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Up his sleeve: Assist for Delaney
Third time Parker named All-American
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OKLAHOMA CITY - Jimmy Delaney's name was nowhere to be found in Tennessee's postgame statistics.
Yet the Lady Vols' director of promotions and marketing earned a big assist in UT's 53-45 NCAA women's basketball tournament victory over Texas A&M Tuesday night.
Delaney found Tennessee guard Alberta Auguste's spare shoulder sleeve, which enabled Tennessee star Candace Parker to return midway through the second half from a shoulder injury suffered before halftime.
The spare sleeve was located in a dirty laundry bag in the undercarriage of the VIP bus.
"I was never so happy to dig through dirty laundry in my life,'' Delaney said.
Once the sleeve was found, Delaney took off on the run and burst into the team's locker room as if he was holding a winning lottery ticket.
"I got it; I got it,'' said Parker, recalling Delaney's reaction.
"I may take him out to dinner,'' Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt said.
After taking care of the team, Delaney took care of himself.
"I immediately went and washed and sanitized my hands,'' he said.
Multiple Honors: Parker was named an Associated Press' All-American on Tuesday, achieving the honor for the third consecutive season. Parker was joined on the first team by Stanford's Candice Wiggins, LSU's Sylvia Fowles, Connecticut freshman Maya Moore and Courtney Paris of Oklahoma.
Parker also was named the regional's most outstanding player. She was joined on the all-regional team by teammate Alexis Hornbuckle. The other honorees were A'Quonesia Franklin and Takia Starks of Texas A&M and Duke's Chante Black.
Taking Her Time: Tennessee center Nicky Anosike needed more time before considering the Lady Vols' rematch with SEC rival LSU in the national semifinals.
"I'm not thinking about our next game right now,'' she said. "I need time to regroup and rest."
Moshak Magic: Parker has said a couple of times this week that Jenny Moshak "is the best trainer in the whole world."
This is when she earns that kind of praise.
She was getting pats on the back when Parker returned to the game and UT sports information director Debby Jennings called Moshak the "most valuable player of the game."
"Now we just have to assess the level of damage if any occurred," Moshak said. "From there, we'll get to the rehabilitation like crazy so she can make it through the next 10 days."
A&M Heartbreak: It wasn't the kind of break they wanted, but the Texas A&M players and coaches thought destiny was about to smile on their Final Four chances when Parker suffered her injury.
"Parker is Parker," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "We did as well as we could. I thought she showed a lot of effort playing with that shoulder of hers.
"I know she was in a lot of pain, but we were in a lot of pain trying to guard her, too."
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Posted by bamacheats on April 2, 2008 at 1:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Dan Fleser: This would have been a lot better article if you just stuck to the fact that Candace is hot.
Posted by BillVol on April 2, 2008 at 1:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LOL -- good game analysis, bc!
Posted by bmaples on April 2, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank goodness for dirty laundry! Without that dirty shoulder sleeve, Parker isn't back in the game, and without Parker we lose. What a determined group of ladies! Gonna need all that, and more, to win two more. Go Lady Vols!
Posted by lnbadger320 on April 2, 2008 at 8:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
anosiki drives me crazy on offense.
Posted by GreerVol22 on April 2, 2008 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Jimmy, don't expect an appearance on the next "Dirty Jobs" show. There are worse place to be than at the bottom of a pile of women's dirty clothes...suck it up Candace, two more to go.
Posted by johnlg00 on April 2, 2008 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Inbadger320, Anosike isn't the only one who does that to me! So many of them constantly leave shots short. It's almost as if, when they get an open shot or drive, they think they don't actually have to MAKE it for it to count--as if they are looking for style points! Nicky is bad about this, but Alexis is almost as bad. Angie seems to have hit that fabled "freshman wall" about a month ago, because she hasn't hit much of anything since, and her defense is atrocious. Now, with Candace injured, I'm afraid, if the rest of them don't get a clue soon, we won't be bringing that eighth championship home after all.
Posted by vollady on April 2, 2008 at 12:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Let's stay positive and be appreciative of what we have had all year. A very special team with special young ladies.
Posted by LadyVolFanForever on April 2, 2008 at 1:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
vollady---you are so right !
We cannot expect perfection all the time. These young women are human, afterall. Be thankful for what we have and appreciate it.
Posted by jdcdjc on April 2, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I also agree with vollady. But the rest of the team is programmed to look for Candace, not a bad thing but it can leave them looking bad on offense at times.
Posted by gainesville_vol on April 2, 2008 at 5:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Before we get all bent out of shape over Candace's injury and how poorly they played without CP, we might want to give A&M some credit. UT was only up by a few points when the injury happened. A&M played great defense against everyone in the tournment.
Also, think back to the Depaul game where the ladies led by 19 at half without CP. Can we beat LSU and UConn/Stanford without CP? Probably not, but the team will have time to adjust to her injury rather than having it thrown on them in the middle of the game.
Posted by BloneyBoy on April 2, 2008 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would really like to see Anosike, Fuller, and Baugh step it up offensively. We don't lose quite as much defensivley with Candice out but she has such great body control she is able to make moves without the visible foul. Defense and rebounding are a function of desire. Offense is a function of practice, practice, practice ...
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