The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Tennessee
Texas earns fourth straight win over Tennessee
11.25.2004 | Women's Basketball
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Texas owns Tennessee right now.
Tiffany Jackson scored 19 points and had a career-high eight blocks as No. 4 Texas knocked off No. 1 Tennessee 74-59 Thursday night, the Longhorns' fourth straight win over the Lady Vols.
"Too much Texas for Tennessee," said Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt, who spent a frustrating night watching her team shoot just 33 percent while allowing Jackson to hit just about anything she wanted on the other end.
"There was way too much Jackson," Summitt said. "She's a great anchor for their program."
The win extended Texas' home winning streak to 38 -- the longest in the nation -- and ended a seven-game losing skid to top-ranked teams. Texas (2-1) hadn't beaten a No. 1 team since knocking off Tennessee in 1987.
The rivalry pits the winningest coaches in the women's game: Summitt and Texas coach Jody Conradt rank 1-2 in career victories.
"I think it's always fun against Tennessee," Texas guard Jaime Carey said. "I think we've established a nice little rivalry with them."
Conradt had to chuckle at that.
"I don't see too much nice about it during the 40 minutes on the court," she said.
History aside, this game belonged to Jackson, who appears ready to emerge as the dominant force for the Longhorns.
"Whenever you see Tennessee, you want to bring your best game," Jackson said.
Jackson hit consecutive buckets and had three blocks in the first two minutes of the second half. Then she added a short jumper, followed by a midcourt steal and layup, to give Texas a 41-30 lead with about 14 minutes to play.
The Longhorns held a double-digit lead for most of the second half.
Tennessee (3-1), which opened the season at No. 1 for the 11th time and the first time since 1998, never got in sync offensively. Shyra Ely, a preseason All-American, scored just four points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Lady Vols had a whopping 24-9 advantage in offensive rebounds but squandered it with poor shooting and 18 turnovers. Brittany Jackson led Tennessee with 14 points.
"You have to make shots," Summitt said. "That's the bottom line."
Meanwhile, Texas overcame 23 turnovers of its own with 60 percent shooting, including a torrid 73 percent in the second half, even with standout senior forward Heather Schreiber fouling out with 10 points.
Annissa Hastings, a senior who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles' tendon, scored 13 points for Texas on 5-of-6 shooting. Nina Norman added nine points, including a key 3-pointer late that ended a Tennessee rally almost as soon as it started.
The Lady Vols had trimmed a 14-point deficit to 61-52 when Loree Moore hit a 3-pointer and Alexis Hornbuckle converted a steal into a layup with just under five minutes left.
After Texas called timeout, Kala Bowers hit a jumper and Tennessee backed off Norman on the right wing before she swished the 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to 66-53.
"That's not the first time she's hit a shot that was like a dagger," Conradt said.
Norman hit the game-winning 3-pointer against Tennessee in their last meeting in Austin in 2002.
For Texas, the win should help shake off any lingering effects of a 78-64 road loss to No. 3 Georgia in which the Longhorns' veteran lineup squandered a 15-point lead.
"I expected this kind of performance after the Georgia game," Conradt said. "We probably had an inflated perception of ourselves going into Athens."
Summitt knew better than to expect a win in Austin.
"Our team respects Texas. They have beaten us four in a row and beat us by 10 last year in Knoxville," Summitt said. "We were not surprised."
POSTGAME NOTES
• Texas defeats Tennessee for the fourth straight time and is now 11-15 all-time against the Lady Vols... the four consecutive Longhorn wins match the longest win streak that they've had in the series with Tennessee
• The win is Texas' first over a No. 1 opponent in eight starts ... Texas' last win over a No. 1 ranked opponent was over Tennessee on Dec. 9, 1987 (a 97-78 win at Knoxville when Texas was ranked third) ... After that, Texas had lost seven in a row against No. 1 ranked teams before tonight's win
• Texas is 4-12 all-time against No. 1 ranked teams
• There is only one other team in the nation - Connecticut - which has a two-game or higher series win streak against Tennessee ... UConn has defeated Tennessee six times in a row
• Texas extends it nation's best homecourt win streak to 38 games ... The Longhorns are 2-0 at home this year ... That 38-game home win streak is the best in the nation for men's or women's Division I basketball
• Texas sophomore Tiffany Jackson has now been in double-figure scoring in 31 of her 38 collegiate games
• Jackson's game-high 8 blocks also was a career best and also ties for the fourth-highest single game block total by a Longhorn in history (record is 12)
• Texas senior guard Jamie Carey had a game-high and season-high six assists
• The game featured the two winningest coaches in women's basketball history - Pat Summitt who is No. 1 in wins and Jody Conradt at No. 2... After tonight's game, Summitt stands 855-168 in this her 31st year of head coaching, while Conradt is 849-270 in this her 36th season ... They also rank, among all-time men's and women's coaches victories, third (Summitt) and fourth (Conradt).
