Stanford’s McPhee enjoys terrific return, but Tennessee prevails

Brittany McPhee was back on the floor for Stanford on Thursday, and at times, it seemed as if she might be able to will the Cardinal back into the game against seventh-ranked Tennessee.

McPhee wasn’t enough by her lonesome, though, and the No. 18 Stanford women’s basketball team lost 83-71, snapping a strong of five consecutive home victories over the Lady Vols.

McPhee, who hadn’t played since Stanford’s second game of the season, scored 27 points to lead the Cardinal, while Jaime Nared had a game-high 28 for Tennessee.

The Lady Vols improved to 12-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season and earned their first win at Maples Pavilion since Dec. 4, 2005.

With McPhee sitting much of the final quarter - Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer planned to play McPhee only 20 minutes - the Cardinal made a late surge to make things interesting in the final minutes, trimming a 17-point Tennessee lead down to six with 3:12 left. That was as close as Stanford (6-6) got.

The Cardinal held Tennessee without a field goal for nearly four minutes to open the game, as the Lady Vols missed their first five shots, but after Rennia Davis’ three-pointer, the floodgates opened. The Lady Vols led by as many as 11 in the first quarter.

McPhee went on a roll midway through the second quarter to get Stanford back into it, making three shots in a row to cut Tennessee’s lead to 30-26.

The Lady Vols, taking advantage of several Stanford turnovers, then took over for the remainder of the first half, outscoring the Cardinal 16-4. Stanford, which held a surprising 11-7 edge on the boards against the nation’s top rebounding team in the first quarter, was outrebounded 14-7 in the second quarter.

Shots weren’t dropping for anyone but McPhee, either. She made 8 of 14 shots in the first half. Her teammates were 5 for 21, and overall, the Cardinal was 1 for 10 from three-point range in the first half.