University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Smother Va. Tech, 68-52
March 20, 1999 | Women's Basketball
NCAA Tournament East Region First Round
#1 Tennessee Lady Vols vs #4 Virginia Tech Hokies
Sunday, March 20, 1999, 2:00 p.m. EST, ESPN
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Lady Vols Smother Va. Tech, 68-52
Associated Press
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Trying to simulate Tennessee in practice is one thing. Playing the three-time defending national champions in person is quite another.
Virginia Tech found out the hard way Saturday in a 68-52 loss to the top-seeded Lady Volunteers in the semifinals of the NCAA East Regional.
"They turn your turnover into a layup drill," said Virginia Tech coach Bonnie Henrickson, whose club was forced into 26 turnovers and a season-low point total against the pressing Lady Volunteers. "What most people don't understand is how much ground they can cover and how fast they can cover it."
The Hokies even brought in men to practice against in the week leading up to the program's first regional semifinal game, but it proved futile as the Hokies were outscored 23-6 in points off turnovers.
"You think of a passing lane and let go of it and all of the sudden you've got a (Tennessee) jersey running underneath it," Henrickson said. "We went a couple of possessions where we didn't respect their athletic ability."
The result extended Tennessee's winning streak in the NCAA tournament to 21 games.
The victory over the No. 4 seed was no surprise, but the method the Lady Vols used may have been.
One of the nation's top offensive squads turned up its defensive pressure to suffocate the upstart Hokies and move within one game of still another Final Four.
Tennessee (31-2) advanced to the regional title game Monday night to face No. 3 seed Duke with a shot at its 12th Final Four berth since 1982. The Blue Devils beat Old Dominion 76-63 earlier Saturday.
Coach Pat Summitt improved to 64-11 in the tournament in getting career victory No. 695 as Chamique Holdsclaw led the way with 27 points, while Tamika Catchings added 15.
Michelle Houseright led the Hokies (28-3) with 13 points.
There were eight lead changes and three ties in the opening 10½ minutes as the Hokies were able to capitalize on the taller Lady Vols inside. But Tennessee's talent, size and experience soon became too much for Virginia Tech.
Holdsclaw had 11 of her 15 first-half points midway through the period to become the fifth women's player to crack the 3,000-point barrier for a career, but it was injured guard Semeka Randall who sparked Tennessee.
The Lady Vols trailed 18-17 before going on a 16-0 run as Randall, who entered the game with 10:34 left in the half, scored six points and was key on the defensive end.
Randall, who finished with eight points, two assists and two steals in 13 minutes, had missed Tennessee's second-round victory over Boston College with a left ankle injury.
"Our basketball team was really waiting for Semeka to step on the floor," said Summitt. "That elevates our intensity and confidence and certainly her emotional leadership was present."
The Hokies turned the ball over on six straight possessions and were held scoreless for more than seven minutes as the Lady Vols wouldn't let Virginia Tech get into its offense.
Point guard Lisa Witherspoon had the most difficult time against the Tennessee defensive pressure. The 5-foot-6 senior came into the game third in the nation in assists, but coughed the ball up nine times in the opening 20 minutes alone.
"I lost my poise after getting trapped and not getting to see any of my help," said Witherspoon, who finished with 10 turnovers. "I wasn't prepared for as much."
"We wanted to keep the heat on her for 40 minutes," Summitt said of Witherspoon.
Tennessee's 13-point halftime lead grew to 20 points with 13:47 left and the Hokies never got closer than 14 the rest of the way.
Virginia Tech
| min | m-a | m-a | o-t | a | pf | tp | |
| Oconnor Williams Jones Witherspoon Wetzel Houseright Owings Drinka Albertsson Totals | 39 32 19 39 40 28 1 1 1 200 | 3-12 6-13 3-5 1-2 2-7 5-10 0-0 0-0 0-0 20-49 | 2-2 0-1 3-5 0-0 3-4 3-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 11-15 | 2-3 2-4 1-4 1-5 1-5 3-8 0-0 0-0 0-0 10-29 | 4 0 0 6 2 2 0 0 0 14 | 1 4 2 4 3 2 0 0 0 16 | 8 12 9 2 8 13 0 0 0 52 |
Percentages
Fg-.408, Ft-.733.
3-Point Goals
1-2, .500 (Wetzel 1-2).
Team rebounds
3.
Blocked shots
3 (Williams 3).
Turnovers
25 (Witherspoon 10, Wetzel 4, Williams 4, Jones 3, Houseright 2, Oconnor 2).
Steals
4 (Jones 2, Houseright, Witherspoon).
Tennessee
| min | m-a | m-a | o-t | a | pf | tp | |
| Holdsclaw Catchings Snow Jolly Clement Geter Butts Randall Pillow Edwards Canon Totals | 37 32 27 33 26 16 8 13 6 1 1 200 | 13-26 6-12 3-7 0-6 2-5 2-3 2-2 4-7 0-0 0-0 0-0 32-68 | 1-2 1-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-9 | 2-8 3-8 6-7 0-0 1-3 0-5 3-3 3-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 18-37 | 3 1 0 3 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 14 | 2 2 1 2 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 14 | 27 15 6 0 4 4 4 8 0 0 0 68 |
Percentages
Fg-.471, Ft-.222.
3-Point Goals
2-9, .222 (Holdsclaw 0-1, Catchings 2-4, Jolly 0-3, Randall 0-1).
Team rebounds
3.
Blocked shots
6 (Snow 3, Holdsclaw 2, Geter).
Turnovers
15 (Jolly 5, Catchings 4, Randall 2, Snow 2, Butts, Geter).
Steals
12 (Catchings 3, Holdsclaw 3, Clement 2, Randall 2, Jolly, Snow).
Technical fouls
None.
A
13,204.
Officials
Scott Yarbrough, Angela Lewis, Eric Larson.
