| at #22/21 Texas (12-21-02) |
The #4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team (8-2) suffered its second loss of the season, falling 63-62 to the #21-ranked Texas Lady Longhorns in front of 9,057 fans at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas on Dec. 21, 2002. The defeat marked the second straight for the Lady Vols in the series with Texas, dating back to last season's 69-66 upset at the hands of the Longhorns in Knoxville. On the afternoon, Tennessee managed only 35.7% shooting on 20-of-56 from the floor, while Texas hit at a 40.3% clip. The Longhorns also won the rebounding war, albeit by a minor 41-40 margin. Kara Lawson led all scorers with 24 points, and managed to tie the all-time single game three-point record with six treys out of nine attempts.
Tasha Butts posted the first double-double of her career with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The game looked like it might be a blowout early on as seven straight points helped UT to a quick 7-0 advantage. Texas was here to fight, as a three-pointer from Heather Schreiber, who posted 18 points on the evening, drew Texas within 11-7 with 14:05 to play. The Lady Vols managed a six-point lead at 19-13 with 10:20 left after a Lawson trey, but the Longhorns fought right back to take their first lead at 23-22 with 5:58 remaining. Texas eventually grabbed a five-point advantage at 32-27 before Tennessee closed the gap to 35-33 heading to the locker room. The second half was tight as the teams traded the lead eight times and were tied on six occasions. The Lady Vols led by as many as five at 48-43 with 10:34 to play before Texas rallied back to take a 57-55 advantage with 3:39 left. Tied at 57-all, Lawson made a huge three-pointer to give UT a three-point lead at the 1:29 mark, but Schreiber answered immediately with a trey of her own to knot the tally at 60-60. With one second remaining, Texas' Nina Norman bombed in a "prayer" trey to give the burnt orange a three-point lead, 63-60. The Texas bench spilled on the floor with 1.0 remaining and was assessed a technical. Lawson made both tosses to pull within a point, 63-62. A Tennessee final desperation shot with one tick left was not to be, as a full court pass from Lawson to the UT basket was on the money but slipped through guard
Loree Moore's fingers as time expired.
The #4-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols' basketball team (8-1) continued its string of big early-season victories with a 71-56 triumph over the #5-ranked Stanford Cardinal on Dec. 18, 2002, in front of 13,560 fans at the Thompson-Boling Arena. The win in the series between the two longtime rivals marked UT's sixth in a row over the Cardinal and moved the record against Stanford at the Thompson-Boling Arena to a sparkling 7-1. In the contest, Tennessee had four players in double-figures, led by senior forward
Gwen Jackson who posted 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Senior Kara Lawson posted a dozen tallies and both
Ashley Robinson and
Shanna Zolman had 10 points each. UT, and especially Lawson, seemed to come out of the locker room with a purpose as the squad roared to a 9-2 start behind seven straight points from the senior guard. Stanford utilized three-pointers from Sebnem Kimyacioglu and Kelley Suminski to claw back to within 11-10 with 11:35 remaining before another UT spurt, this one ignited by a
Gwen Jackson putback, moved the Lady Vols back in front by nine at 22-13. The Cardinal would get as close as five points at 24-19 after another three-pointer by Kimyacioglu with 6:44 to play, but the Lady Vols would close out the frame with a 12-4 run, highlighted by a four-point play from Zolman to go to the break up 36-23. The second half began with the teams basically trading buckets until the 16:05 mark when a
Loree Moore three-pointer boosted UT to a 17-point advantage at 48-31. The lead grew to as much as 22 points twice in the second half at 56-34 with 12:46 to play and 60-38 with 10:06 left before the Cardinal managed to cut the final score to 71-56. On the night, UT shot 43.3% from the field on 29-of-67 shooting, while holding the Cardinal to only 36.7%. The Lady Vols won the rebounding war 41-33 and hustled for an impressive 16 boards on the offensive end. Robinson barely missed a double-double with nine boards to lead UT. The orange also held down its turnovers in the game by posting only 11.
