Lady Vols surge back
Tennessee erases 12-point deficit to dump Tar Heels
Posted: Tue March 24, 1998 at 9:50 AM ET
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Chamique Holdsclaw (23) scored 29 points, including eight in a 15-1 burst in the second half
(AP)
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN/SI) -- With Chamique Holdsclaw and a tough full-court press,
the Lady Vols are awfully tough to beat.
Maybe impossible.
Trailing in the second half for the first time in more than
three months, the top-ranked Lady Vols roared back from 12 points
down and beat North Carolina 76-70 Monday night to earn another trip to Final Four.
Tennessee (37-0) did it behind Holdsclaw, who scored 14 of her
29 points in the final 7:06, and with its devastating press, which
wasn't effective early, but finally triggered a game-turning 15-1
run -- the same type of burst the Lady Vols have used so often to
destroy opponents.
"We knew we did not want to lose," Tennessee's Tamika
Catchings said. "[Coach] Pat [Summitt] came in and said, 'You guys
are getting beat at your own game.' That picked us up the most. We
started playing the Tennessee game and it got us back in the
game."
The pulsating comeback in the Mideast Regional finals kept alive
Tennessee's hopes of a record third straight national title, a
perfect season and a place in history as the greatest women's team.
But all of those possibilities came close to being shattered by
a North Carolina team that was just as quick and just as athletic
as Tennessee, and was able to match the Lady Vols step for step in
their running game.
"It was not exactly what I had anticipated," Summitt said.
"When we were down 12, I was asking them if I was coaching the
wrong team. They were beating us at our own game. I was wondering
if we should change uniforms. But I like what I saw down the
stretch."
Tennessee rallied after trailing 61-49 with less than 7 1/2 minutes
left. That's when the press, which comes at opponents in all
directions, kicked in.
Teresa Geter knows where the Lady Vols are headed next
(AP)
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The Lady Vols scored 15 of the next 16 points and in a mere 2 1/2
minutes, they led 64-62.
Holdsclaw, who had been held in check, keyed the burst with
eight points. Teresa Geter, the least recognized of Tennessee's Fab
Four recruiting class, came up with five points, including a
three-point play that got the run started.
"We wanted to keep our composure once they started coming
back," North Carolina's Nikki Teasley said. "We just tried to
stay together and coach [Sylvia Hatchell] made a good comment, told
us to keep our heads up, take our time and let things come to us."
North Carolina (27-6) regained the lead once, at 67-66 on a free
throw by Tracy Reid with 2:57 left.
But Holdsclaw answered with two free throws, Geter put back
Holdsclaw's miss and Holdsclaw hit two more free throws, making it
72-67.
A 3-pointer by Chanel Wright drew Carolina to 72-70 with 21.5
seconds left. But Kellie Jolly sank two free throws with 19.9
seconds to go for a 74-70 lead and North Carolina's final hopes
died with Teasley's airball from the top of the key with 5.1
seconds remaining.
Holdsclaw, fittingly, made two last free throws and was named
the regional's outstanding player. But she admitted to some anxious
moments earlier, especially when she was going through a stretch
with only one basket in 27 minutes.
"I didn't want to be the only player that goes out there and
just chokes and doesn't get anything accomplished," she said. "My
teammates had faith in me. On the bench I was praying, 'Please let
us get something going.' We came up with the 'W' and I'm just
really excited now."
Hatchell was not excited about the disparity in fouls. Tennessee
was 28-for-33 at the line and made its last 13 free throws. North
Carolina was 11-for-18.
"We were playing eight on five," Hatchell said. "I felt like
we could have won if we had gotten a few calls when we were driving
in there the last three minutes. Tennessee didn't have a foul in
the last five minutes and we were doing everything we could to
drive it in there."
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North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell on the foul disparity: "We were playing eight on five"
(AP)
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Now it's on to Kansas City for the Lady Vols, who will play the
West Regional champion in the national semifinals next Friday. It
will be the fourth straight Final Four appearance and 11th overall
for a program that has five national titles -- three more than
anyone else.
Semeka Randall added 20 points for Tennessee and Geter finished
with 11. Wright led North Carolina with 21 and Reid scored 20.
It was just the third time this season that Tennessee won by
fewer than 10 points. The Lady Vols, who had won their first three
NCAA games by an average margin of 32 points, had not trailed in
the second half since a 78-68 victory over Illinois on December 12.
"In March, it's survive and advance," Summitt said. "I'll
take it and move on. We probably won't even watch this tape, just
get ready for our next opponent."
Down 33-27 after committing 14 turnovers in the first half,
North Carolina hit its first five shots of the second half and
outscored Tennessee 11-2 to go up 38-35. The Tar Heels then led
until Tennessee's late run.
Reid scored 10 points, North Carolina frustrated Tennessee on
the defensive end and the Tar Heels built their lead to 61-49 on
Jessica Gaspar's basket with 7:35 left.
But Reid scored only one more point and Tennessee rallied.
Tracy Reid (back) scored 20 points but was held to just one point in the last 7:35
(AP)
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First Geter converted a three-point play. Then Holdsclaw hit two
free throws and Geter scored on a follow-up. After Gaspar made a
free throw, Tamika Catchings tipped in her own miss, Holdsclaw hit
two free throws and Catchings stole the inbounds pass, feeding
Holdsclaw for a layup.
Holdsclaw then stole the ball and hit a 5-footer in the lane. It
was 64-62 then, the orange-draped crowd of 14,848 was roaring and
Tennessee was on its way -- with a big sigh of relief.
"This wasn't a fluke," Hatchell said. "Our team is that good.
Nobody in the Final Four is going to do what we did to them."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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