John Adams: UT front line, crowd outnumber Commodores

Holly Warlick on the Lady Vols' win over Vandy

Tennessee's senior front line stepped front and center Sunday afternoon. And the Thompson-Boling Arena crowd wasn't far behind.

The combination was too much for visiting Vanderbilt.

Forward Shekinna Stricklen scored a team-high 20 points while post players Vicki Baugh and Glory Johnson combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds as the sixth-ranked Lady Vols pulled away in the second half for an 87-64 victory. You couldn't ignore the fans' impact, either.

The crowd of 17,879 seemed to energize the Lady Vols in the second half, during which they outscored the Commodores by 20 points. It elevated its game before the team did.

You could credit UT coach Pat Summitt for that.

Summitt rose from the bench to express her displeasure with the officiating after Johnson went down hard at mid-court in a skirmish for a loose ball, which ultimately went Vanderbilt's way. The fans roared their approval at their coach's response.

Summitt, who is battling early onset dementia, usually has been more subdued on the bench this season. Associate head coach Holly Warlick said Summitt also made a strong impression at halftime.

"She just challenged them the way Pat Summitt challenges them," Warlick said. "They were inspired when they left the locker room."

The arena itself is usually inspiration enough for these Lady Vols. In their last two games, they have beaten nationally ranked Georgia and Vanderbilt by a combined count of 52 points. In between, they

lost by one point to No. 9 Kentucky in Lexington.

UT's only home loss this season has been by nine points to No. 1 Baylor. Tennessee won its other seven games at Thomspon-Boling by an average of 33.5 points.

"We appear to have a lot more confidence at home," Warlick said. "Our crowd gives us a lot of energy. We need to create our own energy on the road."

The Lady Vols will have to wait until next week for another road challenge, which will be substantial — No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

In the meantime, they can find solace from a burgeoning inside game, which — at least against Vanderbilt — offset their wayward shooting from the perimeter. In the last four games, they have made only 14 of 52 3-point attempts.

"Our 3-pointers haven't been falling, so the coaches have stayed on us to have paint points," Stricklen said.

Their insistence paid off in Stricklen's case. Having struggled recently with her outside shooting, she did most of her damage against the Commodores from close range.

She teamed up well with Johnson, who has scored and rebounded in double figures in six of the last seven games, and Baugh, who has had 16 points in each of her last two games. Contending with that threesome was tough enough for Vanderbilt, which didn't help itself with early foul trouble. Post players Stephanie Holzer and Tiffany Clarke combined for nine fouls, and Holzer fouled out.

"Every time we play Tennessee, we get in early foul trouble," Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said. "I'm not going to blame the officials. Tennessee was the aggressor. They beat us to the spot (in the post) and did the work early that we didn't do."

Although UT's inside play was decisive, it didn't conceal all of the Lady Vols' flaws. Vanderbilt guard Christina Foggie scored 27 points, which were magnified by the timing — just three days after Kentucky guard A'dia Mathies had a career-high 34 points on Tennessee.

At home and in the paint, UT was able to overcome that.

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.