Mccray’s Creativity Lifts Vols To Title Game

Three weeks ago, when the third-ranked Tennessee women’s basketball team defeated No. 12 Georgia by 22 in the regular-season finale, Georgia coach Andy Landers bemoaned his team’s lack of effort.

Saturday, when the Volunteers eliminated the Bulldogs 73-51 in a NCAA national semifinal, Landers had no gripe about effort.

The Vols (34-2), who will play UConn today for their fourth national championship, were dominant in all phases of the game.

“You can cut through a lot of the parts or areas of the game and get right to the heart of the matter,” Landers said. “And the heart of the matter is that Tennessee is a much more aggressive basketball team than Georgia. If you aren’t aggressive and the aggressive team has talent - and Tennessee does - then it’s going to be a long afternoon.”

The Vols did what they’ve done all season: control the boards on both ends, make the most of their transition opportunities and play stifling defense, thanks to senior forward Nikki McCray.

The two-time All-America had 22 points and eight rebounds, and played brilliantly on defense and in transition.

“We had to keep our focus to be in the position that we wanted to be in, which is playing (today),” McCray said. “We just have to concentrate and stay focused and not relax.”

The vaunted Tennessee inside game was largely ineffective, but the transition game clicked with McCray, and guards Latina Davis and Michelle Marciniak.

Davis, a 5-foot-6 junior, had six of Tennessee’s first 10 points, to finish with 10, while Marciniak, a 5-foot-9 junior, had just eight points, but 10 assists and three steals.

“We played together and we were focused,” said Marciniak. “Once we got going and started to run, it was easy to get going. We just fed off each other.”

“We learned a valuable lesson in the SEC tournament about our perimeter game,” said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. “That really helped us and made me a better coach. If we don’t give the perimeter players the green light to shoot 15-footers, we wouldn’t have had a chance to get to Minneapolis and the Final Four.”

The Vols, who have won their five tournament games by an average of nearly 24 points per game, started slowly, missing on three of their first four possessions, but quickly righted themselves behind their perimeter trio to take a 21-8 lead.

Tennessee 73, Georgia 51

fulead GEORGIA (28-5)

Frett 5-12 1-2 11, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Henderson 5-15 2-7 12, Roundtree 4-15 3-4 11, Holland 4-12 0-0 10, Powell 1-6 0-0 2, Sanders 1-1 1-2 3, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Bush 0-1 0-0 0, Decker 1-2 0-0 2, Walls 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-64 7-15 51.

TENNESSEE (34-2)

McCray 10-16 2-2 22, Thompson 1-2 2-2 4, D.Johnson 4-9 3-5 11, Marciniak 3-8 0-0 8, Davis 4-13 2-4 10, M.Johnson 1-3 0-0 2, T.Johnson 2-2 0-0 4, Milligan 0-0 2-2 2, Ward 2-4 1-1 5, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Conklin 2-3 0-0 5. Totals 29-62 12-16 73.

Halftime-Tennessee 40, Georgia 25. 3-Point goals-Georgia 2-15 (Holland 2-10, Roundtree 0-1, Decker 0-1, Powell 0-3), Tennessee 3-4 (Marciniak 2-2, Conklin 1-1, Davis 0-1). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Georgia 33 (Henderson 7), Tennessee 51 (D.Johnson 11). Assists-Georgia 13 (Roundtree 5), Tennessee 18 (Marciniak 10). Total fouls-Georgia 18, Tennessee 15. A-18,038.