to beat Rutgers? What has ladies basketball come to? Incredulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
dkerr#270212 writes:
She got hammered, she deserved the free throws.
utmdm writes:
PD, I had given up down by 5 there and had already reached for the computer when bam bam on those 3's. My Dish recorder cut off the record at 4 minutes so I could not review the end. Hate to see it come down to a questionable ending. The Lady's program has been on the highest plane of quality and character. Hate to see all the negies come out on this.
CoverOrange writes:
I have to agree, Rutgers got robbed. Not only the 0.2 freeze but the Parker 10 footer that counted for 3 when we were down 48-44. Hope we don't face them in the tourney. Though can't ever imagine a Summitt team hitting only 1 of their first 15 shots in a half again. Lot of alligator arms.
utmdm writes:
PD, btw did you see the DT we offered for next year?
Volsrbest writes:
I wouldn't be surprised to see a rematch of these two teams in the National Championship. You could argue that each team won 1/2 of the game tonight. The Lady Vols have to step it up and shoot better from the field if they expect to repeat. We'll see how they respond against LSU.
Great game! Great Win!!
rabidvol1998 writes:
robbed - how long you had your name? A bit paranoid I think!
The name on the floor says Summitt, not Stringer. You have a classy coach, follow her lead.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Registering on this site was precipitated by an uncalibrated clock faulty at an opportune moment for the VOLS. Great game, no question. The gal was hammered in the paint, well after the clock should have registred game OVEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
faithfulvol writes:
No this is not what it takes to beat the Rutgers......Bottom line these are both "class act" teams and "class act" coaches and we do not need to take anything from either one of them. Both teams played their hearts out. The Lady Vols dominated the first half and Rutgers dominated the second. Whether or not it was a clock blooper, it was a foul.
Thank goodness Candace was able to play tonight, she was AWESOME and Bjourkland too. If she wouldn't have been in foul trouble she would have scored even more!!! Go Lady Vols........all the way #1 : )
Rockytop98 writes:
Unfortunately it happened and you have to go on! But, what about the foul on Candace that was not called?? GO Lady Vols!!
faithfulvol writes:
You are right Rockytop98, several fouls were missed especially that one on Candace!
vol4jesus writes:
rutgursrobed is still reeling from the big victory last week. did a ref call time and clock stopped or a serious oopsey by clock operator. if so was he trying to return favor on last inbounds pass by never starting or a true clock malfunction. I'm sure we will hear alot of whining from rutgurs fans and maybe so. these things occur with the human element. I think second half non defense with guards on bench led to some sloppiness and a good rutgurs team took advantage as they should. Hail to the victors for this night.....LADY VOLS(?) WE will take the W as I for one knew Nicky was a fair free throw shooter. I figured OT was on the way.
tedpat#209381 writes:
Just so you know: In case there is a clock screw up or in case the clock stops working the offical clock is also kept on the floor.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Here is the cool item to note: "Rutgers now knows that they can beat the VOLS" eerily reminiscent to the Giants vs Patriots" rematch. Prepare to meet Rutgers again on a neutral floor and lets see who shall prevail.
bmaples writes:
I wonder if BigOrangeVol has it right -- that the foul was called away from the play, and not by the ref next to Nicky. There was some discussion that there was a whistle at the 0.02 mark.
I agree it looked bad -- looked like home cooking, but I don't think it was. As for fairness -- well, let's talk about the offensive foul not called in the first half when the Rutgers player lowered her shoulder and just knocked Candace to the floor. Any men's game that would have been an offensive foul -- but not tonight.
Here's hoping that the Lady Vols learn as much from this game as they did from the Stanford one.
davidc#277766 writes:
Great game! Hate that there was controversy, but still a great win!
ATLVOLFAN writes:
I could not agree with you anymore, but the turning point of the game was Bobbiit technical foul it could of cause the team this game. Its ok to play with emotion, I think it was a little to much. The ladies need to play much better against LSU. Go Vols!!!!!!
chefjorge writes:
None of the replays seemed to have the sound along with the video. Very hard to tell. Any foul at that point would have amounted to a trip to the line. If Anosike was fouled at any point after gaining control, it's a foul, and the refs were looking at when the call was made on the floor while looking at the replay. I feel a little weird about the win, and Rutgers has a bunch of great ballers on the floor to be sure, but they made the call. If I'm Rutgers, I do protest though. As someone else said, a rematch of the '07 final would be no surprise. The Lady Vols will need to bring it a little more to win on a neutral court. If you're Rutgers, shake it off and use it as motivation. If you're the Vols you got a heck of a gut check.