| at Southern California (12-14-02) |
The #4/5 Tennessee Lady Volunteer basketball team (7-1) took its fast-paced hardwood show to Los Angeles, Calif., on Saturday, Dec. 14, and dominated the Southern California Women of Troy 71-39, in front of a Great Western Forum crowd of 3,322. UT held its opposition to only 28.6% shooting, marking the third time this season that the Lady Vols have held an opponent under 30% from the floor. The Orange and White forced an incredible 32 USC turnovers, nabbed 19 steals and dominated the boards 42-28. With the victory, Tennessee took control of the longtime series between the two teams, 8-7. On the afternoon, two Lady Vols topped double-figures as senior Kara Lawson and sophomore
Shyra Ely both totaled 16 points to lead all scorers. Ely hustled for a team-high nine rebounds, while
Loree Moore dished a career-high nine assists and pilfered a career-high tying seven steals. The early going was plagued by turnovers as the teams traded miscues (USC-five and UT-four) up to the first media timeout which saw Tennessee leading only 4-2. The Women of Troy engaged in a brief run to post their largest advantage at 11-6, before an 18-1 UT spurt, highlighted by three buckets from Lawson and two scores from
Ashley Robinson, moved the Lady Vols in front by a more comfortable 24-12. During the run, UT held USC without a point for 8:08. A bucket by Moore sent the Lady Vols to the break up 14 at 28-14. The outcome of the contest was effectively decided in the opening minutes of the second half as UT outscored USC 20-6, over the first 7:27 to move in front 48-20. Tennessee eventually moved ahead of USC three times by 34 points, largely behind 12 second-half tallies from Ely, before settling for the convincing 71-39 victory.
| at #15/13 Louisiana Tech (12-4-02) |
The #4/5 Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team (6-1) picked up a key road win with a 60-35 rout of the #15/13 Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters in front of 6,836 fans at the Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La., on Dec. 4, 2002. In the dominating performance, the Lady Vols held Tech to its lowest point total ever (35) and handed its long-time rival its worst loss ever in the Thomas Assembly Center (25 points). With the victory UT moves in front of Louisiana Tech in the overall series between the two schools, 18-17. On the night, four Lady Vols hit double-figures as
Gwen Jackson and
Tasha Butts each bucketed 12 points, while Kara Lawson and
Shanna Zolman hit for 11 points each. To begin the contest, UT roared out of the locker room with a 10-0 spurt, highlighted by three-point bombs from Jackson and Butts, over the first 2:13. After a brief surge from Louisiana Tech to get back to within 13-6, Tennessee took off again as another bucket from Butts and scores from
Loree Moore and
Shyra Ely boosted UT's advantage to 21-8 with 11:34 remaining. That's when Tech scored a significant basket to set the score at 21-10 - significant because it would be Louisiana Tech's last bucket for 7:19 as the Lady Vols embarked on a 10-0 run to move out to a 21-point advantage at 31-10. Over the last 11:00, UT outscored Tech 20-4 and headed into the locker room with a capacity-crowd quieting 41-14 lead. La. Tech opened the second half with a 7-2 run to get as close as it would again at 43-21, before Jackson and Zolman hit two buckets each to boost UT out to its largest advantage of the night at 54-23, before cruising in to the 25-point win. On the night, UT dominated the boards 55-36 and shot 40.0%, including a blistering 54.2% in the first half. Tech was held to only 14-of-70 from the field for 20.0%, a mark that tied the lowest FG% ever by a UT opponent.
| vs. Saint Louis (11-1-02) San Juan Shootout |
The Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team (5-1) finished off a successful 3-0 run at the San Juan Shootout in San Juan, Puerto Rico, by disposing of the Saint Louis Billikens 75-40, at the Coliseum Guillermo Angulo. For the game, a trio of players -
Gwen Jackson, Kara Lawson (14 points each) and
Shyra Ely (12 points), all scored in double-figures for Tennessee as the Lady Vols registered a blistering 56.9 percentage from the field on 29-of-51 shooting. At the start, turnovers plagued both teams as nearly four minutes of action saw UT trailing 6-3. Big three-point shots by both Gwen and
Brittany Jackson helped ignite UT's offense to the tune of a 14-0 run to give the Lady Vols a little breathing room at 17-6 with 10:33 remaining in the first half. However, the Billikens proved to be ready to provide a challenge as a quick spurt got Saint Louis back to within eight points at 24-16 with 5:16 to play. The UT advantage would remain between eight and 12 points the rest of the half as a bucket by sophomore
Shyra Ely set the halftime score at 32-20 Tennessee.
