NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR : Louisiana Tech Beats Tennessee and Gets Even

Louisiana Tech basketball Coach Leon Barmore had been saying all week that Friday night’s National Collegiate Athletic Assn. semifinal against Tennessee was not a revenge match.

Don’t you believe it.

Tech (31-2) won easily at the Tacoma Dome, 68-59, and advanced to Sunday’s final. The victory may have settled an old score.

Barmore has said his team was embarrassed about the low level at which it played in last season’s final, when Tennessee won the national title, 67-44.

This was not the way Barmore, who has won two NCAA titles, wanted the country to remember his team.

As for this season, those who watched the game will come away with an impression of dominance.

“Louisiana Tech certainly proved, by their dominance and by their inspired play, that they were the better team,” Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt said. The Vols finished the season 31-3.

“If you have been kicked the way we were last year, you would have been inspired,” Barmore said. “We wanted to show a good account of ourselves.”

Tennessee is the bigger team, averaging 6 feet and 154 pounds, but Tech pounded the Vols inside. Tennessee’s inside players were not aggressive, and center Sheila Frost did not take a shot in the first half.

“I thought Sheila was tense in the first half,” Summitt said.

Erica Westbrooks of Tech led all scorers with 18. All five Tech starters scored in double figures.

Tennessee, which trailed throughout, began to press and, consequently, the Vols found themselves in foul trouble early in the second half. When Frost got her third personal foul at 14:55, Summitt at first stared down official June Courteau, and then pointed at her.

She needed only point to the scoreboard, as the Tech lead was compelling the Vols to unleash all defensive stops.

Tennessee’s Dawn Marsh got her fourth foul at 12:14, and she was taken out of the game. Marsh came back later, but her absence left a gap at point guard. Even though Marsh had not scored at all in the first half, she had scored eight points in the first seven minutes of the second half and finished with 13 points. Tonya Edwards led the Vols with 16 points.

Tennessee whittled Tech’s lead to five points at 8:55, but Tech steadily pulled away.

“As far as setting the tempo, there was no question that Tech did it,” Summitt said. “Except for the point in the second half where we cut it to five.”

Tennessee came out looking flat, and Tech made the most of the lull. It jumped to an 11-4 lead, fueled by sharp rebounding. Tennessee was outrebounded, 29-15.

The Vols were frustrated on every front and went 7:02 without a field goal. Summitt, who is thought to have the deepest bench in the tournament, went to it early but found little relief. The team shot 33% in the first half.

Tennessee made a late-half surge, scoring 12 points in the last 5 minutes. Eight of the points were by Bridgette Gordon, who used a soft bank shot to score from about eight feet.

Tech’s 13-point lead at the buzzer was its largest of the first half.

Tournament Notes

Both coaches appeared cool this week. Pat Summitt went skiing Wednesday, and Leon Barmore was chatting with reporters in the media room only 30 minutes before Friday night’s game. . . . Louisiana Tech is 12-3 in its rivalry with Tennessee. . . . Tennessee’s five appearances in the NCAA semifinal game are a women’s record. . . . The loss snapped the Vols’ 22-game winning streak.