Tennessee’s Candace Parker was already considered among the most skilled women’s basketball players to play for Pat Summitt, but the all-American showed mental and physical toughness by leading Tennessee to a repeat national title April 8 in Tampa.

Despite wearing a harness on a shoulder that had been dislocated twice in the Oklahoma City regional final April 1, Parker overcame the pain to hand Summitt her eighth NCAA championship.

Parker finished the title game with 17 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Vols smothered Stanford’s triangle offense in a 64-48 victory in the final.

The 6-4 all-American was named the tournament’s most outstanding player for a second time, making her one of only four women to accomplish the feat (Southern California’s Cheryl Miller, Tennessee’s Chamique Holdsclaw and Connecticut’s Diana Taurasi are the others).

“My shoulder is a little sore, but winning the national championship is making it better,” said Parker, who had 13 points and 15 rebounds in a heart-stopping 47-46 win over LSU in the semifinals. “I just wanted to get past these two games and deal with my shoulder later.”

While Parker stood out, she was hardly the only reason Tennessee cut down the nets. The Lady Vols put the brakes on Stanford’s prolific offense that averaged 85 points per game in the NCAA tournament.

Tennessee forced 25 turnovers and limited Stanford all-American Candace Wiggins to 14 points. Wiggins entered the game averaging 27.5 points in the tournament and is the only woman to post two 40-point games in a single tournament.

Summitt credited her senior class for setting the tone.

“I particularly like the way they committed to each other on the defensive end,” said Summitt, whose team went 36-2. “This is one of our best defensive efforts, which gave us a chance to beat an outstanding Stanford team.”

The Cardinal, 35-4, defeated Tennessee, 73-69, in overtime December 22, but it couldn’t find the magic to defeat the Lady Vols this time around.

“The championship game itself was not indicative of the great season we've had,” said Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, whose team beat top-ranked Connecticut, 82-73, in the semifinals. “We did not play well. We did not handle the pressure well. Obviously the turnovers absolutely killed us.”

Tennessee received balanced scoring throughout its lineup. Shannon Bobbitt (13) and Nicky Anosike (12) joined Parker in double figures.

The championship trophy will go alongside those won in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2007. Summitt is now two away from tying men’s basketball coaching legend John Wooden, who won 10 NCAA titles at UCLA between 1964 and 1975.

“Do I have a desire to try to beat coach Wooden's record? No,” Summitt said. “I just want to

help the next team get back to the Final Four. That's always our goal every year. And as long as I can be effective as a teacher and coach, that's what I want to do. The day I walk in the gym and I don't have the passion is the day I give it up.”

Regional scores

Greensboro region: Connecticut 78, Old Dominion 63; Rutgers 53, George Washington 42; Connecticut 66, Rutgers 56.

Spokane region: Maryland 80, Vanderbilt 66; Stanford 72, Pittsburgh 53; Stanford 98, Maryland 87.

New Orleans region: North Carolina 78, Louisville 74; LSU 67, Oklahoma St. 52; LSU 56, North Carolina 50.

Oklahoma City region: Tennessee 74, Notre Dame 64; Texas A&M 77, Duke 63; Tennessee 53, Texas A&M 45.

Semifinals

Stanford 82, Connecticut 73

Stanford: Kayla Pedersen 8-14, 0-1, 7, 17; Jayne Appel 6-11, 3-4, 10, 15; JJ Hones 4-7, 0-0, Candice Wiggins 7-19, 8-9, 13, 25; Rosalyn Gold-Onwude 1-5, 0-0, 2, 3; Jeanette Pohlen 0-1, 2-2, 0, 2; Ashley Cimino 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Morgan Clyburn 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Jillian Harmon 2-5, 5-6, 4 9. Totals: 28-63, 18-22, 43, 82.

