Feb 24, 2002
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS
AP Sports Writer
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After fourth-ranked Tennessee fought for a comfortable lead over Kentucky, Lady Vols fans wanted more.
On Senior Day, the fans begged for senior Michelle Snow to cap the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon with her first dunk at home. They will have to wait longer.
“They wanted her to dunk. I tried everything. I played her on the point of our three-two zone. We set back screens,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “(The Wildcats) weren’t going to let it happen.
“Hopefully we’ll be here for two more games if we take care of business.”
The Lady Vols had enough trouble early trying to contain the Wildcats (8-19, 1-13 Southeastern Conference) before taking control in the second half en route to an 89-64 win.
Kentucky, which has lost 21 straight times to Tennessee (24-3, 13-1), led by a surprising 10 points early and was tied at 42 going into halftime.
After Shambrica Jones tied the score at 49 for Kentucky with 16:33 to go, Kara Lawson hit a 3 and then a driving layup to start a 16-2 run that put Tennessee ahead for good.
The Wildcats didn’t score for 5{ minutes. By the time SeSe Helm made a free throw to end the drought, Tennessee was already ahead by 18. The Wildcats couldn’t rally.
“To come in this environment on senior night and fight hard the way we did makes a statement,” Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox said.
A fast-paced transition game and better defense helped the Lady Vols build their lead in the second half as they won their 40th straight SEC home game.
Tennessee, which won the regular-season SEC title, earned a bye on the first day of the conference tournament that starts on Thursday in Nashville. The Lady Vols are hoping to again host the first and second rounds of the upcoming NCAA tournament.
Kara Lawson scored 18 points and reserves Brittany Jackson added 11 and Shyra Ely had 10 and seven rebounds for Tennessee.
Helm led Kentucky with 18 points and Rita Adams added 10.
Summitt started seniors Snow, Shalon Pillow and Amanda Canon, who had never started a game before in her career.
Snow, who has started off and on throughout the year, didn’t play much of the second half. But when the crowd started chanting her name with six minutes to go, Summitt put her back in.
The crowd then chanted “dunk it, Snow,” but that request didn’t transpire.
“It just made me feel special because that was a point in my game I wanted to capitalize on and work on to see people appreciate it. That’s why I do it, just for the fans,” Snow said.
April McDivitt lobbed an alley-oop pass toward the basket to entice a dunk, but that didn’t work either. Then she moved to the top of the zone defense to try to get a steal.
“We tried about everything. But I think it’s going to have to be natural,” Snow said.
“Kentucky wasn’t going to let it happen,” Lawson interjected.
Snow finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Tennessee forward Gwen Jackson, who has missed four games recovering from a separated shoulder, played for the first time since Feb. 10. She finished with seven points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.
