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Tennesse Wins SEC Tournament Championship
2012 SEC Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Game: Tennessee 70, LSU 58
NASHVILLE, Tenn. --
Glory Johnson had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Shekinna Stricklen
added 16 points as No. 13 Tennessee beat LSU 70-58 on Sunday to win a
third-straight Southeastern Conference tournament title.
The
Lady Volunteers (24-8) had a frustrating SEC season by their lofty
standards, but Johnson and Stricklen and their fellow seniors pulled
together to lead the team to its 16th overall conference tournament
title.
Tennessee fans cheered "We back Pat" after the win in
honor of coach Pat Summitt, who announced before the season she'd been
diagnosed with early onset dementia, Alzheimer's type. Summitt helped
her team cut down the basketball net after the game and twirled it
above her head to further cheering.
LSU (22-10), which upset
regular-season champion Kentucky to reach its ninth championship game,
missed a shot to win its third tournament title in coach Nikki
Caldwell's first season. Caldwell won six titles as a Tennessee player
and assistant coach, but no former Lady Vols player has ever beaten
Summitt.
The Lady Tigers outshot Tennessee 43.8 percent to 42.3
percent, but the Lady Vols held a 39-23 rebounding advantage and went
21 for 24 at the free-throw line.
The score was tied at 41 with
15:32 to play, when Tennessee used a 13-2 run to take the lead, with
Stricklen scoring nine points during the stretch.
Adrienne Webb,
who led LSU with 16 points, responded with a 3-pointer that launched a
7-2 run to cut the Lady Vols' lead to 56-51 with 5:13 to play. A 5-0
run by the Lady Tigers got the margin down to four points with 2:04 to
play, but it was as close as they would get.
Stricklen sank a
jumper and then found herself open at the perimeter on the next
possession. She squared up, and hit nothing but net on the 3-pointer
that iced the Lady Tigers with 58 seconds left.
2012 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament
Game 11 – Sunday, March 4 –5:00 p.m.
#4 LSU vs. #2 Tennessee
TOURNAMENT NOTES
• Championship game attendance: 12,441, a new Championship Game record.
• Total Tournament attendance: 46,130, also a new SEC Tournament Record.
LSU NOTES
•
LSU is now 22-10 on the season, 31-31 all-time in the SEC Tournament
and finishes as the SEC runner-up for the seventh time overall and the
fifth time in the last eight seasons.
• The Tigers are now 2-7 all-time in SEC Championship games, including a 2-4 mark against Tennessee.
•
LSU is now 12-43 all-time against Tennessee, including a 4-8 record
against the Lady Vols in the SEC Tournament. Tennessee has won both
meetings between the teams this year.
• Head coach
Nikki Caldwell is now 0-3 all-time against Tennessee, her alma mater,
including an 0-2 mark as LSU’s head coach (0-1 at UCLA).
• As a player, assistant coach and head coach, Caldwell is 26-6 in the SEC Tournament.
• The Tigers are now 5-4 against ranked teams this season.
•
Sophomore guard Jeanne Kenney did not miss a free throw the entire
tournament (8-for-8), one of 13 players perfect at the charity stripe
during the week.
• Junior guard Adrienne Webb led
the Lady Tigers with 16 points, her 19th double-figure game of the
season and third consecutive during the SEC Tournament.
•
Sophomore forward Theresa Plaisance scored a season-high 13 points,
marking her second double-digit scoring effort of the season and first
against an SEC team.
• LSU outscored UT in points in the paint, 26-24
TENNESSEE NOTES
• Tennessee is now 24-8 on the season, 69-17 all-time in the SEC Tournament .
• The Lady Vols have now won their 16th SEC Tournament Title.
• Tennessee has won nine consecutive SEC Tournament games and three consecutive SEC Tournaments.
• This was also the sixth-straight victory in the SEC Tournament Championship Game for UT.
•
This is the fourth consecutive game with all-senior five starting
lineup. The Lady Vols are now 4-0 sporting this lineup combination.
•
Tennessee is now 22-1 when they lead at halftime, including the last 21
straight, with the lone loss coming to Baylor (11/27).
•
Senior forward Glory Johnson led UT in scoring in the win with 20
points in the win, also collecting 11 rebounds, for the 35th
double-double of her career
• Senior guard Shekinna Stricklen scored 16 points, her 26th game in double-figures this season.
•
With the win Tennessee improves to 43-12 in the all-time series versus
Louisiana State dating back to the 1977-78 season.
• Tennessee is now 12-4 in postseason meetings with LSU.
•
The Lady Vols have won the last six consecutive meetings in the series
with LSU, including this season’s regular season matchup.
• UT won the rebounding battle, 39-23.
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