U-T Volunteers

If the Dish Network Orange and White game was any indication, having to replace all but one member of the coaching staff and the starting quarterback from a season ago wasn’t even a minor setback for the Tennessee offense. Quarterback Jonathan Crompton completed 13-of-20 passes for 266 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in leading the White team to a 38-16 romp in the annual spring scrimmage.

Tailback Lennon Creer lined up with the first team and did most of the work on the ground, rushing for 59 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

“I thought early, especially, we executed extremely well offensively,” head coach Phillip Fulmer said. “It was good to see Jonathan in that kind of rhythm. There were some really big plays in the passing game. I thought he had a good day except for that last ball. I don’t know his numbers, but they were outstanding the first two-thirds of the scrimmage. Generally, it was a good day for us.”

Crompton’s first-team offense scored touchdowns on five of six first-half possessions to build a 35-3 halftime lead. The White offense didn’t waste much time getting started either, scoring on the first play from scrimmage when Crompton hit Denarius Moore for a 74-yard touchdown. Moore led all receivers with two catches for 91 yards and two scores.

The second touchdown was a three-yard run by Creer that capped a five-play, 71-yard drive. On White’s third possession, Crompton hit Josh Briscoe for 18 yards and a 21-0 lead. Briscoe finished with four catches for 72 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Orange team opened the second-quarter scoring after becoming the beneficiary of a forced fumble by Vince Faison that C.J. Fleming returned 36 yards to the White 20. Unable to find paydirt, Orange settled for a 30-yard field goal from Devin Mathis. The freshman was a perfect two-of-two on field goals for the day.

White responded with two more scores before halftime, first on a 17-yard strike from Gerald Jones to Moore. The top defensive unit aided in the effort as safety Eric Berry picked off Nick Stephens and returned the ball deep into opposing territory.

White’s final score of the half came on a 31-yard pass from Crompton to Briscoe. White moved 67 yards in just 51 seconds on the drive.

The first-team defense made its share of big plays as well. Berry’s interception return set up a touchdown and Demetrice Morley’s pick of Nick Stephens led to a white field goal early in the second half.

Rico McCoy led the first-team with seven tackles, while Anthony Anderson led all defensive players with eight stops. Wes Brown had a big day on the defensive line with four tackles for loss and two sacks. Morley broke up two passes in addition to his interception. DeAngelo Willingham also had two pass break-ups and two tackles.

“We limited the defense a little bit as far as how much they could do with pressure, so that wasn’t totally what our defense will be,” Fulmer said. “The ones kept knocking the ball loose and getting their hands on some balls and that was certainly a positive thing.”

Mathis converted a 45-yard field goal for Orange late in the third quarter to cap the scoring in that frame.

Orange scored its first touchdown early in the fourth quarter on an eight-yard hookup between B.J. Coleman and Tauren Poole. That play capped Orange’s best drive of the game, a nine-play, 67-yard effort.

Taka Koyano nailed a 41-yard field goal attempt late in the game for Orange to conclude the scoring.

The offensive starters for the game were tackles Chris Scott and Ramon Foster, guards Vladimir Richard and Jacques McLendon, center Anthony Parker, tight end Luke Stocker, receivers Gerald Jones and Denarius Moore, fullback Kevin Cooper, tailback Arian Foster and quarterback Jonathan Crompton

On defense, those earning a starting nod were ends Robert Ayers and Wes Brown; tackles Dan Williams and Walter Fisher; linebackers Adam-Myers White, Ellix Wilson and Rico McCoy; cornerbacks Dennis Rogan and DeAngelo Willingam and safeties Demitrice Morley and Eric Berry.

Lady Vols Make It Two Straight

One by one, Candace Parker hugged her teammates on the sideline as the last seconds ticked away. It was all part of her final farewell to Tennessee.

All that was left was to hoist a championship trophy, which came moments after the Lady Vols’ 64-48 victory over Stanford on Tuesday night.

Parker scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Tennessee capture its eighth championship. The Lady Vols also became the first repeat champs since Connecticut won three straight from 2002-04.

The Associated Press player of the year will leave the Lady Vols (36-2) with a year of eligibility remaining, but has accomplished one of her goals by winning multiple championships.

Parker also became only the fourth player to win back-to-back Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four honors. She joined Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi (2003-04), Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw (1997-98), and Southern Cal’s Cheryl Miller (1983-84).

Stanford’s loss ended Candice Wiggins’ remarkable run through the NCAA tournament. She scored 14 points and finished with 151 over the six games—the fourth best total in tournament history. Sheryl Swoopes holds the record with 177, when she led Texas Tech to the championship in 1993. Wiggins is the first player to have two 40-point games in the tournament.

Wiggins’ stellar career ended by taking the Cardinal (35-4) further than they’d been since 1992, when the program won it all. Stanford hadn’t reached the Final Four since 1997 or advanced to the championship game since the ‘92 team.

She entered the game averaging 27.4 points in the tournament and opened the game with a 3-pointer, but couldn’t find an open look after that. The All-American finished 6-for-16 from the field. She left to a standing ovation with just over a minute left in her college career.

Parker struggled with her shooting in the semifinals when she went just 6-for-27 from the field, but gutted out the championship game—not letting her injured left shoulder bother her. For the second straight game, the All-American wore a long-sleeve shirt under her uniform to try, as she said, to not focus on the injury.

While still clearly not 100 percent healthy, the expected No. 1 pick in Wednesday’s WNBA draft didn’t shoot nearly as many jumpers as Sunday night, instead taking the ball to the basket on an array of moves. She converted one steal in the second half into a pretty layup that gave the Lady Vols’ a 10-point advantage. She then followed it up with a three-point play on a driving layup. The Cardinal would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

With the game in hand and a minute left, Parker went to the Tennessee bench for the final time, holding up four fingers on each hand to signify the eight titles the Lady Vols have won.

Unlike earlier games in the tournament when Parker had to carry the Lady Vols, her supporting cast came through. Shannon Bobbitt scored 13 points and Nicky Anosike added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Vols.

Bobbitt scored all her points in the first half as the Lady Vols jumped out to a 37-29 advantage. Trailing by one early, Tennessee used a 13-4 run to take a 17-9 lead midway through the half. Bobbitt hit two 3-pointers and made a nifty layup to cap the spurt. The teams traded baskets before two free throws by Bobbitt gave the Lady Vols a 35-25 lead—their biggest of the half.

She also harassed Stanford into 14 turnovers by the break. The Cardinal looked tight on offense, committing more turnovers in the first half than they did in the semifinal win over UConn. They finished with 25 for the game.

Wiggins and Jayne Appel provided the only offense for Stanford, combining for 17 of their 29 first-half points.

Appel finished with 16 points to lead the Cardinal, whose 23-game winning streak—the longest in the nation— ended. The Pac-10 champs hadn’t lost since dropping consecutive road games to UCLA and USC in the first week of January.

The Lady Vols advanced to the championship game by beating LSU 47-46 on Sunday night on Alexis Hornbuckle’s putback with seven-tenths of a second remaining. The Cardinal shocked UConn 82-73 in the other semifinal. The victory redeemed the Lady Vols’ 73-69 overtime loss to the Cardinal when the teams met Dec. 22 at Stanford.

Tennessee is 8-5 in championship games after barely making it to No. 13. The Lady Vols ended a nine-year drought with their championship last season. They won their other titles in 1987, `89, `91, `96, `97, and `98.