The New York Times-20080129-Tennessee Ends Duke-s Home Streak

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Tennessee Ends Duke's Home Streak

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The Tennessee men's basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, showed his school spirit last season, baring his chest and painting it with a white V when the Lady Vols faced Duke in Knoxville. There was no such display Monday night from Pearl's Duke counterpart, Mike Krzyzewski, when Tennessee played at Duke.

Instead, the Cameron Indoor Stadium fans greeted Tennessee with the kind of vitriol that Coach Pat Summitt has warned could end the series between two of the elite teams in women's college basketball. But amid the chants and jeers, Tennessee held off the Blue Devils, 67-64, to end Duke's 24-game home winning streak.

The junior Candace Parker, the national player of the year last season, scored on a layup with 22 seconds to go to break a tie and seal the victory for the No. 2 Lady Vols (18-1). Parker finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, her 39th career double-double.

The No. 9 Blue Devils (15-5) went into the game having won each of the past three meetings between the teams, including a victory at Tennessee last season. None of the current members of the Lady Vols had defeated Duke before Monday night.

It was definitely a big win for us, Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle said. Going 0-3 against Duke the past three years, no fun. So we wanted to come here our senior year and just make a difference.

Summitt had said earlier that she would consider canceling the Duke series because of taunts directed at Hornbuckle. During a Duke victory at Cameron in 2006, Hornbuckle was serenaded with chants of Wal-Mart, a reference to a shoplifting arrest when she was in high school. The chants returned Monday night and Hornbuckle finished with 6 points. But Hornbuckle made four free throws in the second half and blew the Cameron student section a kiss.

I didn't hear it, Summitt said of the chants, without further mentioning canceling the series. The main thing is, I want to protect these student-athletes. They are students and they're athletes and they're representing the university. Get on the coach all you want to. Just don't harass the players.

Perhaps the fans inspired the Lady Vols. They surged to a 9-point lead early in the second half before Duke tied the score, 48-48, with 12 minutes 28 seconds to go.

Tennessee pulled to a 61-54 lead with 4:51 left. Again, Duke closed in, with Abby Waner making a 3-pointer with 47 seconds to go to tie the score, 64-64.

But Duke failed to double-team Parker on a critical late possession. She got the ball down low and went around Black for the layup that gave Tennessee a 66-64 lead with 22 seconds left. Parker, held scoreless through the first 13 minutes of the game, added a free throw to seal the victory.

Duke provided another measure for the defending champion Lady Vols. Tennessee will not know how it might have fared against the No. 1 team in the country, Connecticut, unless they meet in the postseason. Summitt canceled the season series without explanation last summer. Duke is one of several common opponents this season, and Connecticut easily handled the Blue Devils in November, 74-48.

For Duke, it is a sign of how close the Blue Devils are to challenging the premier teams. Still, they have lost to three of the top four, including Connecticut and No. 4 Maryland. They play host to No. 3 North Carolina next Monday night.

Adversity definitely showed up for us tonight, Duke Coach Joanne P. McCallie said. The fact that it was a one-possession ballgame despite that shows the potential opportunity that we have as a team to become a special team.

OHIO STATE 89, PENN STATE 53 Jantel Lavender scored 22 points and No. 19 Ohio State (16-4, 7-2 Big Ten) used a first-half burst to zip past visiting Penn State (13-8, 4-5), handing Coach Jim Foster his 650th career victory.

Foster ran his record to 650-261 (.714) in 30 seasons, making him the 13th coach to win that many games in Division I.(AP)

Men

CONNECTICUT 69, LOUISVILLE 67 A. J. Price scored 20 points and Connecticut held off a late Louisville run to beat the Cardinals in Hartford.

Stanley Robinson had 16 points and Jeff Adrien 12 points and 10 rebounds for UConn (15-5, 5-3).

Juan Palacios, who missed a 3-pointer that would have won the game, led Louisville (15-6, 5-3) with 16.

UConn was without its leading scorer, Jerome Dyson, and guard Doug Wiggins, who were suspended indefinitely from the team Friday, after campus police ticketed them for having alcohol. (AP) HOFSTRA 75, LONGWOOD 60 Antoine Agudio, who went over the 2,000-point mark in a win over Northeastern on Saturday, scored 28 points to lead Hofstra (6-13) past visiting Longwood (4-20). (AP) SAN DIEGO 63, ST. MARY'S 55 The junior guard Brandon Johnson scored 25 points to lead host San Diego (11-11, 4-1 West Coast Conference) to a victory against No. 21 St. Mary's (17-3, 4-1).(AP)

[Illustration]PHOTO: Duke's Chante Black shooting around Angie Bjorklund in the first half of a 67-64 loss.(PHOTOGRAPH BY SARA D. DAVIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS)