Better late than never

CLEVELAND — With Candace Parker making the big steal, Tennessee sneaked back into the NCAA championship game.

Parker wrestled the ball away from North Carolina’s Alex Miller in the final minute and the Lady Vols rallied to beat North Carolina 56-50 in a national semifinal on Sunday night, setting up a NCAA title date with Rutgers.

The Lady Vols (33-3) set a Final Four record with 20 steals and outscored the Tar Heels 20-2 over the final 8:08 to earn their 12th trip to the title game.

It was sweet revenge for Tennessee, which had lost the Cleveland Regional final on the same floor one year ago to the Tar Heels (34-4).

“At the eight-minute mark, I said, ‘We don’t want to go home, we’re not leaving here without a national championship,’” coach Pat Summitt said.

Parker finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Nicky Anosike added 14 points, none bigger than her layup with 2:04 left when Tennessee, down 48-36 with 8:18 to play, finally caught the Tar Heels at 50-all.

North Carolina collapsed down the stretch, just like its men’s team did last week against Georgetown.

In the Tar Heels’ last 15 possessions, they scored just two points, missed all eight field-goal tries and had seven turnovers.

All-American Ivory Latta had 13 points, but missed three 3-pointers in 1:15 as North Carolina was unable to pull it out.

There were few dry eyes in the North Carolina locker room where the normally upbeat and smiling Latta’s eyes were reddened.

“I’m just sorry,” she said, “because I felt like we should have won and I could not get the shot.”

When the final horn sounded, Tennessee’s players poured onto the floor in celebration. Parker, though, walked to midcourt and said, “One more,” reminding her teammates there’s still work to be done.

Tennessee hasn’t won it all since 1998 – a drought in Knoxville.