Loss Gets Tennessee Going Again

Purdue’s early season victory over Tennessee caused quite a stir and even got the Boilermakers a No. 1 ranking for one week.

But it hasn’t done anything at all for the teams that had to play Tennessee afterwards. In fact, it probably was the worst thing that could have happened.

The Lady Vols rededicated themselves after that 78-68 loss on Nov. 15. Since then, they’ve blown past St. Joseph’s, Texas, No. 2 Louisiana Tech and DePaul by an average margin of 32 points.

“I think the intensity level of our practices has far exceeded anything we saw prior to that game except maybe the first couple of days of opening practices,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. “Certainly we’re a more serious team. We learned clearly from our loss that we just can’t show up and win.”

The loss also removed the burden of trying to carry on a long winning streak that was approaching Louisiana Tech’s national women’s record. The Lady Vols had won 46 in a row. Tech won 54 in a row from 1980-82.

Tennessee went 39-0 last season in winning its third straight national championship.

“I felt all along that we’re going to lose at some point in time,” Summitt said. “I do think it will improve our chances down the road. I think it takes the monkey off your back and allows you to go on.

“Now this team doesn’t feel like it has to have another perfect year and have that pressure come March. It helped us initially to refocus. Long range, it takes some of the pressure off this team.”

TOUGH SLATE: A tough early season schedule has left Duke shaken but still standing.

The Blue Devils, who started the season ranked fourth, played four games in the first eight days and lost three. They opened with a 30-point loss to top-ranked Connecticut, rebounded to beat Stanford, then fell to Virginia Tech and Notre Dame.

Duke has won its last four, however, and coach Gail Goestenkoers has no regrets about the schedule.

“We’re much better than we would have been if we beat teams by 30 and 40 points early on,” she said. “I’ve learned more as a coach. I’m a better coach because of it. It’s made me work harder.

“And I’ve learned more about my team. I know they’re resilient. I know they can bounce back. We’re not as athletic as many of the other teams, so we’ve got to be smarter. We’ve got do the little things well and the big things will take care of themselves.”

Injuries also contributed to the slow start. Hilary Howard (stress fracture), Nicole Erickson (heel), Georgie Schweitzer (torn meniscus), Peppi Browne (stress fracture) and Rochelle Parent (stress fracture) missed all of the preseason workouts and were well behind in their conditioning.

“We’re still a couple of weeks away from where we need to be to play a full 40 minutes of intense basketball at the level we need to be successful,” Goestenkoers said.

The schedule doesn’t ease up. Duke plays Tennessee on Sunday.

BOMBS AWAY: When Alabama made nine 3-pointers in its victory at South Alabama on Tuesday night, it marked the 305th consecutive game in which the Tide made at least one 3.

The last time Alabama failed to make a 3-pointer was Jan. 1, 1990, when coach Rick Moody’s team went 0-for-7 from behind the arc against Southeastern Louisiana.

SMASHING DEBUT: Colorado State made a nice splash with its first appearance in The Associated Press poll two weeks ago.

The Rams came in at No. 16, the highest debut since the poll was expanded to 25 teams in the 1989-90 season. Georgia debuted at No. 12 in the 1981-82 preseason poll.

Colorado State, winner of the preseason NIT, hasn’t let the ranking go to its head. The Rams, now 12th, improved to 9-0 with a 70-69 victory at Utah on Thursday night.

GALLOPING COWGIRLS: Oklahoma State didn’t take kindly to being picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 Conference, so the Cowgirls set out to prove they were better than that.

They took a big step in that fight for respect when they beat No. 19 Vanderbilt 67-54 on Wednesday night to run their record to 5-0.

“Finally, we’re going to get some national recognition,” said senior Nikki Harmon, who had 11 points and 10 assists. “We were a little ticked off after the Big 12 picked us ninth. Every year they pick us there and we never finish there.

“We’re not settling for anything less than an NCAA tournament bid this year.”

Oklahoma State didn’t make the NCAA field last season despite a 19-10 regular-season record and victories in eight of its last 10 games.

ARNOLD UPDATE: Connecticut transfer Tammy Arnold is making her presence felt at Oregon State, which improved to 4-1 with a 61-48 victory at Montana on Thursday night.

Arnold was named the most valuable player in the Oregon State Classic after leading the Beavers to the tournament championship.

The 6-foot-3 junior had 14 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and three assists in the title game against Cal-Irvine. She had 16 points and eight assists in a season-opening victory over San Diego State.