Lady Vols hold commanding lead in series with Alabama

TUSCALOOSA | Conventional wisdom is that when the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team steps off its chartered bus tonight for its game against Alabama, the Lady Vols can go ahead and pencil in a win as soon as they hit the floor of Coleman Coliseum.

After all, Tennessee’s domination of the all-time series with Alabama is astounding. If you’re keeping score at home, the Lady Vols own a 39-2 advantage, with Tennessee winning every game played either at Tennessee or Alabama. Tennessee owns a slimmer 8-2 lead in games played at neutral sites and has won 34 games in a row.

That kind of domination rarely exists in any sport within the Southeastern Conference, with the exception of Alabama football over Vanderbilt (58-19-4) and Tennessee football over Kentucky (70-24-9).

The last time the University of Alabama women’s basketball team beat Tennessee, players from both rosters had yet to be born. The year was 1984, and the Crimson Tide knocked off the Lady Vols 85-66 in the SEC Tournament. Incidentally, the last time Vanderbilt beat Alabama or Kentucky beat Tennessee in football the year was 1984,

Tennessee (23-2, 9-1) enters tonight’s contest battling for an SEC championship. Alabama (8-18, 1-10) is just trying to avoid finishing at the bottom of the conference for the second straight season.

Tennessee’s starting lineup features three players, Candace Parker (20.5), Alexis Hornbuckle (10.6) and Angie Bjoklund (10.1), that score in double digits. The other starters just miss scoring in double digits, with Shannon Bobbitt averaging 9.9 and Nicky Anosike scoring 9.5.

To contrast, Alabama has one player scoring more than 10 points a game, with forward Tierney Jenkins averaging 11.8 ppg in her freshman season.

Parker is Tennessee’s 6-foot-4 all-everything junior center and has garnered every conceivable women’s college basketball accolade. Last season alone, Parker won the John R. Wooden Player of the Year award along with being named the Basketball Writers Association National Player of the Year. She was also named to every first team All-America team.

And although Parker’s accomplishments are many and deserving, Alabama coach Stephany Smith warned against the notion that Tennessee is a great team just because of Parker.

“Just like with [LSU’s] Sylvia Fowles a couple of weeks ago, you’re talking about a candidate for national player of the year,” Smith. “But Tennessee, just like LSU, is not just Candace Parker. It is history, tradition and championships. Parker is surrounded by a great cast and not just a supporting cast -- one that alternates starring roles on any given night.”

However unlikely it appears that Alabama will pull an upset, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who is in her 34th year with the Lady Vols, still prepares her team for a stern test.

“Alabama has had some struggles, but we always know that when we play people we get their best shot,” Summitt said. “I would expect no less when we go to Alabama, but this is more about us and how we take to the road.”