Summitt sermon wakes UT gals up

Tennessee women’s skipper Pat Summitt had plenty of strong messages for her players in practice this week following an embarrassing loss at Baylor.
After the Lady Vols had squandered away their lead against Stanford, she called a timeout to give them one more.
“She just said, ‘We’re not going to lose this game,’” Meighan Simmons recalled. “I just think that everybody thought about what they needed to do to help the team win, and we just brought all of that together.”
Simmons did her part with 23 points and by hitting a 3-pointer to force overtime, and No. 6 Tennessee used free throws to pull away in the extra session and beat No. 3 Stanford 82-72 on Sunday night.
Meanwhile, No. 7 Tennessee men have followed one of the most impressive wins of the college basketball season with two clunkers full of missed shots and late-game breakdowns.
The woes allowed struggling Charlotte to give first-year coach Alan Major his first signature win.
Three days after top scorer Shamari Spears was kicked off the team, Charlotte dressed eight scholarship players and closed on a 7-0 run, with Derrio Green feeding an open Phil Jones for the go-ahead layup with 7.4 seconds left in a stunning 49-48 victory Friday night over the sputtering Volunteers.
UT 82, Stanford 72 (W) OT
Meighan Simmons scored 23 points, including a 3-pointer to force overtime, and Tennessee used free throws to pull away in the extra session against Stanford.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was denied her 800th career win for a second time. Her next chance comes Wednesday against San Francisco.
The Cardinal (6-2) held a 63-57 lead with 6:21 to go in regulation but found themselves in foul trouble as time ticked off the clock. After Toni Kokenis was called for her fourth foul, Simmons hit a pair of free throws to tie it at 63 with 4:59 to go.
Charlotte 49, UT 48 (M)
As for that dominant-looking Tennessee team that rolled past then-No. 3 Pittsburgh on the road last weekend? It’s disappeared along with its offense in losses this week to Oakland and Charlotte, which matched the fewest points in a victory in school history.
Cameron Tatum only hit glass on a desperation heave at the buzzer for the Volunteers (7-2).
“I thought we didn’t play well, but it wasn’t about the fact that we weren’t excited about playing, ready to play,” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. “We knew we were in a tough environment, that’s why you take these games on. I didn’t like what I saw out there with our offensive execution and our poise.”
Jamar Briscoe scored 14 points and Green had 13 for the 49ers (5-6) who overcame 30 percent shooting by using a zone defense that stymied the Vols into 2-of-17 shooting from 3-point range.
Tennessee also hit only 2-of-7 free throws, including Melvin Goins’ miss on the front end of a 1-and-1 to set up Charlotte’s winning basket.

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