
DATE: Monday, March 31, 1997                TAG: 9703310058

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CINCINNATI                        LENGTH:   79 lines

HEARTBREAKEROLD DOMINION MAKES A SECOND-HALF RALLY BUT CAN'T HOLD ON AS TENNESSEE WINS ITS SECOND STRAIGHT NCAA TITLE.

Amid a sea of orange on Sunday night in Riverfront Coliseum, Tennessee crushed Old Dominion's plans to bring home the school's first national title in 12 years. Behind a stifling defense that ODU is accustomed to giving, not receiving, the Lady Vols won their second straight national championship 68-59.

``In the first half, we were intimidated by the kind of pressure Tennessee was putting on us,'' said ODU senior point guard Ticha Penicheiro. ``In the second half we tried to come back and play our game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.''

It was the first time a school has won back-to-back titles since Southern California in 1983 and 1984, and minutes after the buzzer, the colorfully clad Lady Vols cheering section began chanting ``Three-peat.'' It is the Lady Vols' fifth championship overall, and easily their most improbable, coming in a season when Tennessee (29-10) recorded its most losses in a decade. Ten losses is the most by any Final Four participant.

``I feel very fortunate to learn and to grow and to be challenged and to come through in a championship way with this team,'' said Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt.

The loss before a crowd of 16,714 ended the Lady Monarchs' 33-game win streak and closed a season of glorious wins over ranked opponents, including one in January over Tennessee at the ODU field house. In reaching the title game, ODU (34-2) recorded victories over Purdue and Florida and came from 15 points down to upset heavily favored Stanford in the national semifinals. The Lady Monarchs' only other loss was in the second game of the season, 65-62, to N.C. State in the preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

Lady Vols sophomore Chamique Holdsclaw, named the tournament MVP, had a game-high 24 points and seven rebounds, and found ways to free herself time and time again to cut to the basket. Also named to the all-tournament team: Penicheiro, Nyree Roberts and Clarisse Machanguana of ODU and Tennessee point guard Kellie Jolly.

``We were unable to do much defensively to keep Tennessee from scoring,'' said coach Wendy Larry.

ODU trailed most of the way but looked to come up with the same kind of comeback it produced two nights earlier against Stanford. This time ODU was down by 16 before climbing out of the hole in the second half.

``They just crammed the ball in the block,'' Summitt said.

Penicheiro, held scoreless in the first half, ignited the comeback with six points, a steal and an assist in the opening four minutes. Aubrey Eblin gave the Lady Monarchs their first lead, hitting a three to tie things at 49 while picking up the foul, and then landing the free throw.

``It gave us momentum,'' Eblin said. ``It just wasn't enough.''

The lead swung back and forth, but the Lady Monarchs were dealt a blow when Mery Andrade fouled out with 8:01 remaining and ODU trailing by two. Twice more ODU tied it, but Niya Butts' layup at 51-49 gave the Lady Vols the lead for good.

The first half ended in spectacular fashion as Eblin pumped new life into the Monarchs by hitting a 40-foot 3-pointer, her first of the night, to cut the deficit to 34-22. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by BILL TIERNAN, The Virginian-Pilot

Mery Andrade cradles Ticha Penicheiro after the Lady Monarchs lost

to Tennessee in the championship game of the women's NCAA basketball

championship. ODU, down 16 in the first half, made a comeback in

the second - a formula that had worked in earlier tournament games

but fell short Sunday night. In ODU's first appearance in the Final

Four since 1985, ``we were unable to do much defensively to keep

Tennessee from scoring,'' Coach Wendy Larry said. The Vols won their

second consecutive championship, the first repeat since Southern

California earned the title in 1983 and 1984.

Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ODU's Clarisse Machanguana, left, and Ticha Penicheiro, right,