KNOXVILLE — Tennessee Lady Vol Shekinna Stricklen stood at center court, pumped her chest and beckoned the orange-clad fans at Thompson-Boling Arena to amplify their already deafening roar on Sunday.
The freshman guard was reveling in a 25-point performance that led the Lady Vols (9-2) to a 79-69 overtime victory over third-ranked Stanford before a crowd of 14,763.
“She’s got a little a bit of a laid-back personality off the court, but I think she’s starting to dial it up with a lot more intensity and attack more from an offensive standpoint,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.
On Thursday, Stricklen hardly had the strength to do anything at all, sitting out Tennessee’s 81-76 win at Old Dominion with an illness.
The day-off may have been a boon.
“I think missing the game at Old Dominion was probably good for her because I think she wanted to get back on the floor and prove her worth to our basketball team,” Summitt said.
Already in double-digits in regulation, Stricklen scored eight of her team’s 11 points in overtime to seal Tennessee’s victory in a rematch of last season’s national championship.
“I guess she (Stricklen) was sick in the last game,” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “She made me sick tonight.”
But the Cardinal had a chance to win the game. With the game tied at 68 and just over 20 seconds left in regulation, Stanford guard Melanie Murphy drove to her right and pulled up for a jumper but was blocked by UT freshman Alicia Manning, sending the game into overtime.
With Stricklen’s hot shooting and a stifling defensive effort after regulation, Stanford couldn’t keep up offensively in overtime, scoring only one point in the extra period.
“That was huge for our team because we’ve been working on defense since day one,” said sophomore Angie Bjorklund, who added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
After trailing nine points at halftime, Stanford clawed back. Murphy converted a fastbreak layup to give the Cardinal a 49-48 lead with 12 minutes, 49 seconds left in the second half.
But the 11th-ranked Lady Vols responded with an 8-0 spurt that gave them a 60-52 advantage with 8:40 left.
That lead crumbled thanks to some timely shooting from beyond the arc from the Cardinal. Stanford guard Jeanette Pohlen drained her fourth 3-pointer to tie the game with just under a minute left in regulation.
“I told them we’ve got to close it out,” Summitt said. “Of course, I was hoping to close it out in regulation, but I guess they wanted to play a little longer. I didn’t. I was ready to go to the locker room.”
Stanford’s 6-foot-4 forward Jayne Appel led her team with 19 points and 14 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for the Cardinal, which has dropped two of three games on their road swing through the South this month. Their other loss came at Duke on Dec. 16.
Largely absent from the UT’s defensive attack was the full-court press, which forced the Cardinal into a season-high 23 turnovers against Duke.
“They learned from Duke,” Summitt said. “They spaced better and played off the dribble better. ... I felt it was time to get out of the press.”
The Lady Vols next play at Gonzaga on Dec. 30 in Bjorklund’s hometown of Spokane, Wash.
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