BATON ROUGE, La. — Tennessee overcame a misspent first half Thursday night.
Overcoming LSU was a different matter.
After the Lady Vols erased a 15-point halftime deficit, Katherine Graham’s two free throws with 7.9 seconds left enabled the Lady Tigers to escape with a 63-61 SEC women’s basketball victory before a crowd of 6,035 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tennessee’s last possession ended with Glory Johnson being tied up by LSU center Kristen Morris.
“We knew we didn’t have a lot of time,’’ UT coach Pat Summitt said. “We wanted to at least get a look at it. We couldn’t get a look at it. They had a lot of pressure on us.”
LaSondra Barrett led LSU (16-9, 9-4 SEC) with 18 points. Allison Hightower scored 14 and Graham had 12.
Hightower didn’t score in the second half and missed nine minutes with leg cramps. Yet LSU still survived.
“We lost our best player and we found a way to beat a really good team and a really good coach,’’ LSU coach Van Chancellor said.
Angie Bjorklund scored 21 points for No. 18 Tennessee (19-9, 8-5). Fifteen came in the second half, including two game-tying free throws with 1:04 left. But she was called for the foul that set up Graham’s game-winning free throws.
With the loss, the Lady Vols tumbled into fifth place in the conference standings. They face a first-round game next week in the SEC tournament.
Graham had won a game before with pressure free throws. But that was back in middle school.
“That was so long ago,’’ she said, smiling, “totally different.”
The dribble drive by Graham that pointed her to the free throw line was made possible by 5-foot-8 teammate Latear Eason. Her offensive rebound saved what appeared to be a lost trip down the court. From Summitt’s vantage point, the play was a reflection of the game.
“I thought they played one through five with a lot more energy for 40 minutes,’’ she said. “Obviously we had a lot of energy in the second half.”
Summitt complimented Chancellor by saying, “He’s done a great job with a young basketball team. It appears he’s done a much better job than I have.”
Morris, who was honored beforehand as LSU’s lone senior, set a physical tone by setting an early screen on Johnson that sent the Lady Vols freshman tumbling to the floor in pain and then to the bench.
Tennessee had four of its 21 turnovers, including two shot clock violations, before the first media timeout. Bjorklund compounded one of them with a pass that led Cain directly into a collision and a tangle of bodies on the floor. The 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman went out after her leg got bent awkwardly underneath her.
Johnson and Cain eventually returned and UT rallied to within 21-14. But the Lady Tigers responded in short order, leading by as many as 18 points, 35-17.
At the break, Tennessee’s 35-20 deficit was directly related to its 15 turnovers, which played a part in 17 LSU points.
“You’d think we’d learn by now we can’t come out flat and think we can win in the second half,’’ Bjorklund said.
That was the only strategy left to them, however, and they made the most of it.
After Morris picked up her third foul and went out early in the second half, Cain — who scored 12 points and made all six of her field goal attempts — made three consecutive baskets.
The Lady Vols hit their first six shots of the half and pulled to within 35-29 before LSU stopped their charge.
UT wasn’t done rallying, however. Its next comeback was aided by Hightower going out. A free throw by Shekinna Stricklen, who scored 18 points, pulled Tennessee to 47-44 with 11:12 left.
A Stricklen 3-pointer pulled UT even at 51 with 8:32 left.
LSU’s players said the ending conjured memories of last season’s dramatic national semifinal game between the two teams, which ended with Alexis Hornbuckle’s rebound basket for a 47-46 UT victory.
Summitt had no such recollections.
“We are so not the team that played in Tampa,’’ she said.
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Comments » 66
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
OKEMO say
OKEMO so sad for our lady vols
sec and rest of ncaa had better
enjoy this year .....
lady vol weakness won't last past this season
OKEMO has spoken
huntined#565710 writes:
SORRY HALF---GREAT HALF..
SMSVOL writes:
Just wondering...what happened in the last 7 seconds? Surely what I saw was not what was planned?? Where was Kelly??? I just don't understand....I feel like it is football...wait 'til next year. :(
bmaples writes:
Well ... at least they showed the heart and poise to come back on the road. First half was abysmal, but second half showed flashes of Lady Vol basketball.
Probably have to play on first day of SEC tourney. Here's hoping they can win at least two there, and two in the NCAA.
Bruce in Louisville
www.brucemaples.com
huntined#565710 writes:
Agree Bruce..Got to admit I gave up after that first half but they did come back and make a game of it..If someone had guarded Barrett that last half we would won that game as she was all they had scoring.
xvolx writes:
glory johnson is without a doubt the worse basketball player in the world.
ladyvolfaithful62 writes:
Don't count these gals out until the final buzzer sounds. It was an ugly first half, but I saw alot of grit in the second half. Honestly, I thought they were going to pull it out. It was great to see Angie B. knocking down some quality shots. Maybe they should give her a try at point guard. I could be wrong, but I think she would make a good one.
zigvol writes:
they suck worse than the men
xvolx writes:
you're right about one thing. you could be wrong.
