No. 2 Tennessee 68, Mississippi 44

1/31/2008 10:00 PM

By CHRIS TALBOTT
Associated Press Writer

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) -The game was played on the final day of January, but Pat Summitt was thinking about March and April.

The Tennessee coach gave her reserves plenty of playing time in the second-ranked Lady Vols' easy 68-44 win over Mississippi on Thursday night.

Tennessee's starters held the Lady Rebels to 13 first-half points, allowing liberal substitutions as they continued their defensive dominance in the Southeastern Conference on the way to their ninth consecutive win overall and the 16th straight against Ole Miss.

``It's more about us right now,'' Summitt said. ``We've got to get better.''

Starters Shannon Bobbitt scored 14 points and Candace Parker had 13, but more importantly players such as Alex Fuller and Sydney Smallbone played more than 20 minutes and contributed to the win.

Tennessee (19-1, 6-0 SEC), bigger and faster at every position, strong-armed Ole Miss (8-11, 2-4) on the way to a 28-point first-half lead. But the Lady Vols' 39-13 halftime advantage could have been wider.

They used a quick 15-0 run to jump to a 17-4 lead early in the first half, but stalled out with a flurry of poor passes in transition, missed shots and unforced turnovers.

The Lady Rebels held the Lady Vols without a field goal for the next 6 minutes, though they were unable to capitalize, scoring just four points in that span.

Tennessee broke out of the slump with a 21-5 run and Ole Miss never got closer than 22.

It was the third straight poor start for the Lady Rebels, who were led by Shawn Goff's 20 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. They scored 20 points in the first half of a 57-52 loss at Mississippi State and 12 points in an 83-50 loss at Vanderbilt.

Tennessee limited Ole Miss to 20.7 percent shooting in the first half 27.8 percent overall. The Lady Vols held the Lady Rebels scoreless for 5:12 early in the half, then allowed just two field goals and five points over the final 11:37.

Ole Miss continued to struggle from behind the 3-point line. Eleventh in the nation and No. 1 in the SEC in 3-point shooting just two weeks ago, Ole Miss snapped a string of 36 missed long-range shots late in the second half, but finished 2-for-18.

Goff said the team must figure out what has gone wrong offensively.

``If that means coming into the gym for extra shooting, we're going to have to do that to get back on track,'' she said.

Part of Ole Miss' troubles Thursday were caused by Tennessee's pressure defense and rebounding. The Lady Vols held a 48-40 rebounding advantage and used 12 offensive rebounds in the first half for an 18-3 edge in second chance points. They also scored 12 off turnovers over the first 20 minutes.

Tennessee hasn't allowed more than 63 points in six SEC games and is giving up an average of 50 per league contest.

``They're big, they're athletic and if you get past their first line of defense, they've got another one,'' Ole Miss coach Renee Ladner said.

Fuller finished with 11 points, but also gained several valuable lessons in 22 minutes. For instance, after months of hearing her coaches tell her not to bring the ball down to waist level after a rebound, she was finally made to pay by Ole Miss' energetic defense.

``I've never really had a team that scrappy,'' Fuller said. ``So once they took the ball away from me today, it was nothing but a learning experience.''