No. 3 Tennessee lowers boom on Alabama

TUSCALOOSA | University of Alabama women’s basketball coach Stephany Smith said there were “moments” when the Crimson Tide was able to ignore the name on the opponent’s jersey.

Most of those moments probably didn’t come with Tennessee’s Candace Parker on the floor.

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Parker, the nation’s top player, scored 19 points in 19 minutes to lift the Lady Vols to an 85-58 victory over Alabama at Coleman Coliseum on Thursday night. The junior forward – who has already declared her intention to play professionally next season – was just part of a talent gap that was far too great for Alabama to overcome, even with one of its better performances of the season.

“There were moments when we played really well, with poise and even confidence at times,” Smith said. “At other times, we looked around and realized who we (were) playing against and we stumbled some.

“There were times in the first half when we didn’t get back on defense. In the second half, we did a better job. They had their way in the first half in transition. They scored 24 points on layup opportunities.”

Whatever miniscule upset hopes existed probably vanished in the first five minutes. Alabama and Tennessee traded scores on their opening possessions, but the Crimson Tide couldn’t get another shot to the rim for nearly five minutes, turning the ball over six times and having two shots blocked in that stretch. By the time Alabama scored its second field goal with 14:36 remaining in the half, UT enjoyed a 17-4 lead.

“We came out and jumped on them,” Parker said. “Our effort was good. I was really proud of Shannon Bobbitt. She ran the team tonight.”

Tide guard Dedrea Magee said the early turnovers were too much to overcome.

“I think we came out tough,” Magee said. “If we could have taken care of the ball better, we could have had a chance. We had a run and cut it to 11 at one point. But we couldn’t hang on to the ball.”

The major excitement in the first half came on two breakaway attempts by Parker. She came close to executing a dunk on the first attempt, but the ball hit the back rim and bounced out. On the second attempt, she laid the ball in gently.

Alabama was still within 17 points, 53-36, with just under 15 minutes left to play but the powerful Vols gradually built a more comfortable margin on the way to the 35th consecutive win over UA. That streak dates back to the 1984 season.

“Overall, I thought it was a good effort by our basketball team,” said UT coach Pat Summitt. “It was good to get our bench a lot of quality minutes as well.

“I thought in the first half, we had some players come in a little overanxious offensively. We weren’t scoring and we were giving up points. I thought we did a better job in the second half.”

After the game, UT coach Pat Summitt praised the play of Parker on both ends of the floor.

“Candace has become much more efficient,” Summitt said. “I’m really pleased to see how much harder she has defended. She’s added even more to her offensive package this year but she has become a much greater presence on defense.”

Summitt also said she supported Parker’s professional decision, which was announced earlier this week.

“Candace has made her decision and she is a very smart individual,” Summitt said. “She’s invested in our program. That’s a player’s decision. If she feels that this is the best decision, then I support her in her future as a pro player and at the Olympic level.”

“I didn’t really know it was that big a deal,” Parker said. “I haven’t really talked to a lot of people about it since we’ve been here in Alabama.”

Summitt substituted generously in the game, although injuries limited her roster to nine players.

In addition to Parker’s 19 points, UT (24-2, 10-1 SEC) got 12 points each from Nicky Anosike and Vicki Baugh.

Tierney Jenkins led Alabama with 12 points.

The loss was Alabama’s 11th in a row, dropping the Crimson Tide to 8-19 overall and 1-11 in SEC play. Smith, however, noted signs of progress.

“That glazed-over look we had last season, kid of hopeless, the only time we’ve had that this year was the week-and-a-half that Camilla (Blands) was out.

“It’s really unfortunate that we’ve had some of the injuries we’ve had. We’ve signed twelve players since we’ve been here and six of them have had injuries. Combine that with all our youth and it’s unfortunate because we really had a chance to take a bigger step forward.

“The end result is the same this year, but we were losing by 40 points a game last year, throwing six freshmen to the wolves. That hasn’t been the case this year.

“There were moments in this game where we ignored the name on the jersey of the other team and just played the game when we were capable of playing. I think the fact that it was Tennessee and we were able to put that aside at times out to carry over.”

Alabama played without sophomore center Talisha Chandler, suspended for what Smith called “a violation of team rules.”

(Reach Cecil Hurt at cecil.hurt@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0225.)

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