Dein erstes Forum » t -- and maybe any best-on-best tour

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee ended a two-game skid decisively enough to give its top players an early rest before its toughest challenge of the season.Jaime Nared and Mercedes Russell each scored 16 points despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter Wednesday in the 22nd-ranked Lady Volunteers 86-36 blowout of Tennessee State.Diamond DeShields also got to rest for most of the fourth quarter as the Lady Vols (4-2) tuned up for Sundays home game with No. 4 Baylor.It was just a good little opportunity for us to come out and make it strictly about us, DeShields said. We knew we were the better team tonight. We knew we were going to win by a lot of points, but honestly it wasnt even about that. It was just about us.When youre playing a Baylor, you dont have as many opportunities to make mistakes. Everythings got to be flowing the right way if you want to come out on top of a team like that, so for us I think it was just important for everybody to work on whats been going wrong the last two games.The Lady Vols were back home for the first time since Nov. 13 after going 1-2 during a three-game road stretch that included consecutive losses to Penn State and Virginia Tech.Tennessee utilized its height advantage to avoid its first three-game losing streak since February 1986. The Lady Vols outrebounded Tennessee State 61-38 and outscored the Lady Tigers 48-12 in the paint.We didnt play anywhere near the way were capable of playing, and I give Tennessee all the credit, Tennessee State coach Larry Joe Inman said. When we say `tall order, literally they were a tall order.Nared and DeShields each posted double-doubles, with Nared having 16 points and 10 rebounds while DeShields added 15 points and 10 rebounds.Kortney Dunbar had 13 points and nine rebounds. Alexa Middleton had nine points and 11 assists. Schaquilla Nunn added eight points and 15 rebounds.Maxine Beard scored seven points to lead Tennessee State (1-5).THE TAKEAWAYTennessee State: The Lady Tigers continued their shooting slump by going 5 of 22 from 3-point range and 8 of 43 from inside the arc. Tennessee State is shooting 35.3 percent overall and 26.1 percent from 3-point range amid a grueling early-season schedule featuring plenty of teams from bigger conferences. Tennessee States five losses have come against Xavier, Oklahoma State, UNLV, Wisconsin and Tennessee.Tennessee: The Lady Vols responded to their two-game skid by shuffling the lineup. Sophomore guard Meme Jackson made her first career start for Tennessee and Nunn was back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench for two of Tennessees last three games. They replaced the injured Reynolds as well as Middleton, who moved into a reserve role.INJURY NEWSTennessee was playing without usual starting point guard Jordan Reynolds, who hurt her hamstring Sunday at Virginia Tech. Lady Vols coach Holly Warlick expressed confidence that Reynolds would be available Sunday against Baylor.Tennessee State played without injured guard/forward Imani Davis, who was averaging 11.7 points per game.HONORING GATLINBURGTennessee participated in pregame warmups wearing special T-shirts with the word Gatlinburg over the Lady Vols logo to honor victims of the wildfires that have killed seven people and have destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in the Great Smoky Mountains area.Warlick said she spoke this week with Lisa McGill Reagan, a Lady Vol from 1976-79 who lost her home in the fire.Ive lived here pretty much all my life and Ive never seen anything so devastating thats close to home, Warlick said.NEXT UPTennessee State: At Lipscomb on Dec. 11.Tennessee: Hosts No. 4 Baylor on Sunday. Doug Williams Womens Jersey . Gather a group of friends, or find a league to join online, draft your team, set your lineup and compete in a number of different formats. Dexter Manley Redskins Jersey . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. http://www.redskinsfansproshop.com/Redskins+Art+Monk+Rush+Jersey.html?cat=1303 . -- Team after team passed on Andre Ellington in the draft. John Riggins Redskins Jersey . LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. John Riggins Youth Jersey .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. TORONTO -- The World Cup of Hockey trophy, whatever the heck they call that monstrosity of an award that goes to the winner of the event, will be in the Air Canada Centre Thursday night as Canada tries to lock down its third consecutive best-on-best championship when it faces Team Europe.Theres no question that the air has gone out of this tournament somewhat in recent days -- especially after Team Europe upended heavily favored Sweden in the semifinals, giving Canada what most believed would be an easy path to a tournament title in the best-of-three finals.Of course, Team Europe had other plans and played a near-perfect game in the opening title of the finals on Tuesday night before ultimately falling 3-1. Europe head coach Ralph Krueger and his players were defiant in the wake of the loss, insisting that they took no moral victories from essentially playing Canada to a standstill before losing because of a couple of defensive breakdowns.The problem for the Europeans is that Canada played its worst game -- not just in this tournament, but dating all the way back to early in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Canadas head coach, Mike Babcock, wasnt happy with his teams performance, and its a good bet that Canada will come with a lot more jump and be a lot less mistake-prone on Thursday. The question will be whether the Europeans can handle early pressure -- they allowed a goal by Brad Marchand on Canadas first shot on goal Tuesday -- and then counterpunch with the kind of persistent forecheck we saw for much of Game 1.In the end, it wont matter if Team Europe cant solve Canadas goalie,?Carey Price, who was tested more on Tuesday than he had been by any other team in this tournament. For Team Europe, that means capitalizingg on odd-man rushes and getting its power play, which is currently 0-for-15 with the man advantage, to click.dddddddddddd. Its a tall order, to say the least, but nobody should be taking the plucky Europeans lightly after Game 1. The question is whether theyve got enough in their toolbox to send this tournament to one final, deciding game Saturday. Our guess is that the strange-looking trophy gets handed out Thursday night.Line match:?If the World Cup does end Thursday night, it will be our last last look at what has been the most dominant forward combination of this tournament -- and maybe any best-on-best tournament in recent memory. Could?Sidney Crosby, Patrice Bergeron and Marchand reunite in two years if the NHL returns to the Olympics in South Korea? Theres no reason they wouldnt, as all three are still in the prime of their careers.But if were talking about a four-year gap until the next World Cup, well, thats a little different story. By then Crosby will have more than done his duty, winning two Olympic gold medals and likely a World Cup, plus at least two Stanley Cups, and Bergeron will be 35. But it has been fun -- especially given how often in the past Babcock has been forced to tinker in an effort to find effective linemates for Crosby.How good has this unit been? Crosby, Bergeron and Marchand are the top three scorers in the tournament, and have combined for 10 goals and 12 assists. The line scored more goals in the tournament than did Team USA, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland. And unless Team Europe can come up with an answer for the line, itll all be over Thursday night. ' ' '