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NASHVILLE - Tennessee's Candace Parker stretched out on the floor in front of her teammates as the Lady Vols posed for pictures with the SEC tournament trophy Sunday night at the Sommet Center.

Her position was appropriate. She deserved a rest after UT defeated LSU 61-55 for the tournament championship.

Parker never left the game, physically or figuratively, until coach Pat Summitt gave her a well-deserved opportunity for a curtain call with 8.5 seconds to play.

Never mind that Parker had played virtually the full 40 minutes. She still had a bounce in her step.

Parker skipped joyfully down the UT bench in celebration. There was plenty to celebrate.

Not only had the No. 3-ranked Lady Vols won the conference tournament and clinched a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. They had avenged their embarrassing 78-62 regular-season loss to LSU on their home floor.

Parker proved something as well.

In last year's SEC tournament loss to LSU, she looked nothing like a two-time All-American. She made only two of 11 field-goal attempts and scored just four points.

"I've never seen Candace play so poorly," Summitt said. In that assessment, she included all the games she had seen Parker play in high school and AAU ball as well as college.

"I couldn't believe Candace played the way she played," Summitt said. "But I think she learned from that ... After that game, she took total responsibility.

"As all the Tennessee players will tell you, Candace said that would never happen again. And it hasn't."

Even in this year's one-sided loss to LSU, you couldn't blame Parker. She had 26 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and six steals.

She was just as dominant in the rematch with 28 points, six rebounds and three steals in winning the tournament MVP award. None of those numbers were any more significant than her 40 minutes played.

"I feel like I was a little bit winded after playing three games in three days," Parker said. "But honestly, my teammates had my back. Nicky (Anosike) was in my ear (reminding her) just to play hard on every possession. And I think toward the end, I used that and stepped up."

Summitt monitored Parker's staying power from the bench.

"I think we had an understanding that she could come out if she wanted to," Summitt said. "She just chose not to in the end.

"She had talked to (assistant coach) Dean (Lockwood), and Dean said that she may need a timeout somewhere around the 15-minute mark of the second half. I asked her if she wanted to come out then, and she said, 'no.' "

If fatigue were a factor, it didn't show on Parker's jump shot. She made the biggest basket of the game with 1:57 to play, the score tied, and the shot clock racing toward zero.

"They passed to (Alexis Hornbuckle) further out toward the 3-point line, so I called her name and threw up my hand," Parker said. "She made a nice pass.

"I knew the shot clock was winding down, so I pump-faked and got a nice look."

When the shot hit home, coach Van Chancellor felt the impact on the LSU bench.

"That was the difference in the game," Chancellor said. "The shot clock (was) down, the ball was outside with six (seconds), they were in disarray. They just throw it to her, and she makes a great play."

Parker was just as strong in the early going. She had 10 of UT's 18 points in the first eight minutes. Her success contrasted with the struggles of LSU 6-foot-6 All-American Sylvia Fowles, who missed six of her first eight shots.

Fowles finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds. But she missed three of four free throws and had five turnovers.

And unlike last year's SEC tournament, she was clearly outplayed by Parker.

"There's nothing you can do to stop her," Fowles said. "You can only try to slow her down, and that's what we tried to do."

But Parker didn't slow down until she posed for pictures Sunday night.

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

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.