The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Ryan Sayers Alexis Hornbuckle's game-winning shot has given Tennessee a chance to defend their title.

TAMPA, Fla. - It was a night full of familiarity for both Tennessee and LSU on Tuesday, as the SEC rivals battled it out for the right to advance to the NCAA title game.

The Tigers were looking to advance to the finals for the first time in school history; the Lady Vols were hoping to have the chance to defend their national title.

Those 40 minutes came down to 7.1 seconds. That was all it took for Alexis Hornbuckle to rebound and lay up a shot - her first bucket of the night - to secure another Tennessee trip to the championship game, 47-46.

"It was frustrating, but at the same time, I knew I couldn't give up on myself and my team," Hornbuckle said. "It's bigger than yourself when you come to the Final Four. I just wanted to stay positive, and you know, I crashed the boards and I looked up and I said I don't want to pull this down with my luck, I might as well try to tip it in."

"Personally, I was just thinking try to keep the ball in front of us, try to stop the ball," said Erica White. "I definitely felt good about our chances. I knew I'd knock it down and I felt confident in our defense. But we just failed to play defense."

Tennessee head coach Pat Summit said that her philosophy was "The best player has to have the ball in her hands with the game on the line" when Candace Parker was the one who was in control of the offense. But she also said that she gave Hornbuckle a lot of credit for the shot.

The first half of the game was not a shining moment on offense for either team, as Tennessee shot only 28.6 percent from the field, while LSU shot 30.8 percent. Both teams' All-Americans, Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles, were 4-for-15 and 5-for-13, respectively.

Parker said that she had started out hesitant, but was happy that her team had faith in giving her the ball with the game on the line. Fowles became a force to be reckoned with in the second, ending the game with 24 points and 20 rebounds.

"Twenty-four points and 20 rebounds, what else more could you ask for?," said Quianna Chaney.

But it was her free-throw shooting, 4-for-11, and the team's shooting that ended up hurting the Tigers and ending her career at LSU.

The game Tuesday night was the third-lowest point total at the half in NCAA tournament history and the game total was the lowest ever in the tournament.

"It's really a tough loss when I think about these kids and what they all had to go through these past four years," said LSU head coach Van Chancellor. "I really feel for them."



Contact Brittany Perotti at Brittany.Perotti@UConn.edu.

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