ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180073
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN.
THE HIGHLANDERS eliminated 97-56 for third straight first-round loss.
Another women's NCAA Tournament, another brutal draw for Radford University.
The Highlanders, facing top-seeded Tennessee in an East Regional first-round game, held their own for a half before the Lady Volunteers pulled away for a 97-56 victory Saturday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Fourth-ranked Tennessee (27-4) improved its home-court record in the tournament to 27-0 as the Southeastern Conference champions substituted freely in the second half while overpowering the Big South Conference tournament champions.
After the Lady Vols broke on top 16-6, 16th-seeded Radford (17-12) closed to 18-13 on a short jumper by Rebecca McNeil (Christiansburg High School). Tennessee went to the locker room at halftime leading 47-33.
After Kim Hairston (Bassett) opened the second half by hitting a 15-footer for the Highlanders, the Lady Vols sealed the outcome with a 12-0 run capped by Chamique Holdsclaw's two free throws. Holdsclaw, the SEC's freshman of the year, scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting and had eight rebounds.
Latina Davis scored 18 points in 24 minutes to lead five double-figure scorers for Tennessee. The Lady Vols advance to the second round on Monday against Ohio State, which beat Memphis 97-75.
Radford exits the NCAA with a first-round loss for the third consecutive year, after falling to powerful squads from Purdue (1994) and Florida (1995).
``I'm proud of my team,'' said Lubomyr Lichonczak, the Highlanders' coach. ``They were very aware of the remarkable performance of Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament and they didn't back down, especially in [the] first half. We went to the basket hard and we never backed down, and that's remarkable considering we were counting on six freshmen most of the time.''
Lisa Howard led Radford with 10 points and McNeil added nine. Hairston finished with seven points.
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Tennessee's Pashen Thompson shoots over Radford'sby CNBDede Logemann.