ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 31, 1997 TAG: 9703310168
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CINCINNATI
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tennessee arrived at the women's Final Four with more losses than any previous team. But the Lady Vols also arrived with Chamique Holdsclaw, and that's what mattered most.
Holdsclaw was brilliant Sunday night, leading Tennessee to a 68-59 victory over Old Dominion that gave the Lady Vols their second straight national championship and fifth overall.
She scored 14 of her 24 points in the second half and made the key plays down the stretch to help her team recover after losing a 16-point lead. In the final 6:48, the sophomore All-American scored 10 points, assisted on two baskets and blocked a shot.
Shut down in the first half by Old Dominion's pressure and her own reluctance, Holdsclaw settled down and settled in when the Lady Vols needed her most.
``I felt I let their pressure get to me early,'' said Holdsclaw, who wore one of the nets around her neck. ``My teammates and coaches stayed on me: `Chamique, just take your time.' I can't hide on this team.''
An aggressive, physical defense that took the free-spirited, emotional Old Dominion players out of their game also was key, as was the coaching acumen of Pat Summitt.
Summitt has guided the Lady Vols (29-10) to all of their titles. UCLA's John Wooden is the only coach in major college basketball with more national titles than Summitt.
``Fifth in the SEC and No. 1 in the country,'' Summitt said. ``Doesn't that just sum up what this team has just accomplished?''
With 9.3 seconds left and the title secure, Holdsclaw slapped hands and bumped bodies with jubilant teammates. Indicative of the way the game went, Old Dominion All-American guard Ticha Penicheiro threw the ball away on the Lady Monarchs' last possession, then went to the bench in tears. It was her 11th turnover, a season high, and Old Dominion's 26th.
Penicheiro, Old Dominion's darting, slashing point guard from Portugal, bore the brunt of Tennessee's hawking defense. She went scoreless in the first half and finished with 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. But she did set a championship game record with eight steals.
``In the first half, we were a little intimidated by the kind of pressure Tennessee put on us,'' Penicheiro said. ``We turned it over way too much. That had a lot to do with the result.''
Clarisse Machanguana's 16 points led Old Dominion (34-2), which was seeking a return to the glory years that produced AIAW national championships in 1979 and 1980 and the NCAA crown in 1985. But Tennessee was too relentless and the Lady Monarchs saw their 33-game winning streak come to an end.
The title capped a long bumpy ride for Tennessee, which suffered through injuries and the nation's toughest schedule in the first half of the season. Tennessee stood 10-6 after losing at Old Dominion 83-72 on Jan.7 and looked nothing like a team that could win the national championship.
Old Dominion took the lead on three occasions in the second half, the last time at 49-47 on Amber Eller's 3-point goal from the left corner with 7:05 left.
But Holdsclaw came through again for the Lady Vols.
First, Holdsclaw got a basket inside to tie the score at 49 with 6:48 left. Then she fed Niya Butts for a short bank shot in the lane that put the Lady Vols up 51-49. That was followed by a pass to wide-open Pashen Thompson for a layup, stretching the lead to 53-49, and Tiffani Johnson's basket inside made it 55-49 with 4:46 left.
After Machanguana made a running hook to make it a four-point game, Holdsclaw got the next two baskets to stretch the lead to eight and the Lady Vols held on.
``She has a tremendous desire to win,'' Summitt said. ``When the pressure is on, she wants the ball in her hands.
``There are a lot of great players out there, but right now, I feel she's the best in the game.''
Holdsclaw took over down the stretch after Mery Andrade, Old Dominion's best defensive player, fouled out with 8:01 left battling for a rebound.
The Lady Vols became only the second team in 16 years of NCAA women's play to win consecutive titles. Southern Cal won in 1983 and 1984.
Tennessee's 10 losses were the most ever for a national champion. The most previously were six by Tennessee's 1987 title team.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. 1. Chamique Holdsclaw (left) andby CNBKellie Jolly of Tennessee embrace after the Lady Vols beat Old
Dominion. 2. ODU coach Wendy Larry (left) and players Ticha
Penicheiro and Stacy Himes (right) endure the final seconds of the
NCAA women's basketball title game. color. 3. Tennessee coach Pat
Summitt and her son, Tyler, finish cutting down the net after the
Lady Vols won their fifth national championship. 4. All-American
sophomore Chamique Holdsclaw leads Tennessee to its second straight
women's basketball national title with 24 points. 5. Ticha
Penicheiro exhorts her teammates during ODU's comeback in the
second half.