Early shooting woes cost Tennessee
Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA -- With its top perimeter threat sidelined by
an injury, Tennessee struggled early and never recovered against
Connecticut.
The Lady Vols missed 12 of their first 13 shots and 19-of-21 as
UConn won the NCAA championship with a 71-52 victory Sunday night.
|  | | Tennesee's Michelle Snow sits alone on the bench after losing the national title game to Connecticut. |
Tennessee sorely missed Kristen Clement's perimeter shooting.
She sprained her right ankle during a shootaround Sunday morning
and spent most of the night standing and rooting for her teammates
along Tennessee's bench.
"Ace is a starter, and to lose a starter on game day hurts,"
teammate Kara Lawson said of Clement. "We kept our focus. We
thought we could win the game without her. I don't think we responded
very well."
In Friday's semifinal victory over Rutgers, Clement scored eight
of the team's first 10 points -- including a pair of 3-pointers -- in
the first six minutes. It took the Lady Vols 12½ minutes to get
their eighth point against the Huskies.
"When you play a team as aggressive and physical as UConn, you
have to have great guard play," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.
"We took some quick shots. We played in a panic and didn't have
our composure."
Clement, a Philadelphia-area native and the team's emotional
leader, started every game for Tennessee this season before Sunday
night.
"You would think when you're playing for a national
championship, you would come out fired up," Clement said. "They
outhustled us and we played young. Coach turned to me and asked
what could we do. I said, 'Coach, you can't teach heart.' We played
scared, with no emotion. Hopefully, they'll learn from this."
Tennessee's starting guards combined for 14 points on 6-of-18
shooting, including Lawson who was 3-of-13 for six points. Senior
Kyra Elzy started in place of Clement and held Sue Bird to four
points.
But Elzy, who scored eight points, could not provide the
offensive lift Tennessee needed early.
"We relied heavily on Ace," Summitt said. "She's our best
perimeter defender and she greatly influences the attitude and
intensity of the team. Would it have changed the outcome? I don't
know."
The All-American tandem of Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall
also had a difficult time against a tenacious UConn defense.
Catchings, the AP player of the year, did not score her first
basket until 3:55 remained in the first half. By that time, the
Lady Vols trailed 25-12.
Catchings finished with 16 points, including 11 in the second
half when the outcome had been decided.
"They got all the turnovers, made all the hustle plays and
converted," Catchings said.
Tennessee committed 26 turnovers, a championship game record.
Kelly Schumacher had nine blocks, also a tournament record.
Randall, who scored six points on 1-of-11 shooting, made her
first shot 6:51 into the second half. The Lady Vols trailed by 21
at that point.
"Most of the time I drove the key, I got rejected," Randall
said. "It was a huge factor."
Tennessee shot just 5-of-27 (19 percent) in the first half and
16-of-51 overall (31 percent). The Lady Vols trailed 32-19 at
halftime, UConn opened with the second half with an 8-0 run and led
by double digits the rest of the way.
"They were too deep," Summitt said. "They rotated a lot of
bodies on Catchings and had a lot of fouls to use on her. Our
guards were not strong enough to handle the pressure the defense
applied." |