Connecticut: Maya Moore 8-19, 1-1, 9, 20; Kaili McLaren1-3, 0-0, 4, 2; Brittany Hunter 0-3, 0-0, 2, 0; Ketia Swanier 4-9, 2-2, 2, 13; Renee Montgomery 4-18, 6-7, 4, 15; Meghan Gardler 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Charde Houston 4-8, 2-2, 5, 10; Lorin Dixon 1-2, 2-2, 2, 4; Tina Charles 4-5, 1-2, 6, 9. Totals: 26-67, 14-16, 37, 73.

Halftime: Stanford 40, Connecticut 33. Three-point field goals: Stanford 8-21 (Wiggins 3-6, Hones 3-6, Pedersen 1-3, Gold-Onwude 1-3, Pohlen 0-1, Harmon 0-2. Connecticut 7-26 (Moore 3-11, Swanier 3-6, Montgomery 1-9). Officials: Tina Napier, Clarke Stevens, Lisa Jones.

Tennessee 47, LSU 46

LSU: Ashley Thomas 2-3, 0-0, 7, 4; Sylvia Fowles 10-24, 4-11, 20, 24; Erica White 2-5, 3-5, 7, 7; RaShonta LaBlanc 0-2, 0-0, 4, 0; Quianna Chaney 4-10, 0-1, 3, 9; Allison Hightower 1-9, 0-2, 4, 2; Mesha Williams 0-1, 0-0, 2, 0. Totals: 19-54, 7-19, 47, 46.

Tennessee: Candace Parker 6-27, 1-3, 15, 13; Alberta Auguste 5-9, 0-1, 3, 10; Nicky Anosike 2-7, 1-2, 7, 5; Shannon Bobbitt 4-7, 0-0, 3, 11; Alexis Hornbuckle 1-8, 0-1, 6, 2; Angie Bjorklund 1-4, 0-0, 1, 2; Vicki Baugh 1-1, 0-0, 5, 2; Alex Fuller 1-6, 0-0, 3, 2. Totals: 21-69, 2-7, 45, 47.

Halftime: Tennessee 22, LSU 18. Three-point field goals: LSU 1-9 (Chaney 1-6, LeBlanc 0-1, Hightower 0-2); Tennessee 3-12 (Bobbitt 3-5, Parker 0-2, Hornbuckle 0-2, Fuller 0-3). Officials: June Corteau, Mary Day, Beverly Roberts. Attendance: 21,665.

Championship game

Tennessee 64, Stanford 48

Stanford: Kayla Pedersen 2-7, 3-4, 10, 7; Jayne Appel 6-13, 4-10, 5, 16; JJ Hones 2-5, 0-0, 2, 5; Candice Wiggins 6-16, 0-0, 4, 14; Rosalyn Gold-Onwude 1-2, 0-0, 3, 2; Cissy Pierce 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Hannah Donaghe 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jeanette Pohlen 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Ashley Cimino 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Morgan Clyburn 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Jillian Harmon 2-3, 0-0, 4, 4. Totals: 19-49, 7-14, 36, 48.

Tennessee: Candace Parker 5-10, 7-11, 9, 17; Alberta Auguste 3-7, 1-2, 7, 7; Nicky Anosike 6-11, 0-1, 8, 12; Shannon Bobbitt 4-12, 2-2, 0, 13; Alexis Hornbuckle 1-7, 4-5, 1, 6; Angie Bjorklund 0-5, 0-0, 1, 0; Sydney Smallbone 0-0, 1-2, 1, 1; Vicki Baugh 3-4, 2-2, 4, 8; Alex Fuller 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. Totals: 22-56, 17-25, 38, 64.

Halftime: Tennessee 37, Stanford 29. Three-point field goals: Stanford 3-11 (Wiggins 2-5, Hones 1-2, Clyburn 0-1, Pohlen 0-1, Pedersen 0-2); Tennessee 3-9 (Bobbitt 3-8, Bjorklund 0-1). Officials: Dee Kantner, Eric Brewton, Denise Brooks. Attendance: 21,665.