Tennessee Survives LSU In Lowest-Scoring Final Four Game Ever

By Tara Polen: SPM Women's Basketball Editor
Posted Monday, April 7, 2008

Tennessee's Candace Parker makes life difficult for LSU's Sylvia Fowles. Fowles' still had 24 points and 20 rebounds, but it would not be enough. Photo by David Taylor.

TAMPA, Fla. - The fifth time was not the charm.

The Louisiana State University Tigers, who played in their fifth straight Final Four last night, lost their fifth-straight national semi-final game, this time to the Lady Vols of the University of Tennessee, who had reached this stage of the tournament for the 18th time. The game set a new record for fewest points scored in a Final Four, with a grand total of 93 for both teams. The previous total also involved LSU, last year in its semifinal loss to Rutgers.

LSU is known for its defense and its style of play often leads to low-scoring games. But even in a game of record and near-record lows, someone wins -- and last night it was Tennessee. Senior guard Alexis Hornbuckle put back a missed layup at the last second to help her team escape with its smallest winning margin ever in a national semifinal, a one-point, 47-46 victory.

On the previous play, Hornbuckle had fouled LSU senior point guard Erica White with fewer than 10 seconds on the clock, far away from the basket. White, blocking out the screaming Tennessee and cheering LSU fans, hit both free throws to give LSU the one-point lead.

Hornbuckle, who had been 0-7 on the night with only one assist, clearly did not want to be responsible for the Vols’ season-ending play.

With seven seconds left on the clock, AP Player of the Year Candace Parker was able to dribble the ball the length of the floor and then dish it out of a double-team to classmate Nicky Anosike, who missed the layup badly enough to allow Hornbuckle to get a weak-side rebound in the air and put the ball back up and in. LSU then attempted a court-long desperation pass which was intercepted by Hornbuckle to end the game.

“I mean, of course I realized I didn’t make a shot all night,” Hornbuckle said. “It was frustrating but at the same time I knew I couldn’t give up on myself and my team. I just wanted to stay positive and 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.’ And luckily, it went in.”

Tennessee is now 3-0 all-time against LSU in the tournament. They have won all three games by a total of five points. The Vols are 4-0 against SEC opponents in the Final Four.

LSU head coach Van Chancellor admitted that this loss was the toughest of his career. “Tough way to lose a basketball game,” he said, “… especially when I thought we had it won. … I thought it was a game we could have won. I think when you shoot 30-something percent, 11 percent and 38 percent from the free-throw line, and you have a chance to win it at the end – you’re lucky you had a shot.”

Both of the game’s big-name stars played through pain. Tennessee’s Parker and LSU’s Sylvia Fowles are the all-but-annointed first and second picks, respectively, of the upcoming WNBA Draft on Wednesday. Parker was sporting a long-sleeved compression garment to stabilize her twice-dislocated shoulder, and her shooting was clearly affected as she went 6-for-27 from the field. She still led her team with 13 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.

Fowles began to cramp up in the second half, but was still on the floor for the full 40 minutes and still managed her 24th double-double of the season (the 86th of her career) with 24 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks.

“… it was all we could do to keep her in the game at the end,” Chancellor said.

Her 20-point, 20-rebound effort was a first for an LSU player in an NCAA tournament game.

No one else on LSU scored in double-figures, and the Tigers’ 19-made field goals were only barely surpassed by Tennessee’s 21. LSU turned the ball over 12 times, one more than their 11 total assists, while the Lady Vols notched a similar negative stat with six assists and seven turnovers.

Quianna Chaney hit the lone 3-pointer for LSU, but she attempted six of her team’s nine tries. LSU tied its own previous low in a Final Four in three-point field goal percentage, with 11.1. Tennessee launched 12 long balls, but only senior point guard Shannon Bobbitt was successful behind the arc, hitting three.

Anosike got Tennessee’s first point of the game at the free-throw line, followed by a layup from senior forward Alberta Auguste. Fowles hit a layup for LSU, and then no one scored for six minutes, despite eight attempts from the defending champions and nine from the Tigers. Finally, at the 12-minute mark, Chaney hit a layup and the score was a shocking 4-3 in LSU’s favor.

The offense picked up a bit after that – which isn’t saying much – and Tennessee went on a 8-4 run. Another scoring drought lasted over two minutes, with multiple misses from Parker, and then Tennessee went on another mini-run, 8-1, to lead 19-11. With three minutes left in the first half, LSU finally got some quick points in the paint from Fowles, but Bobbitt answered with a 3 and the teams headed into the locker room with the Lady Vols leading, 22-18.

The 40 combined first-half points from both teams was the third-lowest point total in a half in women’s Final Four history. The all-time lowest was last year’s semi-final, again with LSU as they trailed Rutgers at the end of the first, 22-16, in a game they would eventually lose after scoring only 35 total points.

The scoring in the second half was only slightly more prolific than the first. LSU outscored Tennessee 28-25 and improved their shooting by nearly 10 percent, but Tennessee was just efficient enough to withstand it.

“Obviously, LSU is a very defensive team, as are we,” Parker said. “And we just knew that we couldn’t let them get easy looks. Coach talked about the high-low … and we knew we had to take that away, and obviously get out on Quianna Chaney -- she’s a great three-point shooter. Those are the two things we looked at. I think we did a really good job … we held them to 18 points in the first half.”

Throughout its 2007-2008 season, Tennessee has two losses; one to LSU (78-62) and the other to Stanford (73-69 OT). Tomorrow night they will try to avoid losing one more time to one of the only teams to beat them this season. This time, the national championship is on the line, and in this game, the opponent will arrive riding an impressive wave of success, injury-free, and with something to prove.

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