POSTGAME QUOTES
Tennessee Head Coach Pat Summitt
Her thoughts on the game ...
"When the game started, we got ourselves into a bit of a mess with fouls. As the game wore on, we had no answer for Tiffany Jackson. She is a great anchor for Texas on the inside and she is so active. We did not shoot the ball well and you have to credit Texas' defense. They did a great job moving the ball in transition against our press. As time went on we got open looks, but just didn't make them. When you're behind, there's a sense of urgency and we were playing catch-up the whole game. I thought our freshman posts fought really hard tonight and that was a positive for us. I was also really proud of our bench who came out and played hard."
On going up against Jody Conradt...
"I have a lot of respect for Jody Conradt and what she has meant to the women's game. She is a leader and is a person who has given back to the game. She has demonstrated through her years at Texas not only what it takes to build a program, but how to maintain it. Texas is good every year and the one constant is Jody Conradt. She continues to bring in quality student-athletes and put a very competitive team on the floor year in and year out."
Tennessee sophomore F Sidney Spencer
On the play of Tiffany Jackson ...
"She is very mobile for her size and was getting easy looks in the paint and offensive boards. She did a great job and we just couldn't defend her."
Texas Head Coach Jody Conradt
On the game in general and on winning four in a row against Tennessee ...
"I expected us to come back tough after a very disappointing game against Georgia on Sunday. I think we were feeling too good about ourselves after our win over Penn State, and that gave us an inflated perception of ourselves of where we were. We didn't respect Georgia enough.
Tonight, I liked the personality we had on the court. There are no easy possessions against a great team like Tennessee. They are worthy of giving your best every time down the court. You've got to play your very best game against them. They are hard-nosed and rebound the ball so well, as evidenced by our rebounding battle all night long. We fought for every possession. I thought Tiffany (Jackson) was pretty amazing tonight, and our guard play was incredibly better than it was in the last two games. Tiffany has always been highly competitive; right now, we are watching Tiffany pick up her intensity and consistency, which makes her competitiveness pay off. We know we can be a good team defensively, but what we needed to see was solid guard play, especially in pushing the ball. Our team started to push the ball much better tonight than we have. Nina (Norman) also had another big 3-point dagger tonight against Tennessee again, didn't she? (Note: her 3-pointer with 4:02 to play put Texas up by 13, 66-53; two years ago in Austin, Norman hit the game-winning 3-pointer with seconds left on the clock in UT's 63-62 win in Austin).
To beat a team like Tennessee four times in a row is very difficult. I have tremendous respect for Pat (Summitt) and the Tennessee program. Tonight, we had lots of people contribute - just like we have in the last three games against Tennessee, and that's a good thing due to the matchup we face every time we go against Tennessee."
On the nearly 12,000 in attendance ...
"You cannot discount what the crowd brings to the game. Tonight, the Erwin Center was electic! The environment was tremendous. You know, our success here at home and our 38 straight wins here are not just a function of the team. The support from our fans means so much. Tonight, we also had a Thanksgiving food drive (to benefit Austin's Capital Area Food Bank) and preliminary figures are that there are over 1,000 pounds collected. That's a great spirit, and the food collected is an admirable total."
Texas Senior G Jamie Carey
On the game in general and whether the team has extra incentive in going up against Tennessee, due to the rivalry and the fact that the Lady Vols were ranked No. 1 entering the game...
"First, we have tremendous respect for the Tennessee program, period. Whether they are ranked No. 1 or No. 4 or whatever, really doesn't matter. We are going to approach the game the same way every time we play them. It's developed into a nice little rivalry! You know it's always gonna be a battle when we play them. Like Coach (Conradt) said, it's contributions from everyone that makes the difference. We knew that Tennessee would make a big push in the beginning of the game, and then to start the second half. The first four minutes of every half are crucial, and we want to be the ones setting the tone. We wanted to push the ball to start each half, and we did that tonight."
Texas Sophomore F Tiffany Jackson
On whether she would say this was her best all-round game as a Longhorn (game-highs of 19 points and 9 rebounds, career-high and game-high 8 blocks)...
"Well, I really don't know how to answer that. All I know is that you want to bring your best game when you play Tennessee, due to their tradition. I know that all of us were very disappointed in how we played in the loss at Georgia, and we didn't show our best. Tonight, we all played much better, the guards, the posts, and our defense was much better than against Georgia. That was the difference."
Texas Junior G Nina Norman
On her play against Tennessee, which has been strong for all three years, and on hitting a big 3-pointer with 4:02 to play after Tennessee had cut the lead to 10, 63-53 ...
"Our whole team had a good mindset tonight when we came out to play. I know we played a lot harder and a lot better than we did against Georgia. It's always a lot of fun to go against Tennesse, and I know I had something to prove and had to play hard after the way I performed in the Georgia game. As far as that "3", Tennessee was in a zone and I was looking for Kala (Bowers) cutting baseline, but they cut her off. The defense stepped back on me and I had room and I put up the shot and made it.
