Champion Vols Execute Victory Plan Perfectly

Tennessee felt it had to play a perfect game to beat Georgia. The Lady Vols went out and did just that.

Using its size and strength to offset Georgia’s quickness, Tennessee won 83-65 Sunday night to capture its fourth NCAA championship.

The Lady Vols did it by outrebounding Georgia. They did it by getting the ball inside. And they did with outstanding defense from Latina Davis against Georgia’s All-America guard, Saudia Roundtree.

Those were exactly the elements that coach Pat Summitt sought against a team she called the most explosive in women’s basketball.

“This basketball team could not have responded any better to our game plan,” said Summitt, who has guided Tennessee to all of its NCAA titles. “They tried their hardest to do everything we told them to do.”

One of those items was to keep Roundtree under control by keeping her from driving. That fell to Davis, who was playing her last game for Tennessee, and she responded against a player known for beating opponents with quick shots off the dribble or fancy spin moves to the basket.

Roundtree, who had scored 63 points in her two previous tournament games, rarely was able to get Georgia into its deadly transition game and finished with just eight points on 3-for-14 shooting. She went scoreless in the second half.

“After watching the scouting films, they told me to stay on her left side and take that away from her,” said Davis, who also contributed eight points, eight assists and four steals. “That’s what I tried to do.”

Freshman Chamique Holdsclaw led Tennessee (32-4) with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Tiffani Johnson also scored 16 for the Lady Vols and Abby Conklin added 14, including four 3-pointers. Pashen Thompson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Tennessee guard Michelle Marciniak was named the outstanding player in the Final Four after getting 10 points, five assists and two steals. She scored 21 in a semifinal victory over Connecticut on Friday night.

That victory and then the title eased a big hurt with Marciniak, who had been heartbroken after Tennessee’s loss to Connecticut in last year’s championship game.

“It’s not probably until today that I can forget the hurt of last year’s loss to Connecticut,” said Marciniak, who wore one of the nets around her neck and along with Summitt took a call from President Clinton. “I think this one will definitely erase it from my memory.”

The victory, Tennessee’s 15th straight, avenged a 77-71 loss at Georgia back in January. The Lady Vols outrebounded Georgia 63-30 in that game and had another big edge on the boards Sunday night, this time 54-39.

“They got us on the boards again,” Georgia coach Andy Landers lamented. “One of the reasons they got us was because they got us on the drive. It took our post (players) to get to the drive and then a shot goes up and there she stands by herself putting the ball back into the basket.”

Tennessee won its previous national titles in 1987, 1989 and 1991 and now has twice as many championships as any other school in 15 years of NCAA play.

La’Keshia Frett led Georgia (28-5) with 25 points but had only seven in the second half. Tracy Henderson scored 16 for the Lady Bulldogs, who shot 27 percent in the second half and 38 percent for the game.

Ahead 42-37 at halftime despite shooting only 43 percent, Tennessee opened the second half with a 15-5 run to increase its lead to 57-41. Conklin hit two 3-pointers during that stretch and four other Tennessee players scored as the Lady Vols took control.

Tennessee 83, Georgia 65

GEORGIA (28-5) - Frett 10-18 4-4 25, Holland 4-12 1-1 11, Henderson 8-15 0-1 16, Roundtree 3-14 1-2 8, Powell 0-1 0-0 0, Irwin 1-3 0-0 3, Antvorskov 0-0 0-0 0, Bush 1-4 0-0 2, Decker 0-2 0-0 0, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor 0-1 0-0 0, Walker 0-1 0-0 0, Walls 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-71 6-8 65.

TENNESSEE (32-4) - Holdsclaw 6-16 4-5 16, Conklin 5-8 0-0 14, Johnson 7-10 2-2 16, Marciniak 5-13 0-1 10, Davis 2-10 4-8 8, Jolly 1-1 0-1 2, Laxton 2-7 0-0 4, Thompson 4-6 4-6 12, Smallwood 0-0 1-2 1, Milligan 0-1 0-0 0, Greene 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-73 15-25.

Halftime-Tennessee 42, Georgia 37. 3-point goals-Georgia 5-24 (Holland 2-8, Frett 1-1, Irwin 1-3, Roundtree 1-7, Powell 0-1, Taylor 0-1, Decker 0-1, Bush 0-2), Tennessee 4-9 (Conklin 4-5, Johnson 0-1, Davis 0-1, Marciniak 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Georgia 39 (Frett 16), Tennessee 54 (Holdsclaw 14). Assists-Georgia 14 (Roundtree 6), Tennessee 21 (Davis 8). Total fouls-Georgia 22, Tennessee 13. A-23,291.