NASHVILLE — Candace Parker says Tennessee is a different team than the one that lost to LSU last month. The Lady Vols, she says, no longer play in spurts and coast with a sizable lead.
Of course, they had no choice Saturday night against Vanderbilt in the SEC semifinals.
The third-ranked Lady Vols fell behind by 10 points in the first half but stormed back to win 63-48 in front of an SEC tournament-record 12,897 at the Sommet Center. Tennessee will meet No. 7 LSU in the SEC title game for the third time in four years tonight at 7:30.
The Lady Tigers, easy winners over Kentucky earlier in the evening, beat Tennessee 78-62 on Feb. 14 after falling behind 21-2.
“They beat us on our home floor and they won the SEC championship outright, so obviously we have incentive going in,” Parker said. “It’s going to come down to defense and rebounding and playing a 40-minute game. We’re a different team than we were when we played them before. Now, we play with energy and play for 40 minutes.”
The Lady Vols (29-2) won their sweet 16th straight game against Vanderbilt (22-8) — and third this season — with superior perimeter defense, particularly in the second half.
Vanderbilt shot a season-worst 2-of-17 from the 3-point line and scored just three baskets in the second half until making three in the final two minutes. By then, Parker had already received a standing ovation after scoring 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting. She made all eight free throws and blocked four shots.
“Candace Parker changes the game,” Vanderbilt coach Melanie Balcomb said.
Like the Commodores, Tennessee made only six baskets in a second half that featured no baskets by either team for more than six minutes. The Lady Vols shot just 22.2 percent in the second half but never really faced a serious challenge from Vanderbilt, which trailed by double figures for the final 13 minutes of the game.
“I’ve always believed you’re going to have some of those nights when you don’t get good shot selection and you don’t make shots,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “We experienced that in both halves. I felt like we really stepped up at halftime. We talked about being a better defensive team.”
Tennessee finished the first half without Shannon Bobbitt and Nicky Anosike — each had two fouls — and a winded Parker. But the damage was done.
Parker helped the Lady Vols overcome an 18-8 deficit with 17 first-half points on 7-of-11 shooting. Bobbitt contributed two 3-pointers during a 12-0 run, including one that put Tennessee ahead for good, 21-20, with 9:09 remaining in the half.
The lead swelled to 34-24 when Parker drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 4:03 left in the half. About an hour later, the Lady Vols could finally talk about losing to LSU last month and the final game of a tournament that has seen no lower-seeded teams win a game.
The loss to LSU was Tennessee’s worst at home since Dec. 15, 1996.
“I think that game was a definite wakeup call,” Summitt said. “I think they realized they were playing in spurts. Think of the number of times we’ve gotten off to a huge lead, only to see it dwindle away and us have to fight to the bitter end to win a game.
“I think that was a costly one for our players. They knew they probably had lost the SEC regular-season title, and they really had no one to blame but themselves.”
