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Sunday, Dec. 19 7:00pm ET
UT storms out to 20-point halftime lead | |||||
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Tennessee coach Pat Summitt hopes her team's next trip to Philadelphia will be just as dominating. The second-ranked Lady Volunteers (8-1) overwhelmed undersized St. Joseph's (7-2) with their speed and quickness from the opening tip, storming out to a 20-point halftime lead en route to an easy 82-59 win Sunday night. Summitt isn't about to make more reservations just yet for Philadelphia, where the Final Four will take place. But if her team keeps this up, Philadelphia in March could be a special time for the Lady Vols (8-1). "We want to be back here. This is where we want to finish out the season," Summitt said. Semeka Randall led Tennessee with 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while Tamika Catchings hit 7-of-9 shots for 15 points. The Lady Vols put the game away early, forcing 14 of St. Joe's 24 turnovers in the first half, including eight steals. At one point, Tennessee converted four straight Hawks turnovers into baskets, capped by Kara Lawson's 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Lady Vols a 22-5 lead with 12:57 left in the first half. The overwhelming start erased any doubts Summitt had that her squad would come out lackluster before heading home for the holidays "In the first two possessions, I could tell that we were here to play," she said. Kristen Clement, who went to high school just outside of Philadelphia, added 10 points and threw some nifty no-look passes to pace the Lady Vols, who won their eighth straight. "I didn't feel any extra butterflies. It was just like any other road test game," Clement said. Susan Moran had 16 points and seven rebounds to lead St. Joseph's, which shot 27 percent in the first half on 6-of-22 shooting. "They were more aggressive and more physical. They dictated from the start. We folded right from the beginning," Hawks forward Kathy Costello said. The Hawks' cut a 40-20 halftime deficit to 17 points after Jana Lichnerova converted a give-and-go from Cheryl Kulesa with just under four minutes gone in the second half. Catchings then scored nine of Tennessee's next 12 points en route to a 68-39 lead and its fifth straight win over St. Joseph's. Lichnerova, the Hawks' leading scorer coming into the game at 15.5 ppg, was held scoreless in the first half and finished with five points on 2-of-11 shooting. The loss snapped the Hawks' six-game winning streak. "We took a gamble with our own schedule but found out there's a gap between the elite program and us," Hawks coach Stephanie Gaitley said. "We need one or two next-level players." | ALSO SEE Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
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