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ATHENS, Ga. - The game was in hand as Tennessee point guard Shannon Bobbitt patiently dribbled the ball at the top of the key. So you could excuse the Georgia defense for what happened next.

When the shot clock reached three seconds, you would have thought an alarm sounded in Bobbitt's head. Too bad, Georgia defender Ashley Houts didn't hear it.

One second, Bobbitt was dribbling at a leisurely place. One second later, she executed a devastating crossover dribble and exploded to the basket for a layup in UT's 72-63 victory Sunday night at Stegeman Coliseum.

Unfortunately for Georgia, that wasn't Bobbitt's only play. She scored 13 of her 15 points in the last 12 minutes.

"She was the deal breaker," Georgia coach Andy Landers said. "She broke down our defense and took it to the hole.

"Up until that point, we were in reasonably good shape."

Georgia's surprisingly healthy condition was reflected on the scoreboard. The Lady Bulldogs had forged a 41-41 tie with 12:05 to play against the No. 3-ranked Lady Vols. They also had weathered an offensive storm by UT All-American Candace Parker, who finished with 30 points.

At one stretch of the second half, Parker had 13 consecutive UT points. By then, you could have imagined UT coach Pat Summitt recycling an old sermon - the one about non-support, which she delivered with such passion after a humbling 78-62 loss to LSU a couple of weeks ago.

Against the have-nots on UT's schedule, Parker doesn't need much offensive support. But it was obvious against LSU - and even a less-talented Georgia team - that the supporting cast has to have a shooting hand in the game plan.

UT's coaching staff addressed that at halftime against Georgia.

"We told (Bobbitt) she had to get more involved on offense," UT assistant coach Holly Warlick said.

Until the second half, Bobbitt had been content to run the offense (i.e., get the ball to Parker) and force the tempo.

Her shooting slump also impacted her offensive approach.

In the previous eight games, she made only 19 of 67 field-goal attempts (28.4 percent).

"I was taking what the defense gave me," she said. "But my shot hasn't been falling."

Once it started falling, Georgia fell right along with it. Bobbitt's scoring outburst, which included a pair of 3-pointers, helped turn a tie game into an 11-point UT lead in just over four minutes.

UT fans can only hope that's a preview of the tournaments to come. The Lady Vols will open play in the SEC tournament Friday in Nashville. The NCAA tournament will begin two weeks later.

Don't think that wasn't on Summitt's mind Sunday evening. She emphasized to her players that winning at Georgia could be crucial to securing a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Based on how Bobbitt played last March, the mere mention of an NCAA tournament is probably enough to get her going.

She played a vital role in UT's national championship run through the NCAA tournament last March. And she didn't do it by just running the offense.

In six NCAA tournament games, Bobbitt made 15 of 31 3-point attempts and averaged 10.8 points per game.

"She's quite capable of taking a game in her hands," Warlick said.

With 12 minutes to play against Georgia, Bobbitt did just that.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.