Late-game charge not enough for Wildcats.
By TIM WHITMIRE
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) (Jan. 23, 2000) — After a shocking27-point loss to Georgia earlier in the week,Tennessee coach Pat Summitt was just happy to geta win – even if her second-ranked Lady Vols nearlyblew a 20-point lead to Kentucky.
“I told our team that we could have won this gameor lost this game. We had a situation where eithercould have happened,” Summitt said after Sunday’s71-65 victory, which Tennessee iced with four freethrows after Kentucky closed to within 67-65 in thefinal seconds.
“I think we have to build on the fact that we wonthis game,” Summitt said. “We made our freethrows, which we did not do in other close games,”including losses to Louisiana Tech and Connecticut.
Natalie Martinez brought Kentucky (11-7, 3-3Southeastern Conference) within two on her3-pointer with 13 seconds left, but both TamikaCatchings and Seneka Randall hit a pair of freethrows to secure the win for the Lady Vols (14-3,4-1).
Michelle Snow led Tennessee with 18 points andseven rebounds, dominating her inside matchup withKentucky’s Shantia Owens, who got into early foultrouble and finished with just two points and fiverebounds.
“We were struggling offensively getting into ourhalfcourt,” Summitt said. “I thought she (Snow)came up with big plays – rebounds and points. She just did a nice job for us.”
Tennessee won in its first game since losing 78-51 at No. 7 Georgia onMonday, the Lady Vols’ worst loss ever in the SEC.
Early on, they looked like they would cruise against the Wildcats, using a16-2 run midway through the first half to build a 20-point lead.
Kentucky chipped away in the second half, though, with point guard EricaJackson scoring all Kentucky’s points in a 9-2 run that closed the gap in thefinal minutes and gave Tennessee a scare.
Kara Lawson finished with 15 points, Randall with 15 and Catchings had 11for the Lady Vols.
LaTonya McDole led Kentucky with 18 points and seven rebounds,Jackson had 11 points and Laura Meadows had 10.
Tennessee has now won 17 straight games against Kentucky, with the lastWildcat win coming in January of 1986.
Though Summitt characterized the defeat as a “good loss” for Kentucky,which last year made the NCAA tournament for the first time in eightseasons, Kentucky coach Bernadette Mattox responded, “No loss is good.”
“I think our players just need to realize how good a basketball team theyare,” Mattox said.
After halftime, with Kentucky trailing 40-24, Mattox switched the Wildcatsto a zone defense that helped limit the Lady Vols to 34.8 percent shooting(8-of-23) over the final 20 minutes. Tennessee had shot 53.1 percent(17-of-32) from the field in the first half.
In the first half, it was all Tennessee, as the Wildcats were caught flat-footedby the Lady Vols’ aggressive man-to-man defense and committed 17turnovers, leading to 19 Tennessee points.
With the game tied at 8, Tennessee went on a 16-2 run that included a pairof 3s by Lawson and four points by Randall.
A putback by Gwen Jackson with 4:46 left in the half gave Tennessee itsbiggest lead of the game at 35-15.
