ATLANTA – The first four rounds of the NCAA tournament might as well have been organized scrimmages for the Lady Vols.
Duke is no practice squad.
The Lady Vols used key second half runs, rebounding and defense to get by the Blue Devils 66-56 on Sunday night in the Final Four.
Faced with a rematch against Duke, which defeated Tennessee by 21 points back in November, the Lady Vols took advantage of a pair of Jacksons to advance to the title game to play UConn, which beat Texas 71-69 on Sunday night.Trailing 29-27 at halftime, Tennessee senior forward Gwen Jackson and sophomore guard Brittany Jackson took over after 30 minutes of back-and-forth basketball. Brittany Jackson hit two consecutive baskets to put UT up 41-35 in the second half, and Gwen Jackson scored 13 of her 25 in the final 6:08.
“The Jackson girls tonight were pretty awesome,” Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt said. “I thought they did a really nice job of remaining focused and playing hard on both ends of the court.”
Tennessee started the game off running, a continuation of its play in the opening rounds of the tournament. The Lady Vols opened up a 15-8 lead in the first seven minutes mark, thanks in part to nine points from Gwen Jackson.
But Duke fought back. The lead changed nine times in the first half – 20 minutes of basketball that did not impress Summitt.
“I thought, for one reason or another, some of our players didn’t look as committed as they have been (in the first half),” Summitt said. “This is not the time of year to yell at a team. Now’s the time to see how prepared you are.
“I just told this team that if we wanted to play for the championship, we had 20 minutes to prove it.”
Thanks to the Jacksons, they did.
With Duke leading 44-43 with 6:53 left in the game, Gwen Jackson scored Tennessee’s next nine points. She capped off her run with a 3-pointer to put the Lady Vols up, 52-49.
Brittany Jackson then put the Lady Vols up 54-49 on the next possession, and they never looked back.
Summitt said having the new Gwen Jackson made the difference in a 10-point win in the tournament vs. a 21-point loss earlier in the season.
“Gwen is one player who has been so focused during the postseason,” Summitt said. “She played an incredible game for us tonight. I think the difference between this game for Gwen and the first game we played against Duke was that she showed up to play. She was with us tonight.”
She finished the game with 25 points and 15 rebounds.
“In November, she didn’t compete and wasn’t inspired,” Summitt said. “Gwen has made a decision to show up for us every night. She did enough tonight to make me forget the first game.”
Tennessee will try for its first National Championship since 1998 on Tuesday night.
“I think this team realizes that we are 40 minutes away from a championship,” Summitt said. “I’m proud of them for getting here, but we want one more win.”
