DePaul Drops an Overtime Thriller to No. 2 Tennessee
12/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Boxscore
CHICAGO (AP) -- Outhustled and outplayed most of the night, No. 2 Tennessee found the spark it had been lacking just in time.
The Lady Vols (6-0) rallied from four points down with 1:30 left in regulation to beat DePaul 96-89 in overtime on Wednesday night -- their third straight comeback victory this year.
``Clearly they were the better team for 40 minutes,'' Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. ``We found a way to win, but our defense was very ineffective for most of the evening until we had to buckle down.
``The biggest disappointment was we didn't compete.''
Ashley Robinson scored 16 of her 18 points after halftime, including the game-tying basket in regulation and the first two points in overtime for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols then went on a 7-0 run in overtime behind a 3 by Loree Moore, a basket underneath from Shyra Ely and a short jumper in the lane Tasha Butts to put the game away for Tennessee.
Still, Summitt was in no mood to celebrate afterward.
She said it was Tennessee's poorest defensive effort of the season. The Lady Vols weren't too sharp on offense, either. They turned the ball over 21 times to DePaul smaller, faster lineup.
``Their guards are so quick and they started taking the ball to the basket. They were just beating us inside and outside,'' Robinson said. ``They gave us a lot of heck.''
Moore had 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for Tennessee, which shot 53 percent for the game -- the first time the Lady Vols have been over 50 percent this season.
Tennessee had not fallen to an unranked opponent since a loss to LSU in March 2002. It took everything they had to keep the streak alive against DePaul (8-1).
Tennessee trailed 81-77 with 1:30 to go in regulation when Ely scored down low, Zolman stole the ball at halfcourt and Robinson put back her miss to tie the game at 81 and send it into overtime.
Tennessee had a chance to go ahead in regulation, but Zolman's 3-point attempt was off and Ely couldn't get up a shot after grabbing the rebound.
DePaul was off to its best start since 1996 when the Blue Demons were 9-0. DePaul had won three straight games by 40 points or more, though not against teams the caliber of Tennessee.
DePaul has never beaten Tennessee, losing 15 in a row.
``A minute 30 to go and up four, we still had to finish the dadgum game,'' DePaul coach Doug Bruno said. ``We didn't finish the game. But I don't want it to get lost just how great these young women (played) to put us into position to get that basketball game.''
In overtime, the shots stopped falling for a tiring DePaul team as Tennessee overpowered the Blue Demons. Ashley Luke missed two 3-point attempts in the extra period as DePaul went just 2-of-8.
Khara Smith had 23 points and Jenni Dant added 21 for DePaul, who had three players on the court for over 40 minutes.
Tennessee trailed 46-44 at halftime but relied on its size advantage to take an early lead in the second half.
Tye'sha Fluker scored seven points during 9-0 run to start the second half that gave Tennessee a 53-46 lead.
DePaul wouldn't go away.
After cutting the deficit to one, Luke hit a long 3-pointer and Dant scored down low to give DePaul a 75-71 lead -- its largest since the first half.
``We go up by (seven), and we had veteran players play like we were up by 20,'' said Summitt, who substituted often looking for a spark. ``Obviously I'm pleased for our players that we found a way to win in the end, but it's very disappointing when we were having to substitute (so often). It was a revolving door at times.''