ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604020024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tennessee felt it had to play a perfect game to beat Georgia. So the Lady Vols went out and did it.
Using size and strength to offset Georgia's quickness, Tennessee won 83-65 Sunday night to capture its fourth NCAA women's basketball championship.
The Lady Vols did it by outrebounding Georgia. They did it by getting the ball inside. And they did with outstanding defense from Latina Davis against Georgia's All-America guard, Saudia Roundtree.
Those were exactly the elements coach Pat Summitt needed against a team she called the most explosive in women's basketball.
``This basketball team could not have responded any better to our game plan,'' said Summitt, who has guided Tennessee to all its NCAA titles. ``They tried their hardest to do everything we told them to do.''
One of those items was to keep Roundtree from driving. That fell to Davis, who was playing her last game for Tennessee, and she responded against a player known for beating opponents with quick shots off the dribble or fancy spin moves to the basket.
Roundtree, who had scored 63 points in her past two tournament games, rarely was able to get Georgia into its deadly transition game and finished with just eight points on 3-for-14 field-goal shooting. She went scoreless in the second half.
``After watching the scouting films, they told me to stay on her left side and take that away from her,'' said Davis, who also contributed eight points, eight assists and four steals. ``That's what I tried to do.''
Freshman Chamique Holdsclaw led Tennessee (32-4) with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Tiffani Johnson also scored 16 for the Lady Vols and Abby Conklin added 14, including four 3-pointers. Pashen Thompson had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Tennessee guard Michelle Marciniak was named the outstanding player in the Final Four after getting 10 points, five assists and two steals. She scored 21 in a semifinal victory over Connecticut on Friday night.
That victory and the title eased a big hurt with Marciniak, who had been heartbroken after Tennessee's loss to Connecticut in last year's championship game.
``It's not probably until today that I can forget the hurt of last year's loss to Connecticut,'' said Marciniak, who wore one of the nets around her neck. ``I think this one will definitely erase it from my memory.''
The victory, Tennessee's 15th straight, avenged a 77-71 loss at Georgia in January. The Lady Vols outrebounded Georgia 63-30 in that game and had a big advantage in that area Sunday night, 54-39.
``They got us on the boards again,'' said Andy Landers, Georgia's coach. ``One of the reasons they got us was because they got us on the drive. It took our post [players] to get to the drive, and then a shot goes up and there she stands by herself putting the ball back into the basket.''
Tennessee won its previous national titles in 1987, 1989 and 1991 and has twice as many women's championships as any other school in 15 years of NCAA play.
Summitt let her players savor the moment. While they donned the traditional championship caps and pranced around the court in celebration, Summit watched calmly from the sideline and chatted with a television reporter.
``I told the players in the locker room, we're getting ready to take our last exam of the year. Do you feel prepared?'' Summitt said. ``They said yes, so I said, `There's no way you can fail this course. You can ace this exam,' and that's what they did.''
La'Keshia Frett led Georgia (28-5) with 25 points, but had only seven in the second half. Tracy Henderson scored 16 for the Lady Bulldogs, who shot 27 percent in the second half and 38 percent for the game.
Ahead 42-37 at halftime despite shooting only 43 percent, Tennessee opened the second half with a 15-5 run to increase its lead to 57-41. Conklin hit two 3-pointers during that stretch and four other Tennessee players scored as the Lady Vols took control.
``I felt like the first three minutes of the second half would be key,'' Summitt said. ``I kept challenging them because I knew Georgia would make a run.''
As it turned out, Georgia didn't make much of one.
A 7-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Kedra Holland drew Georgia to 57-48, and the Lady Bulldogs trailed 61-52 after Henderson's basket with 11:52 to play.
But Tennessee scored the next seven points to take a a 68-52 lead. A subsequent 11-2 run made it 81-60 and Georgia was finished, relegated to its second loss in as many appearances in the title game. The Lady Bulldogs lost to Old Dominion in the 1985 final. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. AP Tennessee guard Michelle Marciniak grabs a pieceby CNBof net to go with her trophy as the Final Four's outstanding player
Sunday night. Marciniak and the Lady Vols came away with an 83-65
victory over Georgia in Charlotte, N.C. color
2. Women's Final Four logo color