Tennessee Wins Another SEC Title

Tamika Catchings scored 18 of her 24 points in the second half and Chamique Holdsclaw had 19 for the game as second-ranked Tennessee (28-2) rolled to an 85-69 victory over No. 14 Georgia (23-6) Sunday in the Southeastern Conference tournament final at Chattanooga, Tenn. It was the ninth SEC title and fifth this decade for the Lady Vols. . . . Ukari Figgs had 21 points and five assists as top-ranked Purdue (27-1) recorded a 72-59 victory over Ohio State (17-11) in the semifinals of the women’s Big Ten tournament at Indianapolis. The Boilermakers made seven of 15 three-point shots. . . . Tauja Catchings’ jump shot with one second left sealed a 77-75 victory for Illinois (18-10) against No. 15 Penn State (21-7) in the other Big Ten semifinal. . . . Tasha Pointer led an early 14-point run in which No. 7 Rutgers (26-4) shut down Miami (15-13) for almost nine minutes in a 79-53 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Shea Ralph scored seven of her 30 points in a game-opening 19-3 spurt that led No. 6 Connecticut (25-4) to an 82-58 victory over St. John’s (18-10) in another Big East quarterfinal. . . . North Carolina needed only 5:10 to erase a 19-point, first-half deficit, and the 13th-ranked Tar Heels (26-6) went on to an 83-70 victory over No. 19 Virginia (20-8) in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals at Charlotte, N.C. . . . Itoro Umoh had 17 points and No. 16 Clemson (23-5) earned its fourth consecutive trip to the ACC title game with a 76-71 victory over No. 8 Duke (24-6).