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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, December 18, 2006

Lady Vols dump Texas, 67-46

Associated Press

The matchup between Tennessee and Texas was a contest between two of the winningest coaches in college basketball. Pat Summitt (922 wins) and the Lady Vols got the best of Jody Conradt (889 wins).

DEBORAH CANNON | Associated Press

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AUSTIN, Texas — For 20 minutes, No. 5 Tennessee seemed to be in another rough-and-tumble battle with No. 23 Texas.

The Lady Vols were missing easy shots, committing turnovers and hanging on to a nine-point lead. Then everything turned around with two quick baskets from Candace Parker and a flurry of 3-pointers by Sidney Spencer and Shannon Bobbit, and the rout was on.

Spencer scored 15 points, Parker shook off a dismal first half of shooting to finish with 12 and the Lady Vols pulled away in the second half for a 67-46 victory yesterday.

"We play the toughest schedule in the country," Parker said. "We know how to bounce back."

In a matchup of college basketball's two winningest coaches, Tennessee's Pat Summitt got career win No. 922 and her second in a row over Texas' Jody Conradt, who has 889.

Tennessee (9-1) had lost four in a row in this rivalry between the traditional women's powers before winning the past two by an average of 31 points.

Tennessee led 27-18 at halftime before the burst by Parker and the Lady Vols pushed the lead to 51-31 with about 10 minutes left.

"We know coming on the road that shots are not always going to fall," Spencer said. "We were missing easy shots, wide-open layups in the first half. It ended up working out."

Texas (7-3), which came in off a 28-point loss at Duke a week earlier, missed a chance to take advantage of the Lady Vols' 11-of-35 shooting in the first half that included a 1-of-8 effort by Parker, Tennessee's leading scorer.

Parker made up for it on the defensive end, helping the Lady Vols shut down Texas' Tiffany Jackson with constant double- and triple-teams in the middle and halfcourt traps on Longhorns guards.

"Our perimeter defense helped with the pressure we put on the basketball," Summitt said. "If you can't see it, you're not going to be able to make a play."

Jackson finished with eight points on 2-of-13 shooting. Texas' 18 points tied for the third-lowest mark in a first half in school history.

"They get in your grill and don't let you breathe," Conradt said. "There's not a lot of teams good enough to totally take her out of the game. The only thing that can happen is for other players to step up. We're not mature enough yet."

Freshman guard Brittainey Raven scored 15 points to lead Texas in her third start. The Longhorns committed 20 turnovers, six by guard Erika Arriaran, that led to 19 Tennessee points.

The Lady Vols shot 57 percent in the second half, including 5 of 8 on 3-pointers.

No. 3 Oklahoma 82, Northern Colorado 36: Courtney Paris had 20 points and 13 rebounds — her 37th straight double-double — as the Sooners (9-0) beat the Bears (2-8) in Norman, Okla. Oklahoma held Northern Colorado to 22 percent shooting (13 of 58).

No. 7 LSU 65, No. 18 Michigan St. 50: Quianna Chaney scored 15 of her 24 points in the first half and Sylvia Fowles had a double-double — in the first half — to help the Lady Tigers (11-1) beat the Spartans (7-2) in East Lansing Mich. The 6-foot-6 Fowles had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first 20 minutes and finished with 21 and 14, respectively.

No. 9 Baylor 83, UCLA 70: Jessica Morrow scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Bears (11-1) over the Bruins (6-6) in Los Angeles. Bernice Mosby added 20 points and Angela Tisdale had 14 points for the Bears, who won their eighth consecutive game.

No. 11 Georgia 80, TCU 58: Freshman Angel Robinson came off the bench to score 18 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (9-1) over the Horned Frogs (6-4) in Athens, Ga., ending TCU's six-game winning streak. Cori Chambers scored 16 points and Tasha Humphrey added 13 points and 10 rebounds for Georgia.

No. 12 Vanderbilt 76, South Florida 68: Liz Sherwood scored 19 points as the Commodores (9-1) beat the Bulls (8-2) in Tampa, Fla. Sherwood had six points during Vanderbilt's 15-7 run over the final eight minutes. Vanderbilt also got 18 points from Carla Thomas. The Commodores outscored South Florida 50-22 in the paint.

No. 17 DePaul 74, Ill.-Chicago 65: Allie Quigley had 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to help the Blue Demons (9-1) beat the Flames (5-6) in Chicago.

No. 21 Marquette 74, Gonzaga 60: Krystal Ellis scored 19 of her 29 points in the first half and tied her college high to lead the Golden Eagles (10-1) over the Bulldogs (7-7) in Milwaukee for their ninth straight win. Christina Quaye and Svetlana Kovalenko each had 12 points in Marquette's first game after eight days off.