John Adams: Lady Vols can't measure up to 6-8

Only two seconds remained on the shot clock in a game that was still close enough for the nation's No. 1 team to feel the pressure. Baylor's response was poised and direct Sunday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

Point guard Odyssey Sims deftly pitched the ball inbounds to 6-foot-8 All-American center Brittney Griner, who reached above the smaller crowd to make the catch and the basket that gave the Lady Bears a six-point lead over Tennessee with 1:31 to play. So simple and so effective.

And so familiar.

No matter how much headway the Lady Vols made in their burgeoning rivalry with Baylor, they couldn't overcome the obvious obstacle. Griner is always lurking at both ends of the floor, ready to change the course of a shot or a game.

Tennessee led by as many as eight points, early in the second half; had 26 offensive rebounds to Baylor's nine; and benefitted from sterling performances by Shekinna Stricklen and Vicki Baugh. But it couldn't escape the reality of the situation: Baylor has Brittney Griner, and the Lady Vols don't.

"When your back's against the wall, you go to your money player," UT associate head coach Holly Warlick said of Baylor. "And we didn't have an

answer."

Griner had 26 points and seven blocks as Baylor became the first team since Texas in November of 2004 to win three consecutive games against the Lady Vols. The 76-67 victory wasn't all about Griner.

The Lady Bears are quick, athletic and driven by last year's season-ending upset loss to Texas A&M in the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament.

"It's all the motivation we need," Griner said of the unpleasant ending to a 34-3 season. "These games are just getting us ready for March."

Baylor already has beaten then second-ranked Notre Dame and No. 6 UT. Those victories remind you why Baylor — not Tennessee or Connecticut — has become the latest measuring stick for women's basketball. And for much of the game, the Lady Vols measured up.

Stricklen, an All-American with a puzzling habit of disappearing offensively, was the most dominant player on the floor in the first half when she scored 19 of her team-high 25 points. Baugh's 17-point, 11-rebound game reflects how unfazed she was by Griner's towering presence.

But taking down Baylor will take more than two good players at the top of their game. The Lady Bears remind you of some of UT's best teams in the way they respond to the kind of adversity they encountered Sunday. They never appeared harried when down by eight or as they inbounded the ball with only two seconds to shoot.

"They didn't look at me for a call," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "All of them knew what to do in that situation.

"That's when you know your team is making progress."

UT made progress as well, especially when compared to its most recent game — a 69-64 overtime loss to Virginia, which lost by 26 points to Texas. Yet as the teams move on, you have to wonder what the Lady Vols could do to produce a different outcome Baylor.

Although the Lady Vols seemingly have more depth and have stressed full-court defense, their press made only a cameo appearance.

"We probably could have pressed a little more," Warlick said. "But I thought their guards handled it."

In a best-case scenario, UT won't have to ponder the strategical challenge until the Final Four. Mulkey would be fine with that.

"If they play as well from here on out as they did today, we'll probably see each other again somewhere down the road," she said. "I hope not until Denver."

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com. Follow him at http://twitter.com/johnadamskns.