"I thought we did a good job on Griner early, I thought we did a good job on Griner the whole game. The sign of a great team is other players step up and make shots and they did," Warlick said.
Stricklen had 22 points, but she needed 26 shots to get there. Johnson finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds for Tennessee, which had a habit of starting poorly.
But the Lady Vols were ready for this one — at least for the first few minutes.
Tennessee double-teamed Griner with center Vicki Baugh and help defenders, and Griner hit just three of 10 shots in the first half. But the Lady Vols missed nine shots in a row after an early lead, and Baylor slowly built its edge to 26-16 on three straight buckets by Sims.
The Lady Vols hung close with Baylor in late November before losing 76-67. The rematch wasn't nearly as close, sending the Bears onto Denver and Tennessee grappling with the possibility that Summitt's career is over after 38 seasons and eight national titles.
"Obviously I would want Pat's health to be better. I think like Pat, this team never gave up and they never used it as a crutch for how they were playing and what they did this year," Warlick said.
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