• By SCOTT HOTARD
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Feb 27, 2009 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 12:15 a.m.

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This time, LSU got it right.

A berth in the national championship game wasn’t at stake. Candace Parker wasn’t involved. A season didn’t end.

But the Lady Tigers won’t complain. They beat No. 18 Tennessee in a 63-61 thriller Thursday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, cementing a bye in next week’s SEC tournament with the win.

And the way they did, it, well, that was the eerie part.

Rewind to April 6, the last meeting of the teams. Likely the most forgettable sequence in Lady Tigers history saw Parker race virtually the length of the court off an inbound play, leading to a Tennessee score on an Alexis Hornbuckle putback for the Lady Vols’ last-second, 47-46 victory in the Final Four’s opening round.

Tennessee blasted Stanford two nights later, winning the national title.

Most of the players in that game weren’t around for Thursday’s rematch. Both squads were heavy with seniors. Both are now rebuilding.

But the finish set up this way:

Alex Fuller inbounded to Shekinna Stricklen beneath the LSU basket with seven seconds and change to play. Tennessee trailed by two. The length of the floor awaited.

Only this time, Tennessee drew a blank. The final possession stalled before Glory Johnson corralled a bloop pass in the lane, turned and was met by Kristen Morris.

In her final regular-season home game, Morris — LSU’s only senior — celebrated Senior Night by forcing a jump ball, giving the Lady Tigers possession with 0.3 seconds to play.

Game over.

“We knew we didn’t have a lot of time,” Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said, “but we wanted to at least get a look at it. They had pressure on us and didn’t give us the opportunity.”