NORMAN, Okla. – Twenty minutes after the game was over, Lady Vol coach Pat Summitt was finally able to exhale.
After a game that wasn’t over until way after the buzzer sounded, Summitt needed a little extra time to let the 71-69 Lady Vol victory over Baylor sink in.
Down by eight with 6:28 remaining in the Sweet 16 matchup, Tennessee rallied with a 10-2 run to tie the contest at 67 with 2:58 on the clock. From there, junior forward Shyra Ely knocked down a shot for the Lady Vols and Baylor sophomore forward Sophia Young answered with a jumper of her own to knot up the game at 69 with 1:19 remaining.
The heart-stopping finish started there. Ely missed two free throws with 57 seconds left on the clock, giving the Lady Bears the ball with less than a minute to play. After a timeout, Baylor tried to use up the shot clock, hoping for a game-winning last second shot.
Instead, Ely stole the ball and raced down the court. Her short jumper rimmed out, as did senior guard LaToya Davis’ putback, even though the replay clearly showed Davis over the defender’s back.
But senior guard Tasha Butts grabbed the rebound and was fouled by Baylor guard Jessika Stratton. That replay showed both players clearly going for the loose ball. Officials reviewed the series to determine that the ‘foul’ signaled by referee Charles Gonzalez occurred with time remaining on the clock.
After they determined that it occurred with .2 seconds remaining, Butts stepped to the line and sank two free throws, sending Tennessee into the Elite Eight for the ninth time in 10 years.
The result left Summitt a little short of breath but pleased with the way her team stepped up when it mattered.
“We were really tested tonight,” Summitt said. “In the postseason you just have to figure out a way to survive and advance. I was proud that we found a way to win. I was pleased that we could survive in a game that was very ugly at times.”
The game was ugly for the Lady Vols, who struggled on the boards in the first half without the presence of senior center Ashley Robinson. Without Robinson, who picked up two first-half fouls, Baylor was able to pick up a 22-15 edge in rebounding and a 31-27 halftime lead.
Robinson didn’t stay around for much of the second half either. She received her fourth foul with 13:34 remaining and headed for the bench. She picked up her fifth foul only 28 seconds after returning to the action.
With the win, the Lady Vols advanced to play sixth-seed Stanford in the Midwest Regional final tonight at 9. The Cardinal survived a last second thriller of their own in a 57-55 win over two-seed Vanderbilt Sunday night.
A Kelly Suminski 3-pointer with .3 seconds remaining gave the Cardinal the two-point win and a date with Tennessee for a berth to the Final Four.
Reaching another Summitt: Summitt will attain another milestone with tonight’s contest between Stanford and the Lady Vols. The contest will be Summitt’s 100th game in NCAA tournament play.
The Regional has already held one mark for Summitt, who picked up her 850th career victory with Sunday’s win over Baylor.
Summitt, though, takes the milestone in stride.
“Right now, my focus is on this basketball team and nothing else,” she said. “Numbers are irrelevant at this point in time. I want to see this team advance.”
