No. 21 Vanderbilt 62, No. 20 Georgia 56

<p>Freshman center Carla Thomas had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 21 Vanderbilt rallied from an 18-point deficit in the second half Sunday for a 62-56 win over 20th-ranked Georgia in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament.</p><p>The Commodores (24-7) won their fourth title and first since 2002 _ also on this court _ despite nearly shooting themselves out of the game in the first half. The SECs best 3-point shooters didnt hit a 3, and just three players combined to score just 18 points in the first half.</p><p>So Vanderbilt turned defensive to help spark a 21-4 run. That outburst helped the Commodores add another title to those won in 1993 and 95 and secured an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.</p><p>Christi Thomas led Georgia (22-9) with 17 points. Sherrill Baker had 16.</p><p>The SEC was guaranteed of its second-ever champion forced to win four games in four days because both Georgia and Vanderbilt started the tournament on Thursday. Auburn had been the only other team to accomplish the feat in 1997.</p><p>It was Vanderbilt that found that needed spark for the second half as Hillary Hager and Dee Davis each added 11. Ashley Earley had 10.</p><p>Georgia looked ready to roll toward its fifth title and first since 2001, leading 34-18 at halftime. The Lady Bulldogs pushed that lead to as many as 18 twice in the second half, the last on a Christi Thomas putback with 16:29 left at 40-22.</p><p>But Hager got Vandy started with its only 3 of the game at 15:34, sparking the 21-4 run. The Commodores, who had stuck with a zone defense in the first half, started pressing and trapping during the spurt.</p><p>It worked, as Vandy forced 11 turnovers and turned them into 13 points in the second half alone.</p><p>Carla Thomas, named the tournaments MVP, capped the run with a putback at 7:32 to pull Vandy within 44-43. It was Thomas who gave Vandy its first lead since 2-0 with another bucket at 50-49 with 4:13 left.</p><p>Georgia managed to tie it at 54 on Alexis Kendricks 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2:33 to go.</p><p>But Carla Thomas _ again _ scored and put Vandy up to stay at 56-54 with 2:08 left, and the Commodores hit their next four free throws to put the game out of reach.</p><p>The SECs second-best shooting team didnt leave the court Saturday night until just before 11 p.m., and the late finish seemed to hurt as the Commodores missed seven of their first 10 shots. Senior Jenni Benningfield bounced a couple jumpers off the front rim and even missed the basket once.</p><p>Carla Thomas had 12 of Vandys first 14 points.</p><p>Georgia had no such problems as the Lady Bulldogs hit 10 of their first 20. Georgia used a 12-4 run in taking its halftime lead.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/3/174765