Gwen Jackson came out of the locker room on fire as the senior hit two consecutive three-point bombs to boost UT to a 38-24 advantage. Jackson's tallies helped foster a 13-0 run that featured baskets from
Ashley Robinson,
Loree Moore,
Tasha Butts and
Tye'sha Fluker. With a 24-point lead at 48-24, UT was on cruise control until less than 30 seconds remained when sophomore
Brittany Jackson suffered a left knee injury on a defensive play that resulted in a steal by fellow Lady Vol
LaToya Davis. On the night, UT held the Billikens to only 30.2% shooting from the field, while dominating the boards over Saint Louis 40-28. All 11 Lady Vols on the roster totaled at least two points in the scoring column.
| vs. Army (11-30-02) San Juan Shootout |
On Nov. 30, 2002, at the San Juan Shootout in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the #4/5 Tennessee Lady Vol basketball moved their record in the shootout to a perfect 2-0 with a dominating 96-44 win over the U.S. Military Academy at the Coliseum Guillermo Angulo. For the second straight night, UT made easy work of its foe in winning by 52 points, after setting numerous records in the 110-point win over Puerto Rico-Mayaguez the night before. UT actually struggled for a few minutes out of the starting gate as Army found itself with an early 6-4 advantage with 15:31 to play. That's when UT took control with a 16-0 run over 2:50 to roar to a 22-8 lead.
Gwen Jackson's lay-up with 14:36 to play made her the 27th Lady Vol to become a member of the illustrious 1,000-point club at UT. The Tennessee advantage continued to grow to 32-11 with 7:57 to play in the first half following a G. Jackson three-pointer, to 38-14 after a Zolman 3-pt. play and finally to 48-19 at the halftime break. Army fought back briefly to begin the second half as the score at the 11:57 mark was 65-31, but UT continued the offensive assault with a 20-5 run over the next 8:05 to lead by 49 points at 85-36. UT coasted down the stretch to the 96-44 win. On the night, UT had four players in double-figures as Kara Lawson led all scorers with 20 points,
Shanna Zolman posted a career-high 15, and
Gwen Jackson and
Tasha Butts each had 13. Lawson hit 4-of-6 three-pointers on a night when UT established a new mark for threes in a game with 13. UT shot 49.3% from the field, held Army to only 32.0% on 16-of-50 shooting and forced 28 turnovers. All 11 Lady Vols scored at least two points on the night.
| vs. Puerto-Rico Mayaguez (11-29-02) San Juan Shootout) |
Nov. 29, 2002, was a record-setting evening for the #4/5 Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team, as UT reset the all-time record books in a 136-26 destruction of the Janes from Puerto Rico-Mayaguez at the San Juan Shootout. The 136 points scored by the Lady Vols were the most ever for the squad in a single game, while the 26 points allowed set a new mark for futility for an opponent. Along the way, Tennessee established records for fewest turnovers (five), most first half points (69), largest halftime lead (55), largest margin of victory (110) and fewest 2nd half points allowed an opponent with 12.
Gwen Jackson also had the most prolific shooting night in Lady Vol history as the senior forward hit all 14 of her shots from the floor in scoring a game-high 28 points. Tennessee roared out of the gate with a 9-0 run against overmatched PR-Mayaguez before the Janes even managed a point, and continued to pour on the offense as run after run moved UT out to an incredible 69-14 lead at halftime. Despite attempts to hold the score down, the lead kept getting larger as every Lady Vol played at least 11 minutes and 10 scored. An 18-0 run to begin the second stanza moved Tennessee in front 87-14 before PR-Mayaguez managed to score their first point of the frame with 14:37 to play. With 11:36 left,
Shanna Zolman hit a three-pointer to break the century mark for UT as the advantage reached 101-18. A
Tye'sha Fluker lay-up gave UT a 101-pt. lead at 119-18 with 6:17 left as UT opened the San Juan Shootout with the 110-point victory. On the night, eight Lady Vols reached double-figures led by
Gwen Jackson's 28 points,
Brittany Jackson's 17 and Kara Lawson's 15. UT shot 66.3% on 57-of-86 from the field and held PR-Mayaguez to a record-low 20.0%, while forcing 31 Janes turnovers. The rebounding war wasn't even a contest as UT dominated the boards 57-13.
