LSU Upsets Tennessee for the SEC Title

On a mission to defeat the only three teams that had beaten them, the No. 6-ranked Louisiana State Tigers culminated their sweep of the Southeastern Conference women’s basketball tournament with a 78-62 upset of Tennessee in the final Sunday at North Little Rock, Ark.

That victory not only put LSU in the NCAA tournament, Coach Sue Gunter hopes it will give the Tigers a No. 1 seeding. “I don’t know what else we could possibly do to earn [a No. 1 seeding],” said Gunter after her team had avenged losses to No. 23 Arkansas, No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Tennessee.

Temeka Johnson, 5-foot-3 junior point guard, led LSU (27-3) with 24 points, seven assists and a game-high nine rebounds. The Lady Volunteers (28-4) never got closer than 12 points in the second half.

“Everybody likes to play us in a zone and I guess Tennessee being stubborn likes to plays us in a man,” Johnson said. “That just gets me motivated.”

LSU won its first league tournament title since 1991, when it beat Tennessee. The Lady Tigers snapped the Lady Volunteers’ 19-game winning streak, which was tied for the nation’s fifth longest. The winning streak included a 14-0 league record and a regular-season SEC title.

Tennessee, which had not advanced to the tournament final since winning its third straight in 2000, lost for the first time in an SEC final since Vanderbilt beat it in 1995.

Guard Kara Lawson led Tennessee with 16 points, and forward Gwen Jackson was limited to eight points.Coach Pat Summitt said Tennessee’s lack of scoring inside was a glaring problem.

No. 1 Connecticut 70, Seton Hall 47 -- The Huskies (30-0) reached the semifinals of the Big East tournament by defeating the Pirates (14-13) at Piscataway, N.J. Diana Taurasi had 13 points and 11 rebounds in Connecticut’s 69th consecutive win. The Huskies play Virginia Tech (21-8) tonight.

No. 2 Duke 76, Georgia Tech 52 -- The victory at Greensboro, N.C., put the Blue Devils (30-1) one win away from their fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title. One ACC men’s team has won four consecutive tournament titles -- Duke from 1999-2002. Duke will play North Carolina in tonight’s final. The Yellow Jackets are 20-10.

No. 11 North Carolina 88, Virginia 78 -- La’Tangela Atkinson had 18 points as the Tar Heels (27-4) beat the Cavaliers (16-13) at Greensboro, N.C., to advance to tonight’s ACC tournament final.

No. 12 Purdue 84, Iowa 57 -- Shereka Wright had 28 points as the Boilermakers (25-5) beat the Hawkeyes (16-14) at Indianapolis to reach the Big Ten tournament championship for the sixth time. Purdue plays Ohio State in tonight’s final.

Ohio State 72, No. 14 Penn State 61 -- Courtney Coleman had 19 points as the Buckeyes (21-8) upset the Lions (24-8) at Indianapolis to reach the Big Ten tournament final for the first time in eight years.

Miami 77, No. 18 Rutgers 74 -- After the Scarlet Knights (20-7) received a technical with eight seconds left for calling a timeout with none remaining, the Hurricanes’ Tamara James sank two free throws to lead Miami (18-11) to the Big East Conference tournament semifinals at Piscataway, N.J.

No. 20 Villanova 50, Notre Dame 39 -- Trish Juhline scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half as the Wildcats (23-5) beat the Irish (19-10) in the Big East tournament quarterfinals at Piscataway, N.J. Villanova will play Miami tonight in the semifinals. Notre Dame still appears likely to get an NCAA bid.

No. 21 Wisconsin Green Bay 83, Detroit 59 -- The Phoenix (27-3) routed Detroit (10-20) at Green Bay, Wis., to take its fifth Horizon League tournament title in six years and gain an NCAA berth.

Virginia Tech 74, No. 24 Boston College 70 -- Chrystal Starling scored 10 of her 18 points in overtime to lead the Hokies (21-8) over the Eagles (20-8) in the Big East quarterfinals at Piscataway, N.J.

*

In other conference tournament championships:

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference final, Manhattan (20-9) beat Siena (24-7), 65-57, at Trenton N.J.... In the Conference USA final, Texas Christian defeated Cincinnati, 85-76, in overtime at Memphis, Tenn.... In the Big South final, Liberty beat High Point, 84-71, at Lynchburg, Va.