Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993 TAG: 9304040164
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
TEXAS TECH SWOOPES INTO GAME FOR TITLE
Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster may have been right. Maybe Texas Tech star Sheryl Swoopes didn't have her best game Saturday.Swoopes was a lot closer to her best than Vanderbilt was to its best, however, as she carried Texas Tech into the women's NCAA basketball title game.
"I was pleased with it," said Swoopes, who had 31 points and 11 rebounds in leading the Raiders to a 60-46 victory over top-ranked Vanderbilt at the Omni.
It was the 18th consecutive victory for Texas Tech, which had lost five of six NCAA Tournament games before this year. The Raiders (30-3) will play Ohio State for the title today at 4 p.m. Vanderbilt (30-3) shot 35.6 percent but was within striking distance, trailing 47-44, after a Shelley Jarrard 3-pointer with 4:51 left.
The next series summarized Swoopes' day. After missing from the baseline and failing to tip in the rebound, Swoopes got a second offensive rebound and banked it in over 6-foot-10 Heidi Gillingham.
Vanderbilt pulled to 51-46 on a jumper by Lisa King with 2:59 remaining but didn't score again. The height of the Commodores' frustration came when Jarrard missed three consecutive free throws.
"When you hold the other team to 60 points, I don't think the difference is at that end," Vanderbilt coach Jim Foster said. "There was no rhyme or reason or rhythm to what we did on offense today."
Gillingham made 12 of 18 shots to finish with 24 points, but the rest of the Commodores were 9-for-41.
Both teams appeared tight to start. Texas Tech had one field goal on its first 13 possessions but trailed only 6-4 before Swoopes hit a 3-pointer.
Swoopes, who had averaged 38 points over the previous four games, scored five of six field goals for the Raiders during a 3:53 stretch, and they led 28-26 at halftime.
"I'm not sure you saw the best of her today," said Foster, partly in jest. "She didn't have an assist, I don't think. But I thought we did a pretty good job on her and she still got 31."
Gillingham matched Swoopes point for point for the first 30 minutes, but she scored her last field goal with 10:34 left.
"I don't know if it was good defense they were playing on me or whether it was good defense on our perimeter players," Gillingham said. "All I know is, it was good defense. They were the better team."
Texas Tech senior forward Krista Kirkland finished with 14 points.
The 46 points represented a season low for Vanderbilt and tied a record for the lowest output by one team in the Women's Final Four. The 20-point second half was a tournament low. \
see microfilm for box score