| GEORGE WASHINGTON (11-26-02) |
The #4/5-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season to overwhelm #21 George Washington, 83-61, in Thompson-Boling Arena on Nov.26, 2002. UT led from the tip-off as George Washington struggled to get good looks at the basket, shooting just 10-of-27 from the field in the first half. Tennessee went ahead 9-0 and then had a quick 10-0 run two minutes later to stretch its lead to 26-7.
Gwen Jackson hit a jumper and a driving lay up, followed by two straight 3-pointers by
Brittany Jackson to give the Lady Vols a 19-point lead with 11:42 left before halftime. Determined to get better play out of UT's five starters from the Duke loss, UT coach
Pat Summitt waited 10 minutes to sub before
Shyra Ely came into the game to replace
Brittany Jackson with 9:52 left before halftime. The Lady Vols were already ahead by 21 points. Big play came from seniors
Gwen Jackson who scored 20 of her 29 points in the first half and Kara Lawson added 16 for the Lady Vols. At the half, UT led 51-30 after connecting on 61% from the field. The Lady Vols stretched a 21-point lead at halftime to 29 on
Gwen Jackson's basket with 16:18 left, but George Washington carved into the lead after Michaela Leary hit a 3, and Erica Lawrence made a basket and a 3-pointer to start a 16-2 run, capped by Liz Dancause's 3 that cut it to 63-48 with 12 minutes remaining. Summitt called two timeouts during the spurt and after the second timeout,
Gwen Jackson ended Tennessee's five-minute scoring drought with a three-point play. Lawson stole the ball from Cathy Joens, leading to another basket by
Gwen Jackson, and
Loree Moore hit a jumper to stretch the Lady Vols' lead back to 20 with 8:50 to go. GWU couldn't get any closer. On the night,
Loree Moore joined the seniors in double-figures adding 11 points and dishing eight assists.
Gwen Jackson paced UT on the boards with 11 rebounds and got help from
Ashley Robinson who collected 10 boards and had four blocks. UT shot 54% from the field and outrebounded GWU, 43-27. The Lady Vols had 13 steals and 22 miscues.
The #2-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team was overwhelmed by #1 Duke, 76-55, in the Inaugural Jimmy V Classic in Raleigh, N.C. Nov. 24, 2002. It was the 35th meeting of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in women's college basketball. Tennessee, with six national titles, has been involved in 19 such match ups and dropped to 4-6 when ranked second. The Lady Vols jumped out to an early 13-4 lead with 14:55 showing in the first half as all five UT starters contributed to the scoring load. Tennessee led 17-10 with 13 minutes to play in the opening stanza when Duke rattled off nine unanswered points to take a 19-17 lead two minutes later. UT regained the lead at 4:23 (27-26) and at 2:21 (31-29). Duke tied UT at 31-all with 1:39 left and then went on a 5-0 run to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room at the half. UT never recovered. The Lady Vols managed a free throw at 18:54 to trail 37-32. Four minutes later, Kara Lawson hit a pair of charity tosses to trail 44-34. UT connected on its first basket of the second half at the 12:46 mark while trailing 53-34 as
Tasha Butts hit a lay up. Duke took a 20-point lead with 10:41 left (60-40) and coasted the rest of the way. The largest Blue Devil lead was 23 points (76-53) with 1:15 left in the game. It's 21-point defeat and 24-second half points were the ninth worst marks in school history. UT connected on 31% of its shots (20.7% in the second half, 6-29) while committing 23 turnovers. On the afternoon,
Gwen Jackson was the only Lady Vol in double-figures with 12 points. Lawson and
Shyra Ely led UT on the boards with eight each. UT did out rebound Duke, 44-42, for a positive stat. With the 21-point win Duke returned the favor. Last season, UT defeated the Blue Devils by 21-points, 89-68.
