PITTSBURGH — When Pittsburgh assistant coach Shea Ralph assembled a scouting tape on Tennessee, head coach Agnus Berenato took one look at it and tossed it away. The tape was nothing but a series of Candace Parker highlights.

Turned out the game was, too.

Parker wore out persistent Pittsburgh at both ends of the court with 30 points, 12 rebounds and a series of rally halting plays that carried the Vols to a 68-54 women's basketball tournament victory over Pitt on Tuesday night and the NCAA round of 16 for a 26th consecutive season.

Sidney Spencer helped Parker slow down Pitt's muscular Marcedes Walker and scored 11 points, and Nicky Anosike and Shannon Bobbitt added 10 points each as Tennessee remained the only team to reach the final 16 in every season of the tournament's 26-year history.

But if it hadn't been for Parker, the best player on the floor all night, that run might have stopped.

"Candace Parker is a special player," Berenato said. "When Shea showed me those clips, I said, 'We can't let them see that. We can't let them see how good she is.'"

The game proved that. While the Panthers were a team the top-seeded Vols (30-3) should have beaten — they were playing their 113th game in tournament history to Pitt's second — the six-time champions rarely have played an early round game under such difficult circumstances. Pitt nearly filled its arena with fans for the Dayton Regional game, and the 6-foot-3, 257-pound Walker presented a difficult matchup problem.

To perhaps any player but Parker, the smooth and athletic star who had something to prove after being limited to four points in the Vols' 63-54 loss to LSU in the Southeastern Conference tournament on March 3. And she proved it, missing only three of her 16 shots and adding three assists and four blocks.

"Candace has great composure, and her progress from last year to this year is tremendous," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "Everyone realizes when we need a basket, Candace is a big-game player. We want her to have her hands on the ball because she can make plays under pressure."

The last threat came when Pitt, down by as many as 17, cut it to 54-45 with 8:17 remaining after Walker made three of four free throws on consecutive possessions. Parker immediately answered by scoring three consecutive baskets, halting the rally and pushing the lead back to a comfortable 15 at 60-45.