Lady Vols Basketball
Among the ebbs and the flows, Angie Bjorklund was the constant.
And the senior guard’s on-target shooting and across-the-board contributions couldn’t have come at a better time with fourth-ranked Tennessee not at its best.
“I thought she was really feeling it offensively,” said UT coach Pat Summitt, “and I thought her defensive intensity was really good as well.”
Bjorklund did what she does best — hit six of 10 shots from behind the 3-point line and make all four of her free throws — on her way to 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in UT’s 85-73 win over Virginia Thursday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
But perhaps most importantly, she played all 40 minutes of the game with just one turnover, shining the brightest in a game that didn’t leave her coach in the best of moods.
“The one thing about Angie,” Summitt said, “I don’t really think fatigue is a factor with her, especially in home games. As long as she was playing that way, we can get her some rest, and I think that’ll be important.”
Though Virginia jumped out to a 17-9 lead four minutes into the game, Bjorklund scored nine of UT’s first 14 points, and she was on the floor fighting for a loose rebound in the second half.
After assisting on three of four UT baskets in a 9-3 spurt that stretched the lead to 16, her layup off Kelley Cain’s pass on a backdoor cut gave UT its largest lead (72-54) with 7:20 left in the game.
The 6-foot sharpshooter from Spokane Valley, Wash., again had her way with Virginia. Bjorklund scored 24 points and hit five 3-pointers in a 77-63 road win over the Cavaliers last season.
“I don’t know if it’s necessarily Virginia,” she said smiling. “I just thought my team did a great job of getting me the ball.
“We moved the ball well as a team and knocked down open shots.”
Bjorklund continues to close in on UT’s all-time record for 3-pointers. She’s now just 10 behind Kara Lawson for second and 20 behind Shanna Zolman for the top spot on the list. She’s hit 14 3-pointers in three games this season.
Bjorklund, who’s played a handful of 40-minute games in her long career, made eight of her first 11 shots before missing her last four in the game’s final stretch.
“I don’t think it was necessarily fatigue,” she said. “Sometimes you’re just not hitting shots. As a shooter, you’ve just got to keep shooting.
“Every single shot’s a new shot.”
Patrick Brown is a freelance contributor.
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Comments » 10
VolWoman writes:
Love Angie - I already dread her leaving.
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
Angie did a wonderful job tonight on both ends of the court. With all the shooters on the floor for the lady vols, and Virginia keying on stopping Simmons, Angie got to show her stuff, and she did. The good thing about this team, is that they have shooters. And opposing teams can't stop all of them at one time. Someone is going to be open, tonight it was Angie B's time! Good job!
SummittsCourt writes:
She is going to shatter the old 3 point mark set by Shanna this year. Does she become an all time great Lady Vol?
Jephry writes:
In my opinion, with everything this team has gone through over the past four years, Angie has already proven herself as one of the all time great Lady Vols.
Go Angie!!!
1volk-nowi-tall writes:
The picture that introduces this article shows Angie being fouled by the defender. Clear foul. Of course it was not called. That is the story of Pat's teams over the past several years. It appears that there is an effort being made to keep them from winning games. Sound crazy, well with the same officials calling their games it is easy to go in that direction. There appears to be a strong, prevailing CONTEMPT on the part of these officials for the Lady Vol players. Angie is held, pushed, blocked and battered over and over, game after game and she shoots very few foul shots.
ps11824 writes:
Reluctant to weigh in on this official conspiracy theory BUT ms Dee Canter was also involved in the ucon vs Baylor contest with no-calls and made-up-calls, especially the shot-clock violation and the offensive floul charged to BG. These calls were questionable for such a critical time of the game. Imagine if that had been TN vs ??? We would be screaming for somebody's whistle
ridor9th writes:
Interesting views, 98reax! AS a Cavalier fan, I always thought Dee Kantner coddled the LVs more than the Cavaliers themselves!
Yes, we have no answer for Angie Bjorklund. So glad she'll take her 25ppg away next year when the Cavs get to play them again in Charlottesville. This time, we will be seasoned and ready to hand you a L on your record.
I love this series more than UConn-UT series, FYI.
R-
PINK_CHAMPAGNE writes:
98, I hate to even think about that made up call on Griner, Dee Kantner made up. That was just bad officiating! At that moment, Dee Kantner changed the outcome of that game.
tennesseehogfan1 writes:
I was wondering why Brewer is not playing? Last year she came through when Pat needed her. Is she injured, or is she still on the team? I'd like to know.
ps11824 writes:
Hey PINK, why the no-call on shot clock violation which would have given Baylor the ball with the clock stopped, and a couple extra seconds better chance to set up their offense? Why is no one jumping up and down about that? It was so obvious, wasn't it?
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