Tennessee-Purdue Preview

3/24/2008 12:40 PM

By BRETT HUSTON
STATS Writer

Seven of the 99 NCAA tournament wins of Tennessee coach Pat Summitt have come in national championship games, including one last season. Not one of her 18 losses has come in the tournament's first two rounds.

The top-seeded Lady Volunteers will try to give Summitt her 100th tournament victory Tuesday, when they play what's essentially a road game in the second round against ninth-seeded Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

Tennessee (31-2) opened defense of its national title with a first-round rout of 16th-seeded Oral Roberts on Sunday, a 94-55 win in which nine Lady Vols played at least 15 minutes, and five scored at least 11 points.

Ironically, the Tennessee starter that saw the fewest minute was star Candace Parker, the SEC's leading scorer at 21.1 points per game. She battled foul problems throughout, but still had 14 points in 18 minutes.

"I don't think it was 18 minutes by design,'' Parker said. "I kind of got in a little foul trouble.''

The Lady Vols' 39-point win matched their margin of victory from last season's first-round win - 76-37 over Drake - which came en route to Summitt's seventh national championship.

Summitt's teams have gone 6-1 against Purdue (19-14) since 1994, and the Lady Vols' most recent win over the Boilermakers was their only meeting in the NCAA tournament.

The circumstances surrounding that game - a 75-54 Tennessee victory March 22, 2005 - were basically the same: a spot in the regional semifinals on the line, the Lady Vols ranked third in the country and the top seed in their region, and Purdue a No. 9 seed.

The difference in that contest was the game site. That matchup was in Knoxville on Tennessee's home floor, while this game will be at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette.

"We have our work cut out for us,'' Parker said. "They're scrappy, they play hard. I think with us, it's about defense and rebounding. We need to worry about us. That's the most important thing."

The Boilermakers made it to the regional finals of last season's NCAA tournament before falling to top-seeded North Carolina, but didn't look like they would be making a return trip in 2007-08.

A loss at Iowa on Jan. 24 dropped them to 9-10, but they've won 10 of 14 since, including a three-game run to the Big Ten tournament championship. Lakisha Freeman's buzzer-beating jumper gave Purdue a 58-56 win over Illinois in the final and guaranteed the Boilermakers would make their 15th consecutive NCAA appearance.

Coach Sharon Versyp's team should be well-prepared to face the Lady Vols. They've played one of the nation's toughest schedules and had a difficult first-round test in 18th-ranked Utah.

Kalika France and FahKara Moore scored 17 points apiece and the Boilermakers won 66-59 on Sunday to set up their eighth meeting with Tennessee.

"I think it's another great opportunity,'' Versyp said. "Our team has played UConn, North Carolina. We've played the best in the country, and to get (the Lady Vols) at home is a great opportunity."

Tennessee should have a big advantage from beyond the arc. The Lady Vols are one of the top 20 3-point shooting teams in the country, connecting on 37.3 percent of their attempts. Three players - Shannon Bobbitt, Alexis Hornbuckle and Angie Bjorklund - make at least 38.1 percent.

Purdue, on the other hand, averages only 29.0 percent from 3-point range, though it hit a season-high seven of its 14 attempts against Utah.

The winner will face fourth-seeded Oklahoma or fifth-seeded Notre Dame in Sunday's regional semifinals in Oklahoma City.