98reax writes:
We were defending national champions when we played on opening day (for the first time ever) of SEC Tourney 2/28/97 in Chattanooga Round House and defeated S Carolina 75-48. Guess who we played in the 2nd game? LSU. Yep, we avenged an earlier season loss, with a 100-99 OT victory. We caught unranked Auburn in the semi-finals. The score was tied at 59-59 with 10.3 seconds when Kyra Elzy stole the ball and was headed down court for an easy lay-up to win the game. She lost control of the ball and UA scored with 2.1 on the clock. We never got another shot off. We lost by 2 points, 59-61. We shot just 42%. Sound familiar????
We were a #3 seed with a 23-10 record going into the NCAA Tournament. We took out Grambling, Oregon, Colorado, #1-ranked and undefeated UConn, Notre Dame and Old Dominion. We also took home the National Title...
SMSVOL writes:
We were a #3 seed with 10 losses...not happening this year. Teams don't lose as much as they used too. Lucky we will be to get in the tournament. Our go to player wasn't even in the game at the end. Where was Kelly?
JBaller2233 writes:
Boo Hoo... How about writing some useful articles KNS? Nobody really cares if the LADY vols win or lose.
CTOWNICON writes:
One good thing about the game is Angie got her shot back. Now if she could just work on those turnovers. Horrible first half, but good second half. I think Kelly should have been in the game towards the end instead of Glory. She had been pretty good during the game. I did not understand that decision but lets hope for a win against Vandy. Good to see Shekina playing well also. There were a few bright spots but I would have loved a V.I.C.T.O.R.Y.
rocky_topper writes:
I'm shocked they're 5th as bad as they are! Worst they've been since what, the 80's?
snafu14u#241639 writes:
these posts get worse as time goes on.bonzaivol
teampenny#658108 writes:
What are trying to start a hair pulling female dog slapping fight? Always pull for the VOLS
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Well, LVs, give it all you've got.
Keep this up and you'll be dressing in a school bus.
LadyVolFanForever writes:
The first half was very painful to watch BUT they came back to play in the second half. Coulda, woulda, shoulda won that game but we didn't.
It was very good to see Angie back in the groove and Kinna played strong. I think the turnovers from Angie are from her just trying to do too much. If she, Kinna and Kelley can score, they take a lot of pressure off each other.
Sundays' game will be interesting and I hope last nights' second half team shows up to play. It has been a tough season on the coaches, team and fans. They are Lady Vols and as soon as they take that to heart, they will be a tougher more competitive team with some consistency.
Keep fighting Lady Vols, never give up or give in !
BigRMan writes:
Keep this up and they'll be dressing in the dorm before even going to the game. This team can ill afford to start a game without focus. If you don't come out ready to play in light of the past record and critical need for victories, it speaks very poorly of the overall team preparation, and a lack of a sense of urgency. This year's team seems to be a constant perplexing source for concern. Many more losses, and a WNIT bid may be out of the question. Maybe no post season would be the ONLY fitting punishment. I hate losing to a clown like Chancellor.
DroopyDrawers writes:
Get out of here! Why did you read the article? Crybaby!
littleorange writes:
Love the Lady Vols.......but......without a defensive STOPPER
I don't see them being an elite team in the next few years.
LadyVolFanForever writes:
Totally TOO harsh and uncalled for from a so called "fan" !
I truly hope you are not a parent.
richvol writes:
The comeback was great but what in the world was that final play? They couldn't foul us so what's so hard with driving the ball and shooting from anywhere close to the basket? Why pass it to the one player on the floor that is a turnover waiting to happen...and a poor shooter?
A missed shot is one thing...but to get tied up and not even get a shot off? Very poor execution. I felt bad for the girls but dang.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
GTH, sexist loser!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Agree completely! This team has lots of good players; they just need to learn how to play together and how to win the tough ones.
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Tough one to lose at the end like that after the great comeback. It would have helped A LOT if they had bothered to play from the opening tip, but we have seen this out of this team all season. It is almost as if they are all looking at each other, waiting for someone else to make the first big play. Since they are mostly all freshmen, no one is the clear candidate to "get the party started". Alex is a complementary player at her best and Angie clearly needs to get into some kind of flow before she can turn it on. The best candidate to bring the fire from the beginning is Shekinna, but she may be overly concerned with the need to get everyone else going before she does her own thing, sometimes a fault of a "new" PG.
