Summitt: LSU deserves No. 1 seed

• By SCOTT RABALAIS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 10, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Now with a 30-2 record, Tennessee appeared to seal its case for a No. 1 seed in this month’s NCAA tournament with Sunday’s 61-55 victory over LSU in the SEC tournament final.

Feeling no need to lobby for her Lady Volunteers, Tennessee coach Pat Summitt did so on behalf of the Lady Tiger team her squad had just beaten. An LSU team that won the SEC regular-season title ostensibly because of a 78-62 victory Feb. 14 at Tennessee.

No matter what, 27-5 LSU is sure to receive an NCAA at-large bid. The Lady Tigers now return home to see which seven teams will be sent their way when they host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, March 22 and 24 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The NCAA women’s tournament field will be announced at 6 p.m. March 17 on ESPN.

Referee Joe Cunningham was forced to leave the game with a calf injury 4:32 into the first half and did not return. Alternate official Mary Day replaced him and finished the game along with Dee Kantner and Bryan Enterline.

Sunday’s crowd of 12,392 in the Sommet Center — the largest ever for an SEC women’s tournament championship game — pushed this year’s attendance to an SEC tournament record 51,036 (8,506 per session).

That bested the marks of 43,642 (7,274 per session) in 2003 when LSU won the SEC tournament in North Little Rock, Ark.

The SEC women’s tournament is scheduled to return to North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena in 2009. Local organizers have expressed an interest in hosting the tournament in Nashville again as soon as possible.

LSU has lost four straight SEC tournament finals by a total of 14 points. The Lady Tigers lost to Tennessee 67-65 in 2005 in Greenville, S.C., to Tennessee 63-62 in 2006 in North Little Rock and to Vanderbilt 51-45 last year.