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UT senior Nicky Anosike wore a black t-shirt emblazoned with the UT logo and the phrase “Touching Third Base” to the media interview sessions on Monday. When questioned about the meaning, Anosike first checked with coach Pat Summitt and her teammates before revealing the secret: it was a vow the team had made to each other concerning focusing on all the little things it takes to be successful. Anosike stated: “We all just kind of made promises to each other we would touch third base, which basically means you don’t make it to the finish line unless you do what’s necessary beforehand to be successful at the end. You can’t get a home run unless you touch third base.”  The University of Tennessee Lady Vols not only touched third base, they came all the way home with their 64-48 win over Stanford tonight, winning their eighth National Championship and second in a row.

With All-American Candace Parker still not at a hundred percent with the aftereffects of her left shoulder injury, most everyone was picking the Cardinal and their 4-time All-American Candice Wiggins to take the championship over the women in Orange. But if history has taught us anything it is to never count out the Lady Vols. Surely coach Pat Summitt used the prognostications to her advantage, stating on the championship podium that she liked the fact everyone was picking Stanford to win. Summitt said, “The team may have entered the game as underdogs, but they’re top dogs now.”

There are two points of emphasis that are pounded into the brain of every young woman who is lucky enough to put on an orange jersey and play ball for Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt: defense wins games, and rebounding wins championships. The Lady Vols ramped up the defense against a Stanford team that entered tonight’s matchup on a 23-game win streak and having scored 180 points in their last two games combined. UT was a half-step quicker than the Cardinal all night, stepping in the passing lanes, being disruptive in every possible way and never allowing Stanford to get in their offensive groove. Candice Wiggins, the only player in history to have two 40-point games in an NCAA tournament, was held to 14 points. Wiggins’ 151 points scored over the Cardinal’s six games was still good enough for the fourth best total in NCAA Tournament history. UT, which had relied so heavily on Parker throughout her career, gave a complete team effort tonight, with Anosike putting up tremendous numbers, tallying 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 of the Lady Vols’ 13 steals.  Fellow senior Shannon Bobbitt scored 13, hitting 3 key three-pointers to go along with Parker’s game-high 17 points. Parker was named Most Outstanding Player for the second year in a row, and Bobbitt and Anosike joined her on the all-tournament team.

Stanford committed 25 turnovers which UT was able to exploit for 26 points. The Cardinal, who entered the game with a 72.8% free throw percentage, hit only 7 of their 14 free throws for 50% in tonight’s championship. Although Wiggins is graduating as the PAC-10’s all-time leading scorer, the remainder of the Cardinal team are fairly young, with their starting lineup having consisted of 3 sophomores and 1 freshman. Look for these talented young women to make a serious commitment to making sure it’s not another 11 years before the Cardinal make it back to the Final Four. Tonight’s starting lineup for the Lady Vols are all seniors and they depart Rocky Top having won back-to-back championships, becoming only the third team in NCAA history to do so. Congratulations to both teams for their run to the 2008 Final Four and to UT for their eighth National Championship. Go SEC!

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by LeAnne Harrington, SECWB.com

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When the 2008 NCAA tournament brackets were drawn up just a few short weeks ago, I filled mine out all the way through, picking UT, Connecticut, LSU and Vanderbilt to make it to Tampa. Although I readily admit that last one was chosen more by my heart than my head, I realized if the other three came through their regionals then it would mean another SEC vs. SEC Final Four semifinal.  Which logically meant that the dreams of one SEC team would end on Sunday night in Tampa, while the other would continue on into the finals. Having seen LSU come up short in each of their four previous tries, I truly felt this senior-laden squad was the team of destiny this year. Sadly for them, those dreams were dashed yet again in the national semifinals, and this time around was the most bitter defeat yet as they fell to UT by a single point.

They say war is hell, but one can also add ugly to the description. Tonight’s semifinal matchup between the Tennessee Lady Vols and the LSU Lady Tigers was one of the ugliest battles in recent memory. Setting a new Final Four record for least combined points in a game, UT gutted out a 47-46 victory over LSU to advance to Tuesday night’s championship game against Stanford. Seven minutes into the game, the score was an astounding 3-2 UT lead. The anticipated battle by two of the biggest names in the game - UT’s Candace Parker and LSU’s Sylvia Fowles - took a long while to get on track, with the two All-Americans connecting on only 2 of their first combined 11 shots. Parker, with a long-sleeved white t-shirt under here #3 jersey hiding the brace on her left shoulder, was obviously hampered by the injury she suffered against Texas A&M in the regional final last Tuesday night. Despite near round-the-clock rehab after two dislocations in that game, Parker’s shot was still obviously affected. But great players find ways to win and there’s no denying Parker is one of the greats. She gutted out 13 points on an abysmal shooting night, connecting on only 6 of her 27 attempts from the field, but was somehow able to pull down 15 rebounds despite the injured shoulder.

Meanwhile, LSU’s Fowles wasn’t having her best night offensively either, missing an improbably high number of shots from right under the basket. Whether it was a case of being too tight or all the white jerseys surrounding her, Fowles eventually got on track and had her best showing yet in a Final Four, knocking down 24 points while pulling down 20 boards. But it wasn’t enough to get LSU past their perennial semifinal stopping point. The difference in this game was at the line, where LSU’s free throw woes came back to haunt them, as they connected on only 7 of 19 for an atrocious 36.8% free throw percentage. UT wasn’t any better, hitting only 2 of 7, but if LSU had come anywhere near their admittedly low season average of 66%, they would have had a winning margin of 6 or 7 points.

After pulling ahead by 9 in the second half, UT’s lead evaporated under an LSU onslaught. UT clung to a 45-44 lead with 7.1 seconds remaining in the game when LSU’s Erica White was fouled by UT’s Alexis Hornbuckle.  White calmly stepped to the line, draining the first, and then UT called a timeout in an attempt to ice her. White was the first one back to the line after the timeout, and nailed the second for a one point LSU lead. But Parker drove the length of the court, dishing to Nicky Anosike under the goal. Anosike’s layup attempt clanked off the iron, but Hornbuckle, who had gone scoreless the entire game, grabbed the rebound and put up the eventual game-winning putback. LSU’s last ditch effort at a full-court throw was intercepted by the Lady Vols to preserve the Big Orange victory.

LSU’s 31-6 season ends in yet another semifinal heartbreak, but UT’s dream is still alive as they move on to face the Stanford Cardinal in the championship game on Tuesday night in Tampa. UT will be vying for their eighth NCAA championship, and second in a row. Stanford is attempting to win their third title, and first since 1992.

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