WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Pat Summitt got her wish Tuesday night.

A sizable crowd wearing black and gold left Mackey Arena disappointed.

Instead of cheering, Purdue’s fans could only muster a gasp as Tennessee easily disposed of the Boilermakers 78-52 in the second round of the NCAA tournament and muted their home-court advantage. Summitt’s top-seeded Lady Vols advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 27th time in 27 NCAA tournaments and will face No. 5 seed Notre Dame in Oklahoma City on Sunday.

The crowd of 5,472 didn’t have many reasons to celebrate an NCAA home game against top-seeded Tennessee. The ninth-seeded Boilermakers said they were much better than the 50-point home loss to UConn two months ago, but the first half against Tennessee (32-2) didn’t look much different.

With 6:01 left in the first half, Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle had more than twice as many steals (seven) as Purdue had field goals (three). Hassled by the Lady Vols’ press throughout the opening half, the Boilermakers turned the ball over 14 times and often expended lots of energy just getting the ball across midcourt.

The result was 11 straight missed shots and 8:10 without a basket as Tennessee went ahead 35-8. Fittingly, referees had to stop play late in the first half to wipe blood from the Purdue logo.

Tennessee forward Candace Parker, top, and Purdue guard FahKara Malone battle for a loose ball during the first half of a second-round women's NCAA basketball tournament game in West Lafayette, Ind.,Tuesday, March 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

“That,” Summitt said she told her team after the game, “was 30 minutes of the best defense we played all season.”

It was a definite contrast from the Lady Vols’ sluggish start against Oral Roberts, which earned them a stern halftime lecture from the Hall of Fame coach. The Lady Vols made themselves right at home at Mackey Arena, quieting the crowd quickly with ball pressure.

“That took the crowd out,” said Tennessee’s Candace Parker, who led all scorers with 24 points. “I looked over at one point and they only had eight points. That’s a real testament to how hard we played defensively.”

Summitt, who wanted a large Purdue crowd to create a quality atmosphere for the women’s game, said the defensive game plan was to harass Purdue’s guards all the way up the floor so they couldn’t get into their sets. The Boilermakers’ 24 turnovers led to 25 points for Tennessee and made all the home-court advantage talk a moot topic.

“That was tremendous,” said UT guard Alexis Hornbuckle, who set a school record with eight steals in an NCAA tournament game. “If we were to come out here and not exploded the way that we did, they would have gotten momentum. Give any team momentum on their home floor, and it’s a lot harder to get that back because they’re fired up and they get all the confidence in the world.”

Hornbuckle said the team’s goal is to play so well defensively in the first half that Summitt’s halftime speech consists of, “You know what, ladies? Great half.” It happened once against DePaul this season and another time in a win over Notre Dame.

But an 8-0 run by Purdue (19-15) late in the half spoiled those chances, though Tennessee still took a 40-20 halftime lead with a Shannon Bobbitt steal and Alberta Auguste basket at the buzzer.

“If we had come out in the beginning playing hard like we did toward the end of the first half and for all fo the second half,” Purdue’s Kalika France said, “then the game would have been a lot more competitive.”

But it wasn’t. Vicki Baugh’s layup with 12:58 remaining gave Tennessee a 61-28 lead and ensured Summitt would get her 100th NCAA tournament win.

Tennessee’s 100 NCAA wins are the most by any program in men’s or women’s basketball. The Kentucky men are second with 98 all-time NCAA victories, not including vacated games.

But winning in the NCAA tournament, even for the 100th time, is still a thrill for Summitt.

“It seemed like today was 48 hours long,” she said. “I don’t think about numbers for me personally. My thought was we’ve never not been to the Sweet 16, and I didn’t want this team to be the first.”