BTW, that was a tough call on Angie at the end; she looked set to me. Then a 53% free-throw shooter steps up and knocks down the big ones. In fact, they made several tough, contested shots in a row down the stretch. Our failure to get at least two defensive rebounds in that time REALLY hurt. Even when LSU didn't score, they ran time off the clock we really could have used. I don't know what our last play was SUPPOSED to be, but it surely wasn't executed very well. Great game, tough outcome. The LVs have a real uphill climb ahead of them now. They'll either get it together and get it done or they won't. Can't say this season hasn't been interesting, at least.
bobbyutvol writes:
Girls are getting better you have to remember how young they are. injuries and youth spell lots of mistakes. we will be much better next year.. Lots of luck lady Vols keep playing hard.
topgun writes:
Hmmmmm?? Thinking...Er, how about LSU?? Their freshmen beat our freshmen. Coming back after an eighteen point deficit showed effort, but too little too late. Got to make those free throws!!!
polymer writes:
How did Coach Summitt let the program get to this point, recruiting-wise? She has always managed her recruiting classes so that this kind of situation would never develop -- where all of her experienced talent left in the same year, and she is left woth nothing but inexperienced youth for the next year.
YankeeVol writes:
Again, my mantra with an additional line:
Chill people. It's not cancer research.
Stop being mean to other people's children.
lindatotenn writes:
IF you don't care then why are YOU reading KNS and then posting on their WEB ???? YOU ARE A JOKE !!!!!
grow up no one really cares what YOU "think"
reachkim00 writes:
I'm disappointed, but I fully support our Lady Vols thru the good , the bad, the ugly. That's what TRUE fans do. Folks find it very easy to criticize what they are NOT used to. This is the youngest team Pat has ever had in her 32 years of coaching, so I think the struggling and growing pains are entitled. As frustrated as we fans get, can you imagine how thses ladies and the coaching staff feel? These girls don't WANT to lose. If you care to look close enough, the agony of defeat is written all over their faces after a loss. And I, as a TRUE Lady Vol fan will not kick them when they are down. The only venting I will do, or say, is that I look so forward to when the chemistry and maturity comes together and they become a 40 minute team. I'm telling you, these ladies will kick some butt and take names sooner than later.
Again I say, I support our Lady Vols 110% thru the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know that all TRUE Lady Vols fans, not just in Tennessee, but ALL over the country feel the same way. Keep fightin' ladies, we fans love ya!!!
GO LADY VOLS!!!!!!!
proudtn writes:
The second half of the game was the best the team has played all year. If not for the LSU homecooking, the Lady Vols would have had a win. Just glimpses of next year.
98reax writes:
The way I saw the closing moments, which is all I was able to see, we could have secured the rebound from Morris' missed jumper with the game tied at 61 all and 30+ seconds left on the clock, BUT we did not. Instead, Eason grabbed the board, ran off 20+ seconds when Angie was whistled for what looked more like a NO-CALL or even an 'offensive (the kid threw her leg out against Angie) foul' according to the guy I was watching the game with. A 53% FT shooter could have missed. She did not. The game could have gone into OT, instead we call a timeout and it looked like we were running the same play that beat LSU in the NCAA semi finals, except Shekinna passed off to Glory who could not get a shot off. Why did we not have Cain under the basket? Why did Stricklen not drive down the court with some speed and authority to give us another second or two for a put-back? Why did she not simply take it to the hole, or take a long jumper. Her chances would have been far better than Glory's.
We seem to be timid and passive off the dribble. Whenever we attempt to take it to the bucket we either walk, loose the handle or get tied up. What's up with that?
Here's a message to Strick: Read this and make sure you relay it to your teammates. This is not the time to cow down. Not even to Pat. Yes, you and your team have been slapped around by everybody, even your coaches and fans, but there are many who believe you can turn this season around right now. Get tough and get your head up. Take the last shot when you get it. You WILL make it. You are a Tennessee Lady Vol and this IS YOUR TEAM. Own it. When the ball is in your hands, it is going thru the net. When you drive NOTHING will stop you or take the ball from you. Tell Cain she is UNSTOPPABLE. She is bigger, stronger and better than any post player in the country. Get in Bj's face and tell her she will NEVER pass up an open look, and she will be top scorer of the post season.
Now take that message to your team, and don't make me come over there!
PureOrange writes:
This group of girls have been a disappointment because they have refused to give 100% for 40 min..
It is like a Boy Scout thinking he is a Marine simply because he is wearing a uniform. Being a Lady Vol is much more than putting on the uniform.
We have players who have now played a full year and some two, who still do not get it. The "young" thing is not the reason this team is losing. They simply do not want to make the effort. It is really hard to watch, and I feel for Pat because she certainly deserves better.
