University of Tennessee Athletics
TEXAS' LATE THREE SINKS LADY VOLS, 63-62
December 21, 2002 | Women's Basketball
Dec 21, 2002
By JIM VERTUNO
AP Sports Writer
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas celebrated beating Tennessee too soon, and it nearly cost coach Jody Conradt a big win over an old rival.
Freshman point guard Nina Norman, in the starting lineup because junior Jamie Carey has mononucleosis, swished a 3-pointer with 1 second left to give the No. 22 Longhorns a 63-62 upset of No. 4 Tennessee on Saturday.
The pandemonium that ensued nearly cost Texas (6-2) the game.
Norman's shot went through as the 30-second clock expired. The Longhorns didn't realize the buzzer that sounded wasn't the game clock, so they slapped high-fives and followed a television cameraman to the middle of the court.
Texas received a technical foul for the bench-clearing party. Tennessee's Kara Lawson, who led all scorers with 24 points, hit two free throws but the Lady Vols (8-2) couldn't get off a shot on a cross-court inbounds pass as time expired.
"Everybody ran out there," Conradt said. "The play we're practicing this week is the buzzer going off and everybody staying in their seat."
Norman set the winning play in motion by grabbing a rebound off a Tennessee miss with 31 seconds left.
Texas tried to dump the ball low to Stacy Stephens or Heather Schreiber but couldn't penetrate the Lady Vols' defense.
"I heard someone say, `Shoot it!' Then I was pushing people off me to get off the court," Norman said.
"That was the only option they had," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "We shut down the other four people."
Texas' win also tightened the race to 800 career victories between Summitt and Conradt in a coaching rivalry dating nearly 30 years.
Summitt and Conradt rank 1-2 in career wins. Summitt, the winningest coach in women's basketball, is 796-160 in 29 years. Conradt is 794-260 in 34 seasons. They started this season tied at 788.
"Eventually we'll get a lot more than 800, hopefully," Summitt said. "But if we hang our heads, it could be a while. A pity party would do nothing. We would drown in our sorrows."
Schreiber led Texas with 18 points, and her 3-pointer with 1 minute left tied it at 60. Stephens scored 14 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Texas, and Tai Dillard added 10 points.
 In the race for 800 coaching victories, Tennessee's Pat Summitt, right, remains in the lead over Texas' Jody Conradt, 796-794.  | |
Tasha Butts had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Tennessee in a game which saw eight lead changes in the second half.
Lawson hit six 3-pointers, and her last gave Tennessee a 60-57 lead with 1:30 to play. Texas answered when Schreiber connected from the top of the arc.
Texas led 35-33 at halftime on the strength of 5-of-6 3-pointers as Tennessee dropped double- and triple-teams under the basket to defend Stephens. Kala Bowers' shot from the left corner with 24 seconds left gave the Longhorns the lead going into the locker room.
Schreiber had 13 points by halftime, but spent most of the last five minutes of the first half on the bench with two fouls.
With Tennessee forced to defend the perimeter, Stephens came up big in the second with four key points that kept Texas in the lead late in the game.
"We didn't have enough of big players step up and play big," Summitt said. "They had more offensive poise and weapons."
Summitt has won six national titles, Conradt one. The Longhorns were the first undefeated national champions in 1986.
Texas got back to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 1990 and beat Tennessee in Knoxville to end a 13-game losing streak in the annual series.
"Pat and I have been friends for a long time but one day a year, we're competitive," Conradt said. "It's not about Pat and me. Both teams want to win."
The Longhorns started this season ranked No. 11 but nearly dropped out of the rankings after losses to Brigham Young and New Mexico and easy wins against overmatched opponents from the Southland Conference.
Tennessee had the look of last year's Final Four team, coming in with a 4-1 record against ranked teams with their only loss coming against No. 1 Duke.
