Unsatisfied Tennessee Gets Past Vanderbilt

Tennessee still isn’t playing with the intensity Coach Pat Summitt wants, even at Knoxville, and she doesn’t understand it.

Candace Parker scored 19 points, and fifth-ranked Tennessee rallied to beat No. 22 Vanderbilt, 70-67, Sunday to avoid losing consecutive Southeastern Conference home games for the first time in nearly 20 years.

“There’s not a bone in my body that’s as laid-back as I’ve watched them play sometimes,” Summitt said. “It’s just hard to watch.”

The Lady Vols (22-3, 8-2) trailed by 14 in the first half and needed a 14-4 run in the last 5:51 to improve to 20-0 against Vanderbilt (17-8, 6-5) at home.

In selected top-25 games:

No. 1 North Carolina 72, Virginia 60 -- With the Cavaliers (13-10, 2-9) closing to within five points at Charlottesville, Va., the Tar Heels’ Ivory Latta made a statement play, driving the length of the court for a layup and then spurring her team to a 13-3 run that fueled the Atlantic Coast Conference victory. North Carolina (23-1, 10-1) had a 22-4 edge in scoring by reserves.

No. 3 Louisiana State 68, No. 13 Georgia 61 -- Seimone Augustus scored 17 points, and the Tigers (22-1, 10-0) held the Bulldogs (17-6, 7-3) scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second half en route to the SEC victory at Baton Rouge, La.

No. 4 Connecticut 71, Texas 58 -- Ann Strother and Mel Thomas each produced rally-killing three-point shots in the final two minutes as the Huskies (22-3) pulled away from the Longhorns (12-10) despite 22 turnovers at Austin, Texas. Nina Norman’s 24 points led Texas, which played its second game without injured center Tiffany Jackson.

No. 7 Ohio State 88, Iowa 77 -- With the score tied, 50-50, in the second half, Brandie Hoskins and Jessica Davenport fueled a 20-9 run that led the Buckeyes (21-2, 11-1) over the Hawkeyes (14-9, 7-5) in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

No. 9 Oklahoma 81, No. 12 Baylor 77 -- Courtney Paris had 31 points, including two free throws in the final minute of overtime, to lead the Sooners (21-4, 11-0) over the Bears (17-5, 7-4) in a Big 12 game at Norman, Okla.

With Oklahoma leading 78-77, Jordan Davis fouled Paris without the ball to send the 53% free-throw shooter to the line.

That’s when Sooner guard Krista Sanchez stepped up to tell Paris what she needed to hear.

“Before I went up to shoot, she said, ‘You know they fouled you on purpose, right?’ So automatically, it goes from ‘I’m going to miss them. I can’t make them, to OK,’ ” Paris said. “It’s just a competitive thing.”

Paris made both of her free throws with 19.4 seconds left for an 80-77 lead. Baylor’s Sophia Young had a career-high 36 points and had 14 rebounds.

No. 10 Purdue 63, No. 11 Minnesota 31 -- The Boilermakers (20-3, 11-1) scored the first 20 points after halftime to beat the Gophers (17-6, 9-3) in a Big Ten game at West Lafayette, Ind.

Richmond 56, No. 19 Temple 54 -- Araceli Gil made two free throws with 0.4 of a second left to lift the Spiders (10-14, 5-7) over the Owls (18-6, 9-3), who had led by as many as 15 in the second half of an Atlantic 10 game at Richmond, Va.