by Scott Dean
Special to LSUsports.net
(2/15/01)
They came in as the top-ranked team in the nation. They came in as the three-time defending national champions. They came in with arguably the best women’s collegiate player ever.
They were the Tennessee Lady Vols, led by Chamique Holdscalw, and they left the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with a loss at the hands of the LSU Lady Tigers.
It was Feb. 21, 1998 and No. 23 LSU was facing a top-ranked team for the 10th time in its history. But before that day, the Lady Tigers had never walked away from one of those games victorious.
The beginning of the game seemed surreal as LSU jumped all over Tennessee in the opening minutes and continued to outplay the Lady Vols throughout the first 20 minutes. At one point late in the first half, the Lady Tigers held a 44-28 lead over Tennessee.
For LSU fans, things were almost too good to be true. In the second half the Lady Vols showed that they might have been.
“The whole game, we were in shock that we were beating them by so much. We were playing really well, it seemed like they didn’t have answers for what we did, said LSU’s Katrina Hibbert. “But they were the No. 1 team in the country and we knew it was a matter of time before they made that run. It was just trying to hold them off until that final buzzer.”
Behind All-Americans Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall, Tennessee stormed back with solid defense. For the first nineteen minutes of the second half, LSU was held to just 22 points and the Lady Vols took their first lead of the game at 67-66 with 1:09 to play on a three-point play by Randall.
Marie Ferdinand tied the game on the next possession with a free throw. Holdsclaw answered with a tough jumper in the lane to put Tennessee back on top, 69-67, with less than 30 seconds remaining.
However, the Lady Tigers had not played this well and this hard to see the game slip away. On the next possession, senior Latasha Dorsey threaded the needle to Hibbert on a backdoor cut. Hibbert, who was fouled as she scored, hit the ensuing free throw to give LSU a 70-69 lead. The play was recognized as the Compaq National Play of the Week.
“I remember cutting backdoor and being open on the first backdoor cut and Dorsey missed that one. I just walked back out to the wing and made another cut and Dorsey passed it that time,” said Hibbert.
“Somehow I caught it and I saw Catchings coming. I just made the double-pump on the layup.”
Kristen “Ace” Clement then missed a three-pointer from the right wing that would have given Tennessee the victory.
“It felt like we had just won the national championship,” said Hibbert of the celebration that followed the game. “The crowd ran onto the court and the media was all hyped up and excited about it.”
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for LSU as the Lady Tigers had been bouncing in and out of the top 25 all season long. Despite wins over ranked foes, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Vanderbilt, LSU was still fighting for national respect.
“Beating Tennessee got us that respect that we were looking for. We had beaten teams and we were in the top 25, but we weren’t moving up any,” said Hibbert of the importance of the win. “It was a real turning point in our season and gave us that confidence heading into the NCAA tournament.”
LSU used the victory to finish second in the SEC, its best finish since the 1985-86 season. It also ruined Tennessee’s quest for a perfect conference season. The Lady Vols ended up 13-1 in the league.
More importantly, beating the top-ranked team in the nation propelled the Lady Tigers into a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a host site for the first two rounds of the tournament. LSU would use that home court advantage to upset eighth-ranked Notre Dame in the second round and reach the sweet 16 for the second time in three years.
This season, Tennessee enters Baton Rouge with a No. 2 national ranking and a win over LSU under its belt. However, the game was closer than the 89-70 score indicates. The Lady Tigers trailed by just six points with six minutes play.
“We definitely feel like we can play with the likes of Tennessee,” said LSU head coach Sue Gunter. “They are obviously the standard setters in the SEC, but they are not unbeatable.”
So the table is set for another top10 battle in conference play, one of many for Lady Tigers this year. But it could also be a key moment in their season as a victory over the Lady Vols could vault LSU back into the national spotlight as this season winds down.