Tennessee senior Shyra Ely’s layup with 32 seconds left in the game gave the Lady Vols their first Southeastern Conference Championship since 2000 as Tennessee knocked off No. 1 LSU 67-65 Sunday in Greenville, S.C.
With the loss, LSU’s 16-game winning streak was snapped as the Lady Tigers will now begin preparations for the NCAA Tournament, set to begin next Thursday.
Assistant coach Bob Starkey said problems on defense hurt LSU.
“We’d done a nice job of making them guard us,” Starkey said. “But we seemed to get away from that, and we had some defensive breakdowns as well.”
Tennessee (26-4) shot 44.4 percent on 28-of-63 shooting for the game.
The first half remained close with Tennessee’s biggest lead coming at the 4:15 mark after a jumpshot by junior Tye’sha Fluker put the Lady Vols up 27-23.
A jumper by LSU junior guard Seimone Augustus then triggered a 14-4 run for the Lady Tigers as LSU headed into halftime up 37-31.
The second half remained close until a Temeka Johnson jumper with 1:33 remaining gave LSU a 65-51 lead.
But a 3-pointer by junior Shanna Zolman pulled the Lady Vols within one. Johnson turned the ball over on the Lady Tiger’s next possession as an assist by junior Loree Moore set up Ely’s layup.
Freshman Syliva Fowles then turned the ball over on LSU’s next possession and freshman Alexis Hornbuckle hit 1-of-2 free throws to put Tennessee up 67-65.
Junior Scholanda Hoston’s desperation 3-pointer fell short as the victory gave Tennessee their second win in three tries against LSU.
Tennessee last defeated the Lady Tigers in last season’s Final Four 52-50.
Starkey said problems in the second half began when Fowles caught her third foul at the 16:54 mark in the second half. “That’s where she has to elevate her game,” Starkey said. “She had some fouls on things that she was guarding that she wasn’t supposed to be guarding.”
Ely led Tennessee with 25 points as the only player to score in double digits for the Lady Vols.
A day after earning a record 17 assists, Johnson finished with a double-double, scoring 13 points while adding 12 assists.
Augustus, the SEC Player of the Year, scored 23 points as both her and Johnson played the full 40 minutes in all three tournament games.
LSU got off to a slow start in the tournament, falling behind to No. 9 seeded Alabama by 10 points in the first half Friday.
Yet Augustus, who led LSU with 20 points, carried the Lady Tigers back into the game to give LSU a controversial 60-59 victory.
With five seconds remaining, Alabama senior Natasha Gamble’s 3-point shot was later overturned to a two-pointer, giving LSU the victory after the Lady Tide failed to get another shot off.
LSU bounced back on Saturday, rolling past Georgia 79-65 to give the Lady Tigers their third trip to the conference championship in four years.
Led by Johnson, who tallied a school-record 17 assists, LSU managed to use a 12-0 run to hold Georgia scoreless to finish the game.
SEC Freshman of the Year Tasha Humphrey scored a career-high 33 points in Georgia’s losing effort.