KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Tennessee coach Pat Summitt challenged
her post players to play up to their potential against Georgia.
They gladly accepted.
Three forwards combined to score 39 points as No. 3 Tennessee
beat the Lady Dogs (No. 16 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) 87-60 on Thursday to extend its winning streak to
14 going into Sunday's meeting with No. 4 LSU.
"I just wanted to step up and produce and help the front line
out because I think we're the most dominant front line in the
country. We just have to go out and play like it,'' reserve forward
Courtney McDaniel said.
Gwen Jackson scored 14 points and Shyra Ely added 12 points and
a career-high 12 rebounds.
McDaniel scored a career-high 13 points and Tasha Butts had a
career-high 13 rebounds for the Lady Vols (23-3, 11-0 Southeastern
Conference), who outrebounded the Lady Dogs 53-25.
All 11 of Tennessee's players scored at least three points.
"That's what we talked about before the game, what type of
performance we expected of ourselves and what our fans expected
every night we go out and play. I really think we haven't been
performing up to the potential that we have,'' Summitt said.
"Our front line players worked in every aspect of the game. ...
You just have to be able to work and get the ball and work for a
rebound. It's physical and it's tough. You have to match your
opponent's intensity, and I thought we more than did that.''
The Lady Vols were coming off a close 59-56 win at Auburn on
Sunday, but nothing about Thursday's game was suspenseful.
Tennessee had little trouble beating Georgia (17-7, 8-3) for the
fourth straight time.
Freshman Alexis Kendrick led the Lady Dogs with 21 points.
Tennessee put Georgia in a deep hole early, streaking to a 14-2
lead with 15:36 left in the first half.
The Lady Vols, who outrebounded Georgia in the first five
minutes 10-1, stretched their lead to as many as 21 after Brittany
Jackson hit a 3 with 6:37 remaining before halftime.
Tennessee led 38-22 at the break and started the second half
with a 9-0 run to lead by 24.
Georgia cut it down to 19 with 16:27 remaining, but Ely scored
eight points and had an assist in a 10-0 run that put Tennessee
ahead 59-30 three minutes later.
The Lady Dogs couldn't piece together a big enough run to
challenge Tennessee down the stretch.
Georgia, which lost at Vanderbilt 58-56 Sunday, played for the
first time since leading scorer Kara Braxton was suspended
Wednesday for the rest of the season for violating unspecified team
policies
Braxton, the SEC freshman of the year last season, averaged 15.7
points and was second on the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.
She was suspended for two other games during the season for
breaking team rules.
"It makes a huge difference,'' Summitt said about Braxton's
absence.
Braxton's absence left Christi Thomas as Georgia's leading
scorer at 15.5 points a game, and she was held to just eight
Thursday before fouling out with 5:20 left.
"I'm not discouraged. I don't want our kids to be discouraged.
I think they're hurt a little bit,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers
said. "We're a good basketball team. We really are. This hasn't
changed that. The events of this week aren't going to change
that.''
Georgia was the last SEC team to win in Knoxville. Since the
Dec. 8, 1996, loss, Tennessee has won 46 straight SEC home games.
This game started out as if it would challenge Georgia's biggest
loss in the Tennessee series, a 102-43 thrashing in 1998.
The Lady Dogs made just eight field goals in the first half, but
their defense kept them in the game by forcing Tennessee into 11
turnovers.
Georgia trimmed the lead to 14 on Thomas' putback with 28
seconds left in the first half only to see Tennessee score again
before the buzzer to restore a 16-point lead.