| PREMIER PLAYERS (11-16-02) |
On Nov. 16, 2002, the #2-ranked Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team (1-0) completed its exhibition slate with a 95-76 victory over the Premier Players (the exhibition arm of the All-Star Girls Report) in front of 10,692 fans at the Thompson-Boling Arena. A trio of players --
Gwen Jackson,
Shyra Ely and
Shanna Zolman -- all tied for the UT lead in scoring with 15 points each, while Kara Lawson and
Tye'sha Fluker both posted 10 points. At the start of the contest, it was the Jacksons', Gwen and Brittany, who boosted UT to an early lead as the duo combined for 15 of the first 17 Lady Vol points to post UT to a 17-9 advantage with 12:35 remaining. Tennessee's offense kicked into high gear in the form of a 12-3 run over the next 3:57 to push UT's lead to a robust 17 points at 29-12. The advantage continued to grow over the next few minutes as consecutive long-range bombs by Zolman and Lawson and two buckets from Ely pushed UT in front 45-21 with 3:30 remaining in the first half. A final three-pointer from Zolman sent UT to the locker room with its largest advantage of the first stanza at 52-24. The second 20 minutes proved a little different as Premier Players refused to fold and outscored Tennessee 52-43 over the final 20 minutes. On the night, UT shot 48.6% from the field, forced 19 Premier Players turnovers and dished an incredible 23 assists. The Lady Vols held the exhibition squad to only 40.7% shooting, while going 20-26 (76.9%) from the free-throw line.
Gwen Jackson scored 22 of her career-high 29 points in the second half on Nov. 10, 2002, to help No. 2 Tennessee open its season with a 94-68 win over No. 22 Oklahoma, last year's NCAA runner-up. Tennessee stretched an early lead to 20 points in the second half as the Sooners struggled to keep up with the Lady Vols.
Brittany Jackson added 13 points, and Kara Lawson had 12 for Tennessee in the second game of the State Farm Classic. Tennessee and Oklahoma nearly met for the first time in last year's national title game, but the Lady Vols lost to eventual champion Connecticut in the semifinals. Oklahoma was clearly a much different team with only one returning starter. Tennessee needed the first half to get adjusted to the new offense as they missed 15 of their first 21 shots. But the defense was as tenacious as ever, forcing 26 turnovers, including 17 steals. Tennessee extended its lead to 10 before halftime after a 9-3 run and began pulling away early in the second half. The Lady Vols went on a 17-5 burst to lead by 20. Lawson made a layup,
Brittany Jackson had a 3 and a smooth transition play capped the spree. Lawson stole the ball, passed to
Loree Moore, who dumped it to
Gwen Jackson for the basket and a 53-33 lead with 16:18 left. Down the stretch, the Sooners clearly missed departed starters Stacey Dales, Rosalind Ross, Jamie Talbert and LaNeisha Caufield.
On Nov. 3, 2002 at the Thompson-Boling Arena, the Tennessee Lady Vol basketball team opened the 2002-03 season with a convincing 116-50 exhibition victory over 08 Stockholm Human Rights, a traveling team based out of Stockholm, Sweden. Freshman
Tye'sha Fluker led the way for Tennessee with 20 points in her first action for the Orange & White, while fellow rookie
Shanna Zolman and sophomore
Shyra Ely totaled 15 points apiece. Senior forward
Gwen Jackson posted a double-double for UT by hitting for 15 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in 24 minutes on the hardwood. From the opening tip, Tennessee was hitting on all cylinders offensively as 10 total points and two three-pointers from junior guard
Tasha Butts boosted UT to a 16-7 advantage with 14:23 to play in the first stanza. Seven points from senior
Gwen Jackson, put-backs from
Brittany Jackson and Ely and the first two of Fluker's 20 points highlighted a 17-0 Lady Vol run to move the score to 29-7. The advantage continued to grow as Tennessee outscored 08 Stockholm 34-15 over the last 10:42 to head into the locker room with a commanding 63-24 lead. The second stanza was more of the same for UT as a 24-7 run, finished by two straight buckets from Fluker, moved the Lady Vols in front 87-31. Freshman
Shanna Zolman, the leading scorer in Indiana high school history, hit a three-pointer and two layups as Tennessee continued to boost the lead to as many as 74 points at 114-40, before a late charge from 08 Stockholm set the final tally at 116-50.
