ATLANTA – Tennessee coach Pat Summitt perhaps has Connecticut, of all teams, to thank for the emergence of senior forward Gwen Jackson as a superstar over the second half of the season.
In the Jan. 4 matchup against UConn in Hartford, Tennessee led for stretches of the entire game, including a seven-point lead during the second half. Diana Taurasi, consensus National Player of the Year, scored 25 points in the overtime battle, leading UConn to a 63-62 win.
Tennessee wasn’t simply lacking an answer to Taurasi. Tennessee lacked Gwen Jackson.
The Lady Vols can’t afford to be without Jackson tonight at 8:30 in the Georgia Dome, where they meet Taurasi and the Huskies for the national title.
Jackson was 1-of-6 from the field on that afternoon in January, contributing only two points and no rebounds in 16 minutes of play. Summitt chose a moment early in the second half to teach her forward a lesson, and she didn’t play the rest of the game.
Jackson said those moments, more than anything, have helped shape the rest of her season.
“I never wanted to let my team down again,” she said. “I never want to leave the court and wonder what I could have done better to help out this team. That was the worst feeling in the world, knowing that I could have done something to help win that game.”
Summitt sees that Jackson – a first-team All-SEC selection – has dedicated herself to her team ever since.
“I think what we are seeing is a Gwen Jackson who is committed to her team on both ends of the court,” Summitt said. “If her shot isn’t falling, she’s pulling down rebounds and playing strong defensively. I really think she is so motivated and focused right now on doing anything she can to help this team win.”
Anything she can has turned out well for Tennessee thus far. Since the death of her grandmother on the night of the second round game, Jackson has dedicated the season to her. That dedication has amounted to 23 points per game, including a 25-point effort against Duke in Sunday’s semifinal win.
Jackson has made her presence felt in other ways as well. Against the Blue Devils, she pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds, adding to Tennessee’s 41-30 domination of the boards.
“(Jackson) is just so much more aggressive,” Duke coach Gail Goestenknors said. “She didn’t play that many minutes the first time, but she wasn’t very aggressive at all. She’s just a superior athlete. When she’s working hard, she’s so hard to keep off the glass. She played with such a passion.
“We had no answer for her.”
Tennessee will need contributions from the rest of the team in order to outbattle the Huskies, who will look for to repeat last year’s national title. UConn has won two of the last three titles, and beat the Lady Vols for the title in 1995 and 2000.
Sophomore guard Brittany Jackson, having emerged from her scoring slump in the postseason, invoked needed energy and momentum upon enetering late in the second half Monday.
“I think that Brittany provided us a spark off the bench,” Summitt said. “When she is able to make her own shots, she gives an added dimension to this team that makes us more difficult to guard.
The Lady Vols will need a continuation of the active defense they’ve been playing of late to neutralize Taurasi, who scored 26 points in a comeback win over Texas Sunday night.
If any additional motivation is necessary, Tennessee can feed off the latest comments from Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma.
Auriemma, already in the spotlight for calling Villanova coach Harry Perretta two-faced after he traded tips with Summitt, fed more fuel to the fire in Saturday’s pre-Final Four press conference by declaring Tennessee’s dynasty dead.
“We have the best program, no question about that,” he said. “I think you have to say that one is history. If you want to use national championships as criteria, absolutely, Tennessee is tops. But Connecticut is where it’s at right now.”
