Lady Vols steamroll Vanderbilt to reach SEC final
Vanderbilt got off to a hot start, but the success was fleeting.
Top-seed Tennessee scored 10 consecutive points after falling behind early and never trailed after that. The result was a 68-49 win over the Commodores in the semifinals of the SEC women's tournament at Gwinnett Arena on Saturday.
The No. 4-ranked Lady Vols advance to Sunday's final, where they play the Kentucky-Mississippi State winner at 6:30 p.m.
The game started with the Commodores (22-10) taking a 10-4 lead with some well-played jumpers and nice ball movement on offense
Tennessee (29-2) came out of the quick break on fire, though, and an Angie Bjorklund 3-pointer was the catalyst for a 10-0 run that produced an 18-4 score. From that point there was little doubt, and Tennessee's lead remained at six or more.
Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said her team had to get re-focused on defense to take control of the game.
"Well, I think we started a little slow, and we have in some games -- probably too many games," Summitt said. "But when you have a championship on the line, why would you not come and be ready to go?
"When you play them [Vanderbilt], you have to really change your thinking on what you're going to do. You know then that you've got to really close out long."
It was that perimeter defense that might have been the most impressive part of Tennessee's performance in both of its SEC Tournament victories, which have come by an average margin of 22 points over Ole Miss and Vandy.
In the two games, Tennessee's opponents have combined to shoot 5-of-36 (14 percent) from beyond the arc, including 3-of-17 for the Commodores on Saturday.
Junior Angie Bjorklund, who has been a big part of that perimeter defense the past two games, said it was a matter of being prepared for what Vanderbilt was going to throw at the team.
"I just thought we really bought into our scouting report defense," Bjorklund said. "We knew who were the shooters, who were the drivers. I thought that was key for us, especially in switching defense, which helped us out really a lot. Getting out and switching the steal, getting out on the shooters."
While the Commodores were struggling shooting 3's, Tennessee was making just enough of them to help open the inside game. The Lady Vols made six of 18, and Bjorklund was the most active, making four of 13.
That combined with Tennessee's size inside to make the Lady Vols tough to defend. Forwards Alyssia Brewer and Glory Johnson teamed with center Kelley Cain to score 33 points (15, nine and nine, respectively) and collect 21 rebounds (seven apiece).
