Triple treat
Lady Vols cap perfect season with 3rd straight title
Posted: Mon March 30, 1998 at 1:25 AM ET
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Final Four MVP Chamique Holdsclaw clutches the Lady Vols' third straight NCAA championship trophy
(AP)
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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN/SI) -- There was never really any doubt.
Three straight national championships, six in 12 years, and all but one player coming back next season. Tennessee is no longer a very good women's basketball program.
It's an outright dynasty.
The Lady Vols capped a perfect season by playing the nearly
perfect game Sunday night, rolling past Louisiana Tech 93-75 and
making history as the first women's team to win three consecutive
NCAA titles.
It also earned them a call from Vice President Al Gore, a
Tennessean himself.
"The best team doesn't always win, but tonight, I thought the
best team won a championship that they deserved," said Tennessee
coach Pat Summitt, who has guided the Lady Vols to all of their
titles.
"I am so happy for this team. They came out in the opening
minutes clearly ready to play."
Did they ever.
Tennessee jumped to a 13-point lead 5 1/2 minutes into the game and
simply overwhelmed Louisiana Tech with a masterful, dominating
display of running, shooting, passing and rebounding.
The Lady Vols' 45th straight win dating back to last season left
them 39-0 -- the most victories ever for a women's team in NCAA play
-- and added further backing to the claim that this Tennessee team
might be the best of all time.
And there's not likely to be any letup next season because
there's only one senior. So is it the best team ever?
"You know what, next year's team will be the best ever," said
Chamique Holdsclaw, the two-time first-team All-American who keyed
Tennessee's fast start.
Louisiana Tech (31-4) also brought a rich tradition to the
championship game, as well as a quick, talented starting five that
looked to be good enough to challenge the Lady Vols.
Not on this night, though, not on a night when Tennessee was at
the top of its game.
"Tennessee, whatever they needed at the time they needed [it],
they got it done," Louisiana Tech coach Leon Barmore said.
The Lady Vols came at Barmore's quick but overmatched team from
all directions.
Semeka Randall helped lead Tennessee to a blowout lead with fast-break baskets such as this one
(AP)
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Holdsclaw pulled up for jump shots, drove to the basket, passed
off to teammates for easy buckets when she was double-teamed and
did pretty much what she wanted in scoring 25 points.
Freshmen Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall keyed the Lady
Vols' smothering defense that forced the shorter Lady Techsters to
take tough shots and rarely gave them a second try.
Catchings scored 27 points, mostly by slashing to the basket or
getting offensive rebounds. Randall flew down the court time and
time again on Tennessee's devastating fast break and finished with
10 points.
And when Louisiana Tech was completely occupied with the three
"Meeks," Kellie Jolly would hit a wide open 3-pointer. Jolly
scored a career-high 20, including four 3-pointers.
"Pat told me before the game started for me to be aggressive
offensively," Jolly said. "I had some open looks and was able to
knock them down. It's hard to guard the players that I'm on the
floor with. So sometimes, I'm going to get some good open looks."
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Chamique Holdsclaw and Pat Summitt enjoy a long embrace after helping Tennessee win its third straight NCAA title
(AP)
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Holdsclaw, named the most outstanding player in the Final Four,
is now 7-for-7 in championships -- four state titles at Christ the
King High School in New York City and three NCAA crowns at Tennessee.
She was the driving force early, scoring 12 of Tennessee's first
21 points.
"It felt good because we saw our game plan going to work,"
Holdsclaw said. "We wanted to come out intense and aggressive.
When we were up by 15 points, we knew we had come out to take care
of business."
Summitt has won more NCAA basketball championships than any
Div. I coach, men's or women's, except UCLA's John Wooden -- who
won 10 championships.
Tennessee is the third unbeaten NCAA champion in Div. I
women's play, following Connecticut (35-0) in 1995 and Texas (34-0)
in 1986. Connecticut's 35 victories had been the previous high, a
figure that also has been reached by Tennessee (1989), Louisiana
Tech (1982) and Texas (1982).
"Vice President Gore called and said he watched the game and
loved it and we made all of Tennessee proud," Summitt said. "And
he also talked to Chamique and she asked him, 'Are you going to get
tired of seeing me at the White House?' I'm sure he said no."
Tamicha Jackson led Louisiana Tech with 26 points, Alisa Burras
scored 19 and Monica Maxwell 15. But for the longest time, Jackson
was the only consistent threat for the Lady Techsters, who were as
quick as Tennessee but not nearly as big. Tennessee won the
rebounding battle, 49-34.
Tamecka Jackson (left) was one of the few bright spots for Louisiana Tech, finishing with 26 points
(AP)
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Louisiana Tech was in the game only in the first couple of
minutes.
Burras got three baskets inside in the opening 2:10 and Tech
trailed just 8-6. Summitt then replaced her center, LaShonda
Stephens, with freshman Teresa Geter, Burras went the next 13 1/2
minutes without scoring and Tennessee took off with a lot of dash
and plenty of flash, too.
First it was an 11-0 run that featured three baskets by
Holdsclaw and a Jolly 3-pointer. That made it 19-6. Then it was an
8-2 burst capped by a Kristen Clement-to-Jolly-to Holdsclaw break
that took the lead to 27-10.
Randall's spinning layup made it 40-17 and Catchings followed
with a layup for a 42-17 lead. Randall got fouled and missed the
shot after a behind-the-back pass from Jolly late in the half and
sank one of the two free throws to put the lead to 51-27. It was
55-32 at the half.
Barmore rarely left his seat in the first half, evidently
thinking that no amount of clapping, cajoling and encouragement
would work against the Lady Vols. But he must have said the right
thing at halftime because the Lady Techsters scored the first seven
points of the second half, drawing to 55-39 and finally giving
their fans something to cheer.
But Tennessee came back with 10 straight. Jolly capped the run
with a layup, and just like that, it was 65-39.
Louisiana Tech threatened twice more, and Tennessee answered
both times.
The Lady Techsters cut the lead to 72-54 when Melshika Bowman
worked inside for a bucket with 11:37 left. Jolly responded with
back-to-back 3s and Holdsclaw sank a free throw to put the lead
back to 25.
"Any hope we had, those two 3s she had, that shut the door,"
Barmore said.
Jackson's pull-up jumper capped an 8-0 run that got the lead
down to 79-64 with 6:56 to play. Again Tennessee answered, this
time with six consecutive points, four by Catchings, and the Lady
Techsters were finished.
The logo for this year's Final Four included a saxophone and
three musical notes. Tennessee ended up playing the sweetest song
of all.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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