Tennessee rallies for win

CLEVELAND —  It could have been panic time for Tennessee. It could have been time for the Lady Vols to concede it wasn’t their night, wasn’t their time.

But the Lady Vols would not own six NCAA championships and enjoy their status as representatives of the nation’s preeminent women’s basketball program if they wilted in the face of 12-point deficits, even in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament and with only a little more than eight minutes to play.

So instead of melting down Sunday night against North Carolina, the Lady Vols kept their cool, finishing with a rush that produced a 56-50 victory and vaulted them into Tuesday night’s championship game against Rutgers.

“At the eight-minute mark, I basically said, ‘We don’t want to go home,’ ” Coach Pat Summitt said later, noting that her players shared her commitment. “And I said, ‘We’re not leaving here without a national championship.’

“And I just saw a whole different attitude with this team.”

North Carolina (34-4) had opened a 48-36 lead with less than 8 1/2 minutes to play and seemed on its way to duplicating its 13-point victory over the Lady Vols (33-3) four months ago in Chapel Hill, N.C., Tennessee’s worst loss of the season. A 17-2 run by the Tar Heels had erased a six-point Tennessee advantage.

But after a jump shot by Erlana Larkins bumped the Tar Heels’ lead to 12 points, they didn’t make another shot, missing their last nine.

They had nine turnovers in the game’s last eight minutes. Two starters fouled out and another had to sit out a few minutes because of a knee injury.

The result was a game-ending 20-2 run by Tennessee, which won despite making only 27% of its shots, which would have been a Final Four low if Louisiana State hadn’t made only 26.4% in losing to Rutgers earlier in the night.

“I could just say they played aggressive defense,” North Carolina’s All-American point guard, Ivory Latta, said of the Lady Vols.

Wade Trophy winner Candace Parker, limited early on because of foul trouble and never able to find her shooting touch, nevertheless led Tennessee with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Parker made only three of 12 shots overall but had 10 points and 10 rebounds in the second half.

Nicky Anosike also scored 14 points for the Lady Vols.

Latta and Rashanda McCants each scored 13 points for North Carolina, which made 11 of its first 16 shots in the second half before going cold and still outshot the Lady Vols, connecting on 35.1% of its attempts.

“We have never lost to a team when they shot 27%,” North Carolina Coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I feel like defensively we did the job when you hold a team to 27%.”

In the end, though, the Lady Vols moved on to another championship game, their 12th. On Tuesday night, they’ll try to win their first title since 1998.

“I think everybody wearing orange will say it’s been way too long,” Parker said of the Lady Vols’ championship drought. “I’m tired of going into Thompson-Boling Arena and not looking up and seeing a banner that has our names written all over it.”

Tennessee reached the Final Four for the sixth time in nine seasons, but the Lady Vols haven’t won a championship since 1998, when they won their third in a row.

Only in Knoxville would that be considered a drought.

jerome.crowe@latimes.com