UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Monday, March 31, 1997
3B
Tennessee wins it all
By Chuck Schoffner
The Associated Press
CINCINNATI — Tennessee arrived at the women's Final Four with more losses than any previous team. But the Vols also arrived with Chamique Holdsclaw, and that's what mattered most.
Holdscraw was brilliant yesterday night, leading Tennessee to a 68-59 victory over Old Dominion that gave the Vols their second straight
national
champion
onship and
fifth overall.
fifth overall.
She scored
14 of her 24
points in the
second half
and made
the key
plays down
the stretch
to help her
t e a m
re co ver
after temporarily losing the lead. In the final 6:48, the All-American scored 10 points, assisted on two baskets and blocked a shot.
Shut down in the first half by Old Dominion's pressure and her own reluctance, Holdsclaw settled down and settled in when the Vols needed her most.
"I felt I let their pressure get to me early," Holdscraw said, who wore one of the nets around her neck. "My teammates and coaches stayed on me: 'Chamique, just take your time.' I can't hide on this team."
An aggressive, physical defense that took the free-spirited, emotional Old Dominion players out of their game also was key, as was the coaching acumen of Pat Summitt.
Summitt has guided the Vols (29-10) to all of their titles. UCLA's John Wooden is the only coach in major college basketball, men or women, with more titles than Summitt.
"Fifth in the SEC and No. 1 in the country," Summitt said. "Doesn't that just sum up what this team has just accomplished?"
With 9.3 seconds left and the title secure, Holdesclaw slapped hands and bumped bodies with jubilant teammates. Indicative of the way the game went, Old Dominion All-American guard Ticha Penicheiro threw the ball away on the Monarchs' last possession, then went to the bench in tears. It was her 1th turnover, a season high, and Old Dominion's 26th.
Those turnovers were the result of a Tennessee defense that was allowed to bump and knock people around without fouls being called
while the Vols were building a 16 point lead in the first half.
Penicheiro, Old Dominion's darting, slashing point guard from Portugal, bore the brunt of the Tennessee defense. She went scoreless in the first half and finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. But she did set a championship game record with eight steals.
"In the first half, we were a little intimidated by the kind of pressure Tennessee put on us," Penicheiro said. "We turned it over way too much. That had a lot to do with the result."
The title capped a long bumpy ride for Tennessee, which suffered through injuries and the nation's toughest schedule in the first half of the season. Tennessee stood 10-6 after losing at Old Dominion 83-72 on Jan. 7 and looked nothing like a team that could win the national championship.
But point guard Kellie Jolly returned from a knee injury after that game, and the Vols regrouped to become only the second team in 16 years of NCAA women's play to win consecutive titles. Southern Cal won in 1983 and 1984.
Tennessee's 10 losses are the most ever for a national champion. The most previously were six by Tennessee's 1987 title team.
NCAA championship game promises to be fast-paced
By Jim O'Connell The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Get the VCRs ready. The pace of the NCAA title game promises to be so fast you might need to watch it in slow motion to catch it all.
Kentucky and Arizona are quick. No, they're quicker than that.
"Our guys like fast-paced games," Arizona
"It's going to be like watching a tennis match, so people better do some neck exercises before they come in tomorrow night."
Both teams capitalized on their quickness to reach the title game. Kentucky is well known for the speed it uses in a variety of defenses, which forced 26 turnovers in Saturday's 78-69 victory over Minnesota in the semifinal.
Arizona (24-9), the only non-No. 1 seed in the Final Four, made its move in the NCAA tournament with wins over top-ranked Kansas, Providence and North Carolina.
Kentucky coach Rick Pitino said of Arizona, "They've got incredible quickness and speed, and they didn't beat Kansas on a fluke game."
Kentucky (35-4) is one win away from becoming the first repeat champion since Duke in 1992. Pitino would be the seventh coach to win at least two straight titles.
His team bears little resemblance to the one that beat Syracuse for the title last season, except for Ron Mercer, who had 20 points in that championship game as a freshman.
Still Kentucky uses the pressure defense to get things going, even if the opposition has the
same strategy.
Kentucky Anthony Epps said, "When teams press us, we try to get layups off it. And with me and Wayne Turner both being point guards, we have two guards to beat the press, and we use all five guys to break it. We press each other every day in practice, so we know how to handle it."
Arizona point guard Mike Bibby also didn't sound all that concerned about facing pressure.
"They like to run. We like to run," he said.
"Teams that have tried to press us have only done it a couple of possessions because we have broken it every time. Their press is unbelievable, and they keep coming at you because they never seem to get tired."
Like Turner.
He played 39 minutes against Minnesota and was key in forcing all those Golden Gopher turn-overs.
"I hope that wasn't my best game, that there's a better one from me in my career," he said. "I think it will be a great challenge. Bibby and (Miles) Simon are great guards."
Simon and Bibby took turns supplying the offense for Arizona in Saturday's 66-58 win over North Carolina. Simon had 15 of his 24 points in the first half. Bibby had all but three of his 20 in the second half. They combined for nine three-pointers.
Pitino said, "If you have people that spot up from the three, then you can take that away. But as well as they put it on the floor you can't do that.
"They look to get the three or the easy shot in the lane. This is a team in transition that is as good as I've seen in quite some time."