Sidney Spencer helped lead Lady Vols past UConn
photo by Wendy King
KNOXVILLE - When Sidney Spencer was elevated to Tennessee’s starting lineup due to the departure of Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood last month, it took the junior forward some time to adjust to her new role.
In her four games as a starter prior to Saturday’s showdown with archrival and seventh-ranked Connecticut in Knoxville, Spencer had scored a total of 27 points. Suffice to say that she wasn’t the focus of UConn’s scouting reports on the top-ranked Lady Vols.
It is probably a given that Spencer will be closely scrutinized by future Lady Vol opponents after her career defining performance Saturday as she led her team to an 89-80 victory over their Nutmeg state nemesis witnessed by an uproarious record crowd of 24,653 and a national television audience at Thompson-Boling Arena. Tennessee’s triumph was the first over UConn at Knoxville in almost five years. On February 1, 2001, the Lady Vols defeated the Huskies 92-88. It was also the second consecutive win over UConn as Tennessee edged the Huskies 68-67 last year at Hartford.
The 6-3 native of Hoover, AL scored a career high 21 points which was highlighted by five for five perfection on three-point shots, sinking all four of her free throw attempts during a crucial point late in the game to clinch the victory for the unbeaten Lady Vols (15-0) and grabbing a season best six rebounds.
UConn (12-2) was trailing 77-75 with less than three minutes remaining when Spencer sank four consecutive free throws after being fouled twice by Barbara Turner. Turner and teammate Ann Strother, who led the Huskies with 25 points, the most by a Lady Vol opponent this season, fouled out.
Spencer credited her teammates for giving her the opportunity to shoot the basketball.
“Today I was blessed.” She said during a post-game press conference. “My three teammates (Candace Parker, Alexis Hornbuckle and Shanna Zolman) sitting here drew the attention on defense. They needed a double team to defend them and that was leaving me open so they could kick the ball out to me to get the open shot.”
“I’ll pass to Sidney any day when she’s shooting like that.” said Zolman, who scored all 13 of her points with just over seven minutes left in the game. “Our emphasis was on the team. Sid was shooting well. We wanted to go inside and it opened things up. How we scored today was free throws and Sid.”
Tennessee outscored UConn 32-17 at the free throw line led by Zolman’s 10 and Hornbuckle’s six charity points.
Tennessee coach Pat Summitt who told Spencer earlier that she needed to deal with her starting role, expressed great satisfaction with her sometimes timid player’s response against UConn.
“I think she got over it.” Summitt said. “She hasn’t been starting well. I told her to get over it because she’s going to start. With her size, she has a big presence against the zone. She needs to become more aggressive without the ball. She played with a lot of composure and she has every reason to be confident.”
“She’s not always assertive, but she’s beginning to understand “my” role on the team. She is one of the best pure shooters on our team. I’m proud of the progress that she has made and the impact she had on this game.”
Hornbuckle narrowly missed becoming the first Lady Vol in history to accomplish a triple double. The sophomore point guard pulled down a career high 13 rebounds, scored a total of 10 points and dished out nine assists.
The Charleston, WV native will have another reason to remember this game as it was the first against former South Charleston High School teammate Renee Montgomery who is appropriately UConn’s starting point guard.
The 5-7 freshman who teamed up with Hornbuckle to lead their school to four state championships, failed to score any points for UConn, but had three assists.
“I thought she played well” Hornbuckle said of her friend. “I thought she handled things well. In a situation like that, you can do good or bad. Coach said I was being way too nice to her in the first half. I look at her as just another guard. We can be friends off the court, but not on the court. I wasn’t trying to be nice. I was just trying to play my game.
Welcome to the collegiate level.”
Parker gave the crowd a scare when she exited the game for a brief period in the second half after falling on the floor with what looked to be a potentially serious ankle injury. However Parker returned two minutes later much to the relief of the orange clad audience.
“I rolled my foot.” Parker told the media. “Obviously I can’t run” she laughed. “I tripped over my own feet.”
Parker, the 6-3 redshirt freshman and Tye’sha Fluker also scored 13 points each to tie Zolman.
After meeting for the 21st time since 1995, Tennessee trails in the UConn series 13-8.
Connecticut led at halftime 41-39 and had been 11-0 this season when they had the intermission advantage, but the Lady Vols curtailed the streak. However, the Huskies led Tennessee in field goal shooting as the visitors were 28 of 57 for 49.1% to the Lady Vols 25 of 63 for 39.7%
The Lady Vols committed just 10 turnovers while UConn had 17.
Summitt wished her team’s defensive effort had been stronger, but was nevertheless happy with the final result and the raucous atmosphere as the archrival teams squared off on “The Summitt” floor for the first time since the court was renamed in her honor.
“I enjoyed it.” She said. “I wouldn’t say that I was excited about our defense, but we found a way to reach down and win. Our guards didn’t shoot well, but we ground it out.”
“It was a super environment.” She remarked of the crowd that arrived in droves well before the 2 p.m. start. “I don’t know how you couldn’t get excited about this game. In the end we found a way to win. Connecticut is a quality opponent that knows how to play on this kind of stage.”
Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma conceded that his team was outplayed against Tennessee, but expects to see an improved squad as post-season play approaches.
“We are really disappointed in ourselves, but we got exactly what the outcome of this game should have been” he said. “Are we as big and strong as talented as Tennessee is right now? No.”
“Hornbuckle got more done out there than Ketia Swanier, Mel Thomas and (Renee) Montgomery combined.” he stated.
Auriemma also said that Tennessee outscoring the Huskies 27-8 at the free throw line during the second half was detrimental to his team.
“You cannot give really good team opportunities like that and think you’re going to win the game. So here we are on January 7th on the road playing the number one team in the country and they got what they deserved. They should have won given where we are right now.”
Summitt admonished anyone who thought that UConn was having an off year.
“They said that Connecticut was going to be down this season.” She said. “They’re not down. They’re very much alive. It was a hard fought game and a tough 40 minutes.”
The Lady Vols will continue their pursuit of perfection Thursday when they host 17th ranked Georgia in a key Southeastern Conference game at Thompson-Boling. The game will be televised on Fox Sports South.
Auriemma just released his book, “The Pursuit of Perfection” chronicling his 21-year career at Connecticut which includes five national championships.
This year, the pursuit of perfection is what the Lady Vols are seeking as they look to give Summitt her seventh national championship.
It has been eight years since the Lady Vols last won the NCAA tournament in 1998.
Tennessee might be having its own party in Boston, home of the 2006 Final Four.
As for Connecticut, don’t be surprised if the Huskies are there too.