Kwitcherbellyachin writes:
I'd like to hear from someone who was at the game to see if indeed the foul was actually called away from the play. If the baseline official was the one who called the foul, he did so well after the whistle.
That being said, Anosike deserved foul shots because Kia Vaughn hammered her. If Vaughn lets her shoot, the game ends, and that's that. As it is, it didn't happen that way.
And one more comment, it would have served Shannon Bobbitt right if we had lost that game by one point after she 1) jacked her free throws and 2) taunted the Rutgers team. She really needs to learn to pick her spots with her yapping.
faithfulvol writes:
I think Lady Vols could and would rematch Rutgers 10 times over. Win or no win.... I feel confident Lady Vols would still end Rutgers season every March!!!!!
CoverOrange writes:
Refs miss calls like the one on Candace all the time, it's somewhat part of the game. However, the officials reviewed the tape for the 0.2 freeze. Would like to know what reasoning they used. Had the shoe been on the other foot, we would all have been screaming.
Second however, the lousy shooting percentage was not due to great Rutger defense every time. Way to many alligator arms around the rim. If it wasn't for the fact Rutgers will be psyched to play us again, playing them again wouldn't be scary.
Last, with all the pink shirts in the stands, was this really a home game?
BloneyBoy writes:
It appeared to me that the clock took a hickup right at the 0.2 sec and that it was stopped for at least 0.5 sec and then continued on to 0.0 even after the foul and whistle. I have never heard of an official timer in addition to the official clock operator who is sanctioned by the SEC. These four officials determined that the foul occured with 0.2 sec on the clock and the foul shots were awarded. Had they not been, Vol fans would have been livid as Nikki was pulled down hard before the horn. At some point the officials have to make a call. Perfect time for home cooking. Grease the skillit!
Where's UconnFan? Maybe cruising under another, never seen before name?
oldbasshead writes:
The game was close because of terrible shooting in the 2nd half from the Lady Vols. When the 3's are not falling, the Lady Vols have got to have more production from ANOSIKE and HORNBUCKLE. Although Anosike hit two big free throws to win the game, she only scored 4 points in the game and they were all free throws. Anosike needs to hit at least 10 points in big games like this. Hornbuckle had 3 points for the game. Again with her ability to weave and cut, she should be getting more points in the paint in these big games when the 3's are not falling. Get more points from these two players and the game is not close.
rabidvol1998 writes:
I was at the game looking right at the official on the base line. He was confident he called the foul before the buzzer. When they went to the camera, it was to see how much time to put back. They told the TN bench it was 2 shots BEFORE reviewing the clock. Whether the clock "paused" or not is hard to tell, but the foul was obvious and before the buzzer.
Titan writes:
With all the modern technology available, I've never understood why they don't give referees a special frequency whistle that would hit a receiver and automatically stop the clock and light up the backboard light. It would eliminate the clock keeper for the most part and eliminate the type of issue we saw tonight. (Would probably still need to start the clock as they do now.) Some will argue that the technology might not work all the time. Well it doesn't work all the time now.
PureOrange writes:
I love the win, but the fact is, if we had more than Parker show up to play we would have run them out of the gym. It is getting more and more concerning that this team refuses to play 40 minutes, and some choose to not play hard at all.
Hope Pat gets this straightened out before Thurs. night.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Very clairvoyent and arrogant "faithfulvol". Nevertheless, the Lady Knights breath on the VOLS neck should raise the game to an entertaining level.
rabidvol1998 writes:
I don't think they would have called a foul had the Rutgers player gone for the ball, but she just tackled Anosike.
faithfulvol writes:
Absolutely ENTERTAINING, I agree!!!! Can't help be "Confident" when you are a Lady Vol Fan! "Confidence" is the nature of Lady Vol basketball!
Rutgers is a great team and it is always an exciting game between these two teams!!!
TechsterVol writes:
Titan --
They have exactly what you're talking about. It was in use at the game tonight, as it is every game at Thompson-Boling Arena. There is a computer chip in their whistle lanyard that is tuned to the frequency of their whistle, sending a signal to the little box on their belt, which instantaneously sends a signal to the receiver at the scorer's table stopping the clock. They start the clock by pushing a button on the box on their belt.
It is very, very unlikely the clock was stopped by someone at the table in that situation. I'd say there is a 99.9% chance that an official stopped the clock.
utchris writes:
Let me guess..next we will hear that Don Imus was the clock operator.
I am curious to hear what Pat and Vivian have to say. My guess is that Vivian will take the high road, at least in public. If Rutger's takes care of their own business from here on out, then this game will not matter much. The worst part of this is that the controversy takes away from all the wonderful publicity that the game got for Breast Cancer Awareness.
