Lady Vols dismantle DePaul, 88-67
By Leonard Buttsof The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: December 01. 2008 3:01AM
Last modified: December 01. 2008 12:51AM
KNOXVILLE -- The Tennessee Lady Vols were at full force on Sunday for the first time this season.
That was bad news for DePaul.
No. 9 Tennessee opened with a 13-0 run, flagged a bit as coach Pat Summitt substituted, but then rallied in the second half to demolish the Blue Demons, 88-67, at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Prior to Sunday's contest, the Lady Vols (5-1) had been playing with one or more of the 12-member squad sidelined by injury or rehab. That ended against DePaul (5-2) with the return of Angie Bjorklund, who had not played at all this season because of a back problem.
Post player Kelley Cain and forward Alicia Manning, who both had been recovering from concussions, also returned to the court.
Freshman Glory Johnson led UT with 19 points. Fellow-freshman starter Shekinna Stricklen scored 16 points, and Cain added 12. Backup point guard Briana Bass recorded eight assists.
Bjorklund, who was expected to be used sparingly, played 25 minutes, scored five points and pulled down seven boards.
"I was a little concerned about how we might play for 40 minutes, particularly with our defense," Summitt said. "But all in all, I was really pleased. We brought a lot of energy and got to play a lot of players.
"In the second half, we had a lot of good pressure and did a lot of good things going inside."
Summitt was especially happy with the return of Cain, who has missed three games. The 6-foot-6 center had six boards and two blocked shots to go with her double-figure scoring.
"I know I'm not in as good a shape as I need to be," Cain said. "I knew I just had to get out there and give it my all."
The Lady Vols opened their first-half lead to 19 points, 35-16, with 5:52 to play. But the Blue Demons recovered well, holding UT to only one field goal in the next 4 minutes and slicing the difference to only six points, 38-32. At the half, Tennessee led 44-34.
"It hurt us when we substituted, but if we're going to play a lot of players, they have to be thinking about what we need to accomplish when they go into the game," Summitt said.
A halftime chat about putting on more pressure defensively and getting to the boards solved the problem.
The Lady Vols took a 57-43 advantage seven minutes into the second period, and DePaul point guard Sam Quigley picked up her fourth foul at about the same time. From then on, it was all UT.
DePaul was led by Quigley with 15 points. Leading scorer Deirdre Naughton (19.8 ppg) was held to 14 and Keisha Hampton had 11.
Tennessee now has a quick turnaround, traveling to George Washington University on Tuesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.