Tee writes:
Me and several of people I work with said the same thing...Kelley should have been in. Glory does that move several times during game with no result of missed free throws if foul is called. In our section at Thompson when she comes up to shoot free throws they say "here's 50% Johnson". Kelley was hot and a tall person who should have been in the game at that moment....but I'm not the coach. Pat is great but just didnt agree with that call. Good luck Sunday Ladies. Way to play Shekinna!!
johnlg00#206211 writes:
Freshmen very often play better at home than they do on the road. After Hightower went down, somebody had to step up and, to their credit, a couple of them did. Once again, the slow start KILLED the LVs. GOT to get that corrected or the post-season won't amount to much at all.
reachkim00 writes:
Great post!!... and if you do go over there, I wanna go with ya!!! GO LADY VOLS.. we fans love ya!
1volk-nowi-tall writes:
Get a life J baller or is this your life?
Very interesting dynamics going on here. Great high school players were these young ladies. Several players are giving little if anything that is positive. Must learn to shoot that shot in the face of the defender off of a screne or the dribble. Have such little respect from game officials that anything that looks faintly out of the norm is called a walk. Sure we walked some but sometimes just poor concentration by game officials. Watch the pivot foot. The silly jump ball call with .3 seconds just goes to show you what poor officiating there is in the women's game. No one from LSU even touched the ball just knowked Johnson backward. The screen that knowked Johnson down early in game was truely a moving screen. Gutless official would not earn His/her money there. Angie had position and was hitin the sternum by the shoulder of the LSU driver with 7.9 seconds left. Pat needs to get that old flame back. She seldom raises her voice to the weak officiating she gets. Sometimes I feel that the officials have been told by the NCAA that the NCAA is tired of this Lady Vol program getting all the attention. They are the best. Get them out of the tournament and the viewing for the tournament will be less than 1/4th what it is with them in the tournament.
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I DO NOT get it...Kelley (sp) Cain is playing realy well....and we don't use her as the main scoring threat?? Okay, okay, yes I do get it. She is a post, and she has to wait on the perimeter players to get her the ball.
IMHO, if we want to win games, we will ride Cain as much as possible. Let her keep shooting 80-percent and drawing fouls.
C'mon, LV's, you have a real star in the making. Hit the POSTS!!!!!!
98reax writes:
What's the next move? Pat has taken away every 'extra amenity' from the team. What more can she possibly do to get them stirred to excel?
NEWSFLASH: Coach is bringing in a notorious guest speaker guaranteed to motivate in extreme fashion. This 'personality' will absolutely make or break anything or anybody, regardless of personality. Pat is bringing in Mike—From—Whatever to tell the Lady Vols and their coaching staff how lousy stupid they are and how wonderfully awesome and perfect his favorite team is.
LdyVolFaninKS writes:
I guess I don't understand how we can have flashes of greatness and a sense of urgency (the last 3 minutes of the first half, 75% of the second) but we can't show that for 40 minutes. We did against Georgia for the most part. Also, not that the refs lost the game for us (like in Florida), but that was the worst game I have ever seen Dee call. Get your defensive game on track girls, after all, "Defense wins games!" Don't let me down in Little Rock...I still wear my orange with pride!
98reax writes:
Mikey, you are soooo special. You are a jewel. This is your best comment yet. I applaud your sagaciousness. Your theory just may come to fruition. We may indeed have the golden opportunity to send your favorite team packing verrrrrrrry early. You know the same thing (similar situation) happened in '97. Things have a way of repeating. Review my post from 1:30 AM; the stars are aligned, baby... Yep, that would be something, Mikey Boy. Stay close and stay tuned.
lindatotenn writes:
LOL LOL Yeah right. He doesn't know his a** from a hole in the ground. His team has a girlly man for a coach. WHAT A JOKE
lindatotenn writes:
What would be ever FUNNIER when uconn looses in the first round-- NOW THAT WILL BE FUNNY. !!!!!!!!
IT WILL BE PARTY TIME BABY !!!!!
topgun writes:
Amen, in spades. As usual, you have perfectly summed up the last few minutes of the game. LVs need to well in the SEC tourney. I'm beginning to get a little conerned about the NCAAs.
jr2miles writes:
This team just need to play a 40 minute game and everything else will come in play. This team will be find because they have the best coach in the world in Pat Summitt. Just know ladies you have a lot of fans behind you and we believe in you. Dig deep and play hard. Go Vols!!!!!!!!!!!
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
OKEMO say
our lady vols do not have what it take this year
still need even more incoming freshmen to help this team
give respect to uconn team
uconn is evil spirit in knoxville only because
they have championship teams and present
real threat to our lady vols
some lady vol fans need to grow and mature...
give homage where homage is due
uconn might get upset in tourney
OKEMO not think so, just wish so
OKEMO has spoken
RockyTop1 writes:
You could only hope! ZZ...
RockyTop1 writes:
WEAK...just like your TEAM!
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