RR, sorry you feel cheated, but accusing Pat or any of her players of cheating is classless. If the roles were reversed, you would not be on here acting outraged. Follow your coaches lead and stay classy.
reg_mza#219136 writes:
Well I've watched this video as well as replays on ESPN about a hundred different ways and I'll say this, not only was she fouled before the time clock expired, but she was INTENTIONALLY fouled before the time clock expired. Go to ESPN and watch the replay highlights they have and you'll see Kia Vaughn grab Nicki at the 0.2 and fling her backwards. Not only does she foul but never goes for the ball. If this were at any time in the middle of the game, that would have been called appropriately but everyone was so focused on the game clock and whether it happened before time expired.
And yes, after much review, it looks like the time clock stopped literally with the foul at 0.2. Now whether that was the fault of the time keeper or if the time keeper reacted to a whistle that remains to be seen or may never be seen.
Bottom line though, Rutgers fouled and fouled and fouled to keep up with TN and it cost them. As for UT, I'm not sure why they went rigor mortise with their offense and no one could hit a shot outside of Candace. That is the first time I saw them timid in their half court when in crunch time. Candace looked good then, but everyone else was like molasses.
I will give Rutgers credit though, they do make a lot of teams turn to molasses and lose confidence in their games. They spook me as a collegiate team moreso than UConn, Duke, Maryland, or NC. But in this game I will say, Rutgers looked timid in the first half with Prince out, and looked better in the second while she was playing. They were scrappy but fouled far too much for me to give them credit for being a well oiled machine. They have their flaws as well.
rabidvol1998 writes:
Techster - Do you have a patent on the system and a relay switch in your head?
Good imagination.
N2Motorsports writes:
Why wasn't there an intentional foul called there at the end? It was obvious that girl never went for the ball and just pulled Anosikie down. Terrible call. The refs missed several calls tonight. Obvious offensive foul on the Rutgers chick in the 2nd half. Everyone on the floor stopped b/c they knew it was an offensive foul and yet no call. I'm tired of the officials in collegiate sports. There are just a handful that are good. All others should be fired.
rabidvol1998 writes:
Techster - I found the reference on the web about the whistle. Do you know for sure it was used tonite?
I owe you a relay switch joke/apology; unless you are so good you created the web link also. If you did that, please call the CIA they need you.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Read the thread utchris2003 cheating by the coach or players was never suggested e.g. "RR, sorry you feel cheated, but accusing Pat or any of her players of cheating is classless."
Something is amiss that is all.
Hunter writes:
Just heard on SportsCenter that in Thompson-Boling the clock is tied into the official's whistle. There was a whistle blown (listen closely to the audio) with 0.2 seconds left. I thought Rutgers got robbed as well for most of the night, but watching SC cleared up the confusion. Tough break for Rutgers, but a great game.
martinvolfan writes:
we did benefit from a stuck clock, but Anosike still had to make free throws. It's all good.
UTByrd writes:
I thought the announcers really stunk up the house.
rutgersrobbed writes:
This is what is cool about HD and DVR recording. The fan can watch and time step frame by frame at their discretion. So..... the viewer can see for themselves and make their own judgement and put the scrutiny on the referees.
Hacksaw57 writes:
The game clock stopped on the sound of the whistle for the foul. It was at .2 of a second left on the game clock. The baseline official's arm did not go up to indicate the foul until AFTER the whistle and AFTER the clock started back up and reached 00. The foul was initiated at .2 of a second on the clock. The freethrows were awarded properly and correctly.
On the inbounds throw in by Rutgers, the official did not indicate with a signal by hand to start the clock on the touch of the inbounds throw in, thus the clock did not start initially on the inbounds touch.
The game officials acted properly and correctly awarded the free throws.
There was no hesitation in their reaction to the situation.
rutgersrobbed writes:
Soooooo the referee's whistle caused the clock to freeze precisely at 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2?????? Hunter?????
BigOrangeInCarolina writes:
Glad to see the ladies get a big win. Men got one the other night, so hopefully things are peaking at the right time for both programs. I thought she was fouled before the clock ran out and that's why they stopped the clock. I think a Rutgers player hit the ball on the ensuing inbounds and it would have been Tennessee's ball anyhow, so they called the game. It wouldn't surprise me, however, if Jesse Jackson or Sharpton or somebody started mouthing about the way the game ended. There will always be somebody who brings race into these things. Summitt will have 'em ready for LSU. She looked pretty pissed tonight, so they'll be ready. GO VOLS!!!
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