TAMPA, Fla. — Though bruised and braced, an injured left shoulder hardly prevented Candace Parker from hoisting that championship trophy for one last time.

Parker scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Tennessee capture its eighth NCAA women's basketball title with a 64-48 victory over Stanford last night. The Lady Vols also became the first repeat champs since Connecticut won three straight from 2002-04.

"Obviously, my shoulder is a little sore," Parker said. "But winning the national championship is making it better."

About the only problem Hall of Fame coach Pat Summitt seemed to have all night was cutting down the net. She celebrated as each of her players cut down a piece of string, then climbed up the ladder to take the rest of the net.

She needed three tries to get it — hardly looking like an eight-time champion who's done it more often than anyone but UCLA men's coach John Wooden. Summitt is now two short of Wooden's record.

When she finally cut the thread, she waved it high above her head and blew kisses to the Tennessee faithful.

"No. 8, it's all about this team," Summitt said. "I've been very blessed with this team, these people I have around me."

Parker will leave the Lady Vols (36-2) with a year of eligibility remaining, but has accomplished one of her goals by winning multiple national titles.

"You know, it's funny because some players don't get one, and I'm fortunate enough to have two," The Associated Press player of the year said with both hands raised and two fingers up on each.

Parker also became the fourth player to win back-to-back Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four honors. She joined Connecticut's Diana Taurasi (2003-04), Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw (1997-98), and Southern Cal's Cheryl Miller (1983-84).

Stanford's loss ended Candice Wiggins' remarkable run through the NCAA tournament. She scored 14 points and finished with 151 over the six games — the fourth-best total in tournament history. Sheryl Swoopes holds the record with 177 points, when she led Texas Tech to the championship in 1993. Wiggins is the first player to have two 40-point games in the tournament.

Wiggins ended her stellar career by taking the Cardinal (35-4) further than they'd been since 1992, when the program won it all. Stanford hadn't reached the Final Four since 1997 or advanced to the championship game since the '92 team.

"I'm sad that it's over because of how much I love this program, this institution, this team, and my coaches and teammates," Wiggins said, breaking into tears. "It's that amazing. This season, I could not ever have dreamed of this, so it's more than I could ever ask for."

She came in averaging 27.4 points in the tournament and opened the game with a 3-pointer, but couldn't find an open look after that. The All-American finished 6-for-16 from the field and left to a standing ovation with just over a minute left in her college career.

Parker struggled with her shooting in the semifinals when she went just 6-for-27 from the field, but gutted out the championship game — not letting her injured shoulder bother her. For the second straight game, the All-American wore a long-sleeve shirt under her uniform to try, as she said, to not focus on the injury. Underneath Parker's shirt was a Sully brace.

"It goes across the shoulder and across the body with a strap system that limits her motion," trainer Jenny Moshak said.

While still clearly not 100 percent healthy, the expected No. 1 pick in today's WNBA draft didn't shoot nearly as many jumpers as Sunday night, instead taking the ball to the basket on an array of moves. She converted one steal in the second half into a layup that gave the Lady Vols a 10-point advantage. She then followed it up with a three-point play on a driving layup. The Cardinal, who had a season low for points, would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

With the game in hand and a minute left, Parker went to the Tennessee bench for the final time, holding up four fingers on each hand to signify the eight titles the Lady Vols have won.

"One is disputable, but two, you can't stumble onto two national championships, so we're pretty good," Parker said.

Unlike earlier games in the tournament when Parker had to carry the Lady Vols, her supporting cast came through last night. Shannon Bobbitt scored 13 points and Nicky Anosike added 12 points, eight rebounds and six steals.

"They came out with a great mentality to play hard, especially on the defensive end," Summitt said. "On offense, we got more people involved, but it was our defense that got it done. I'm so proud of our seniors, I'm going to miss them."

Bobbitt scored all of her points in the first half as the Lady Vols jumped to a 37-29 advantage. Trailing by one early, Tennessee used a 13-4 run to take a 17-9 lead midway through the half. Bobbitt hit two 3-pointers and made a nifty layup to cap the spurt. The teams traded baskets before two free throws by Bobbitt gave the Lady Vols a 35-25 lead — their biggest of the half.

She also helped to harass Stanford into 14 turnovers by the break. The Cardinal looked tight on offense, committing more turnovers in the first half than they did in the semifinal win over UConn. They finished with 25.

"We did not play well. We did not handle the pressure well," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "The turnovers absolutely killed us."

Jayne Appel finished with 16 points to lead the Cardinal, who saw an end to their 23-game winning streak — the longest in the nation. The Pac-10 champs hadn't lost since dropping consecutive road games to UCLA and USC in the first week of January.

The victory redeemed the Lady Vols' 73-69 overtime loss to the Cardinal when the teams met Dec. 22 at Stanford.

Tennessee is 8-5 in championship games after barely making it to No. 13. The Lady Vols ended a nine-year drought with their championship last season. They won their other titles in 1987, '89, '91, '96, '97, and '98.