Vandy Shocks No. 1 Lady Vols

Although top-ranked Tennessee had history and the crowd on its side Saturday, Vanderbilt had Ashley McElhiney.

The sophomore guard hit 12 of 14 free throws in the final 3:16 and finished with 27 points as No. 15 Vanderbilt upset Tennessee 77-74 in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.

Vanderbilt center Chantelle Anderson added 26 points as the Commodores (21-8) ended a 14-game losing streak against its instate rival with its first victory over Tennessee since the finals of the 1995 SEC tournament.

"Ashley is awesome," Anderson said. "You can't get in her head. They tried to take her out of the game, and she runs this team and it's very obvious. We all know that. Obviously, they did too because they tried to take her out, and she refused to let it happen."

The loss also snapped an 18-game winning streak for top-seeded Tennessee (29-2).

Vanderbilt scored its last 16 points at the free-throw line, going 16-of-20 in the final 3:16. McElhiney, who played all 40 minutes, handled most of the load despite Tennessee fans almost shaking the court at times with cheering that made The Pyramid the Lady Vols' home away from home.

"We all have confidence we can knock down big shots," McElhiney said. "We have to block all the extracurricular stuff out like the fans hollering, whatever else, waving, and concentrate on the basketball."

But the Lady Vols didn't go down easily.

Tennessee pulled within three twice in the final 19 seconds with 3s from April McDivitt and Semeka Randall, but ran out of time.

"They were the better team, and they made the plays and we didn't," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.

It was a sweet victory for junior Zuzi Klimesova, who had lost seven straight to Tennessee.

"We have been waiting for this a long time," Klimesova said. "I hope that we finally will start to be a little bit arrogant like other teams and believe in ourselves and do great things just like everybody else."

Vanderbilt hadn't beaten a top-ranked team since February 1996, when it upset Georgia. The Commodores ended the Lady Vols' hopes of stringing together four consecutive titles at the tournament where Tennessee had won its previous 10 games and the last three titles.

The Lady Vols have dominated this tournament since its inception, playing in 14 of 21 finals and winning 10 titles. Now they will head back to Knoxville and work on fixing mistakes.

"We have a chance to really learn from this," Summitt said of her Lady Vols' first loss since losing to Connecticut on Dec. 30.

"The pressure's off. There's no No. 1. I hope there's still a No. 1 seed, and we'll go back to Knoxville and hopefully, get serious about what we want to do and where we want to end our season, hopefully the next time not with a loss."

The Lady Vols did themselves in with poor shooting against the nation's mos accurate team.

Tennessee led by as much as 13 three times in the first half by taking advantage of Vanderbilt's mistakes. The Commodores had 11 turnovers in the half and finished with 21, and the Lady Vols turned them into 16 points.

But the Lady Vols went into a shooting slump that started with eight minutes left in the first half. They shot just 7-of-27 during an 18-minute period into the second half.

"As we struggled offensively, we were less committed defensively. I think that's it in a nutshell," Summitt said.

Vanderbilt took advantage by scoring the final eight points of the first half to pull within 36-30. The Commodores then used a 10-0 spurt in the second half to tie it at 44, the closest they had been since the opening minutes.

Neither team could get an edge until Vanderbilt outscored Tennessee 10-2. Anderson keyed the spurt, and her layup put Vanderbilt ahead to stay with 5:08 to go at 58-56, and her three-point play capped that spurt for a 61-56 lead.

Michelle Snow and Semeka Randall each had 15 for Tennessee, which hadn't lost since Dec. 30 at Connecticut.

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