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Home > SECWB News & More! > SEC Tournament News > (2) Tennessee 81, South Carolina 63 / (10) Georgia 72, Kentucky 40
(2) Tennessee 81, South Carolina 63 / (10) Georgia 72, Kentucky 40
Posted: March 3rd, 2007 @ 12:04am
(2) Tennessee 81, South Carolina 63
By CHARLES ODUM, AP Sports Writer
March 2, 2007
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Candace Parker played only 21 minutes and took just four shots, yet No. 2 Tennessee showed why it is the team to beat in the SEC tournament.
Displaying impressive scoring balance, the No. 2 Lady Vols began their pursuit of a sixth sweep of the Southeastern Conference's regular-season and tournament titles by beating South Carolina 81-63 in a quarterfinal game on Friday.
Sidney Spencer scored 22 points and Alexis Hornbuckle added 17 for Tennessee, which won its 34th consecutive matchup against the Gamecocks since 1980. Parker added 10 points and 11 rebounds while sitting out much of the second half. Alex Fuller and Nicky Anosike each had eight points.
"If we can get a little more balance, people can't key on one player, and obviously Candace has been a target all year for opposing defenses," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.
Parker, who averaged 20.6 points and 9.8 rebounds in the regular season, said she didn't mind not being the top scorer in the Lady Vols' tournament opener.
"I think we did a great job of moving the ball," Parker said. "Like I've said all year, pick your poison."
Summitt said the scoring balance was an encouraging sign in Tennessee's effort toward its 13th SEC tournament title -- and its seventh NCAA championship.
"That is a good thing because we know people are going to key on Candace," Summitt said.
South Carolina coach Susan Walvius said her team couldn't overlook Parker even with other Tennessee players doing most of the scoring.
"We know when Tennessee needed a basket they're going to go to Parker," Walvius said. "They were very balanced. That's what makes them hard to guard."
Tennessee advances to a semifinal Saturday against LSU, which defeated Mississippi 52-46.
Tennessee (28-2) finished 14-0 in the league and won its 14th regular-season title. It has won both the regular-season and tournament championships five times, most recently in 2000.
The only other time the Lady Vols won both titles without a loss in the regular season was 1998, when they won the last of Summitt's six national championships.
Lakesha Tolliver led South Carolina (17-14) with 13 points. Melanie Johnson added 11, all in the first half.
South Carolina trailed by only six points late in the first half when it lost guard Stacy Booker to a twisted knee. Booker didn't play in the second half, but Walvius said she didn't think the injury was serious enough to prevent the senior from playing if the Gamecocks receive a bid to the NCAA tournament.
Parker was mostly quiet before she was involved in a brief skirmish with Tolliver about 6 minutes into the second half. The two were entangled following a foul by Parker and quickly separated by the officials.
On the next trip down the floor, Parker blocked a shot by Tolliver and then scored over her, drawing a foul. After making the basket, Parker glared at Tolliver and then sank the free throw.
Parker soon was back on the bench.
Tennessee needed only one pass and 4 seconds to take a 3-0 lead on Spencer's basket and free throw. Five Lady Vols' players scored in the first five minutes.
South Carolina cut down on their season-high 34 turnovers in the regular-season loss to the Vols. The Gamecocks committed only 11 turnovers in the first half, but a buzzer-beating shot by Spencer gave the Lady Vols a 40-28 halftime lead.
Parker had five points at the break.
Tennessee stretched its lead to 56-33 in the first 5 minutes of the second half.
(10) Georgia 72, Kentucky 40
March 2, 2007
DULUTH, Ga. (AP) -- Only two weeks after Kentucky's two top inside players almost got the best of Georgia, the No. 10 Lady Bulldogs bounced back with a better defensive effort in the SEC tournament.
Georgia held Kentucky scoreless for the first 8 minutes and rolled to a 72-40 victory over the Wildcats Friday in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Angela Robinson, a 6-foot-5 forward, scored 15 points and 6-foot-3 forward Tasha Humphrey added 14 for Georgia. Each had 8 rebounds as No. 10 Georgia won most of the inside battles against Kentucky's Jennifer Humphrey and Sarah Elliott, who combined for four points.
In Georgia's 82-72 overtime win at Kentucky on Feb. 15, Jennifer Humphrey and Elliott combined for 30 points for the Wildcats. On Friday they made only 2 of 14 shots.
"They played very well against us in Lexington," said Georgia coach Andy Landers. "I think our kids were determined to not let that happen again, to stop that. They just stepped up and played."
Georgia (25-5) advanced to the semifinals of the tournament on Saturday against the winner of Friday night's Vanderbilt-Florida game.
Georgia is playing for its first SEC tournament championship since 2001 and its fifth overall with Landers.
Ashley Houts had 12 points and Janese Hardrick added 10 for the Lady Bulldogs.
A day after Jennifer Humphrey scored 21 points in Kentucky's 72-57 first-round victory over Arkansas, the Wildcats couldn't recover from their slow start against Georgia.
Kentucky shot 20 percent from the field, a record low for the SEC tournament. The old mark was 22.2 percent shooting by Alabama against Mississippi in 1990.
The Wildcats' 12 field goals also was a new tournament low. The previous record low was 14, set three times.
"The team (Kentucky) played in Lexington is not the same team they played here," said Tasha Humphrey. "... We just came in with that mentality that, you know, nobody's going to stop us but ourselves. We played great on both ends of the floor. I think our guards did a great job of getting us the ball and we did a great job of finishing."
Kentucky missed its first 14 shots from the field and trailed 12-0 when Elliott finally scored on a follow shot with 12 minutes left in the first half. The Wildcats shot only 16.1 percent from the field for the half, making only 5 of 31 attempts.
"We've had a couple of games where we started a little sluggish, but usually we bounce back," said Carly Ormerod, who led Kentucky with 14 points but fouled out with 5:18 left to play.
"It's hard, though, when you shot 16 percent for the entire half."
Ormerod was the only player to score in double figures for Kentucky (18-13). Jennifer Humphrey did not score for only the second time this season. Elliott, averaging 13.9 points per game, scored only four points.
"We didn't have our big scorers step up for us," said Kentucky coach Mickie DeMoss. "We didn't have our big inside presence with Elliott."
Added DeMoss: "(Georgia) played extremely well and we just didn't have a good night."
Georgia led 38-18 at halftime, leaving Kentucky on pace to challenge the SEC tournament record for fewest points in a game -- 39 by Auburn in a 2002 loss to Vanderbilt. Kentucky reached 40 points on two free throws by Jenny Pfeiffer with 2:04 left.
Georgia stretched its lead to 27 points at 47-20 early in the second half. Kentucky came no closer than 19 points, at 49-30, the rest of the way.
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