Tennessee’s defense has been getting a good workout this week.

The top-ranked Lady Vols (22-1, 8-0) SEC) look forward to applying the traditional big-game staple in more traditional fashion when they face No. 7 LSU (20-3, 9-0) in a showdown for the conference lead. The winner gets the inside track to the regular-season championship.

Tipoff is 6:30 tonight at Thompson-Boling Arena (TV: FSN).

Tennessee has been in a defensive stance since the week’s other big game ended in controversy Monday night. The outcry over UT’s 59-58 victory over Rutgers, which raised questions about a late foul call and clock management, echoed as far as UT coach Pat Summitt’s teleconference Wednesday. She fielded four more questions, including being asked whether, in retrospect, she considered “forfeiting the game to Rutgers and being a national hero?”

“Well, no,’’ she said to begin her response.

“I don’t think there’s an asterisk by our win,’’ UT forward Candace Parker said. “I’m just going to say that now.”

A desire to rebound came from the same game but didn’t involve the usual pursuit. The Lady Vols want to bounce back from an offensive meltdown in the second half against the Scarlet Knights. They started the half shooting 1 for 15 from the floor and finished with six baskets and 23.1 percent field goal accuracy (6 for 26).

“I do know that we’re capable of knocking down shots,’’ Parker said.

She reconsidered some of Monday’s personal shooting totals — Nicky Anosike 0 for 7 and Shannon Bobbitt 1 for 9 — and said, “We’re not going to have (another) game like that, at least I hope.”

The Lady Vols had better be better for this game. LSU is on an 11-game winning streak.

Regarding personnel, the Lady Tigers will be very familiar. All-American center Sylvia Fowles and four other senior starters are part of a veteran squad that has jousted with Tennessee over SEC championships.

As far as performance, there’s been some changes under first-year coach Van Chancellor, who coached the Houston Comets to four WNBA championships, coached an Olympic Gold Medal women’s team and coached for 19 seasons at Ole Miss.

After LSU’s 63-57 victory over Georgia last Sunday, Lady Bulldogs coach Andy Landers spoke of the Lady Tigers’ “equal rights approach to offense.”

“I see (Quianna) Chaney coming down shooting it early from three, shooting it in transition from three and quite frankly, I think it makes for a more difficult team to defend,” Landers said.

Chancellor said that he’s stressed more people taking more shots. Chaney, a senior guard, has responded, raising her scoring average by three points per game to 14.8.

“We changed her shot,’’ Chancellor said. “We went through some real growing pains with it, but she’s playing really, really well.”

LSU’s offense has been on the upswing in conference play. The Lady Tigers’ are averaging 75.2 points per game in league play, compared to 71.0 overall. Their field goal shooting percentage is better (49.1-45.5). The same is true for their 3-pointers (38.8-34.7).

“If you double-team Sylvia,’’ Chancellor said. “We have other people who can step up.”

Fowles still leads the team, however, averaging 17 points per game.

“I know everyone thinks that she is a great offensive player,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “But she may even be more of a force on the defensive end when you look at her presence and ability to block and alter shots. She does a tremendous job of providing support at the basket defensively. She is an intimidator for most players that go inside against her.”

The 6-foot-6 senior played a large role in limiting Parker to four points and 2-for-11 shooting in the teams’ last meeting — a 63-54 LSU victory in last season’s SEC tournament. Parker called that game “my single-worst performance.”

Parker’s 27-point, 10-rebound, five-block effort against Rutgers Monday was at the other end of her performance scale. She played 40 minutes after suffering a bruised left knee against Mississippi State last Thursday, an injury that’s become an unlikely source of inspiration.

“It made me realize one play didn’t take so much away,’’ Parker said. “It really did give me kind of like a new beginning.”

Another big game adds to the good feeling.

“We could play Rutgers, LSU every night, night in and night out; I would love it,’’ she said. “That’s what you work for. That’s what your practice for, to play against teams that are your same caliber and push you to be better.”

By that thinking, it’s push-comes-to-shove time for UT’s offense.

“I don’t know what the answer is,’’ Parker said. “Somehow we’ll figure it out. If we don’t, we won’t win.”

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.