Roundup: Lady Vols Improve to 8-0

Wednesday, December 19, 2001
 
CHICAGO (AP) -- Gwen Jackson scored 17 points and Kara Lawson added 14 Wednesday night as No. 2 Tennessee beat DePaul 80-66.

Tennessee (8-0) was able to control DePaul's Lenae Williams, who played with a sore back. The Lady Vols held the nation's No. 2 scorer to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. She was limited to 19 minutes because of foul trouble.

Jackson had 12 rebounds and Lawson 13 for the Lady Vols.

Laura Sobieszczyk led DePaul with 18 points and Jamie Smith added 14.

It was the second meeting with a top 10 team in three days for DePaul (6-5), which lost 63-61 to No. 7 Purdue on Monday.

Tennessee scored quickly at the start, taking a 12-4 lead about three minutes into the game.

April McDivitt made a layup on a beautiful behind-the-back move, and Jackson hit a 3 to extend the lead to 17-7 seven minutes in.

Smith made several nice moves to score six quick points, getting the Blue Demons within 24-18.

The Lady Vols came with a 9-0 run, Shyra Ely, who had 12 points, made two layups and Snow hit a jumper.

Tennessee led 43-34 at halftime. Williams shot 2-of-10 in only eight first-half minutes.

She then missed her first two shots in the second half, committed her fourth foul and went to the bench.

Williams came back out for a couple possessions, but soon found herself again sitting as Tennessee went on a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 53-34.

DePaul got back within 55-47 with two 3s by Sobieszczyk, and one by Jenni Dant.

Williams returned with about nine minutes left, but DePaul got no closer than eight.

No. 10 Georgia 72, Oakland 51
ROCHESTER, Mich. (AP) --
Christi Thomas and Kara Braxton scored 16 points apiece, and 10th-ranked Georgia used a decided height advantage to beat Oakland University 72-51 Wednesday night.

The Lady Bulldogs (8-0) are off to the third-best start in school history, trailing the 1985-86 team's 9-0 and the 1998-99 team's 14-0 record. The Golden Grizzlies (3-6) stayed close for most of the first half, but Georgia scored the final six points and led 38-31 at the break.

The Lady Bulldogs dominated the second half, with 6-foot-5 Thomas and 6-6 Braxton towering over the Golden Grizzlies, who had no player taller than 6-foot. Katie Wolfe led Oakland with 18 points, and Sarah Judd had 12.

Georgia led 55-43 midway through the half, then put the game away with a 9-0 run. Braxton had the final two baskets to give the Lady Bulldogs a 64-43 lead with 6:50 to play.

Whitney Law added 11 points for Georgia.

Kentucky 72, Louisville 53
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) --
Sara Potts and LaTonya McDole each scored 15 points and SeSe Helm added 14 as Kentucky beat intrastate rival Louisville 72-53 Wednesday night.

Potts was 4-of-9 from 3-point range, and McDole added seven rebounds, five steals and three assists as the Wildcats (4-4) beat the Cardinals for the 13th consecutive time in Memorial Coliseum.

Sara Nord scored 15 points, finishing 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and LaKisha Hoffman added 13 for the Cardinals (5-3), who have lost two straight.

Louisville melted under Kentucky's full-court pressure, shooting only 30 percent -- including a dismal 24 percent in the second half -- and turning the ball over 26 times.

Kentucky shot 50 percent for the game and scored 26 points off Louisville turnovers. The Wildcats' bench also outscored the Cardinals' reserves 17-6.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Nord and Marju Sober gave Louisville a 10-3 lead less than three minutes into the game. Nord's jumper gave the Cardinals their largest lead, 18-7, with 11:30 to play in the first half.

From that point, Kentucky outscored Louisville 26-7 -- Potts hit three 3-pointers during the run -- to take a 33-25 halftime lead.

Sober opened the second half with a long 3-pointer, but an 11-0 run gave the Wildcats a 44-28 lead with 15 minutes to play.

The lead grew to as many as 21, 63-42, on a McDole layup at the six-minute mark.

Arkansas 81, Oklahoma State 78
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) --
A driving layup by Shameka Christon gave Arkansas a late lead en route to an 81-78 victory Wednesday night over Oklahoma State.

The Cowgirls (5-4) led 71-61 with 6:29 left in the game, but the Lady Razorbacks finished with a 20-7 run.

India Lewis scored 17 for Arkansas (7-2), and Christon had 16. Joy Oakley and Lakishia Harper each scored 12 and Dana Cherrry contributed 11.

Thia Willis and Tari Cummings each scored 16 for Oklahoma State, and Chantoya Hawkins scored 12. Trisha Skibbe added 11 and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Oklahoma State committed 24 turnovers to Arkansas' 14.