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Lady Vols rally past Jayhawks to advance to Elite Eight

Mar 24, 2012 - 8:32 PM Des Moines, IA (Sports Network) - Meighan Simmons scored 22 points off the bench and the Tennessee Lady Vols bounced back from a slow first half to take down the Kansas Jayhawks 84-73 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena.

Glory Johnson scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Shekinna Stricklen netted 16 points and was a rebound shy of a double-double for second-seeded Tennessee (27-8) which will advance to take on top-seed Baylor in the Elite Eight. It will be the 25th appearance in the Elite Eight for the Lady Vols under Pat Summitt.

Angel Goodrich scored 23 points and Aishah Sutherland notched 19 for 11th-seeded Kansas (21-13) which had it's Cinderella run end. Chelsea Gardner posted a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds as well for the Jayhawks.

Kansas led by as many as 14 in the first half and went into the break holding a 35-30 lead after shooting 48.0 percent in the first half. Tennessee struggled in the first half and connected on only 36.0 percent of its shots in the first twenty minutes.

The Lady Vols took their first lead, 44-42, five minutes into the second half and used a 23-9 run to put themselves ahead 53-46 with a little more than 11 minutes remaining. Tennessee led by as many as 16 down the stretch.

Tennessee shot 43.9 percent overall in the game and outscored Kansas 21-7 from the free throw line while holding a 36-30 edge on the boards. Kansas shot 47.7 percent overall. Both teams committed eight turnovers.