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Still the 1 Huskies keep Lady Vols at bay in top-two showdown
Updated: Sunday December 31, 2000 11:41 AM
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- With leading scorer Svetlana Abrosimova ailing from a bad back, top-ranked Connecticut leaned on an old reliable and a rookie to hold off No. 2 Tennessee 81-76 Saturday in a rematch of last season's NCAA title game. Shea Ralph, the Final Four MVP, had 15 points and two key steals in a 19-2 first-half run that gave the Huskies (9-0) the cushion they would need. She also had five rebounds. Diana Taurasi, last year's high school player of the year, contributed 12 points that included a key 3-pointer with five minutes left to hold Tennessee at bay. The tussle of the two top teams in women's basketball lived up to its billing, as the Lady Vols (11-1) rallied from a 17-point deficit in the first half and were a 3-pointer away from drawing even in the last minute. "It was one of those games where I never felt we were in the clear," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "I thought they would come down and make a couple shots to get it right back." Tennessee battled back with strong inside play and timely shooting from Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall. Catchings' 3-pointer with 5:27 remaining cut the lead to 69-67, the closest the Lady Vols would get. Even timelier were UConn guard Sue Bird's four free throws in the final 35 seconds to ice the game. Bird finished with 15 points and a team-high six assists. "The win is one thing," Auriemma said. "The way we won gives you a pretty good feeling about the toughness of our team." Catchings led Tennessee with 17 points. Her jumper off an inbounds pass with 1:06 left cut the lead to 77-74. But she also was called for an illegal screen 30 seconds later, sending Bird to the line for her first time. After Bird hit both, Kara Lawson scored on a coast-to-coast layup to keep the Lady Vols within 79-76. Bird converted her final two free throws with 19 seconds left on another Catchings' foul. "I'm really proud of the way we responded in the second half. We showed a lot of character today," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. UConn leads the series, 7-5. They've met twice for national titles, and the Huskies won both, including last season's dominating 71-52 victory in Philadelphia. Saturday's game looked as if it was heading in that direction, too. The Huskies came out cold in the first half, missing eight of their first nine shots. The Lady Vols took advantage in the meantime, hitting four of eight and had a four-point lead four minutes into the period. That's when the Huskies' transition game took over. Bird's 3-pointer with 15:33 left ignited a 19-2 run that made it 23-10. Ralph had five points and two steals in that run. The Lady Vols had five turnovers in that same period. UConn led by as much as 17 twice, but the Lady Vols rallied to within eight late in the period. Michelle Snow went to work inside and had six points in a 14-9 Tennessee run to close out the half trailing 44-34. Tennessee had 18 turnovers in the first half, but played more sure-handed in the final period and had just four turnovers. The Huskies had 11 of its 17 turnovers in the second half. "We knew we had to execute and if we didn't we could lose the game," Ralph said. "This was the real deal. We needed to get it done." Tennessee outrebounded the Huskies 42-32. Randall led the Lady Vols with eight rebounds, getting six in the second half. She finished with 12 points and Lawson added 13. "We had to push it right back at them and then they turned it over," Randall said. Tamika Williams led UConn with seven rebounds. Swin Cash had 14 points for UConn. Abrosimova, suffering from back spasms, played just 11 minutes and had four points, all from the line. She was averaging 16.4 points entering the game. Her absence kept Taurasi on the floor for 22 minutes. She showcased her shooting skills with 360-degree layup with 10:31 left in the game, then stroked a 3-pointer with 5:15 left to keep UConn a 72-67 lead. "[Taurasi's] playing with a lot of confidence," Summitt said. "Four years of that? Imagine. I don't even want to think about it." The major East Coast snowstorm was not enough to keep fans from this one -- the 16,294-seat Hartford Civic Center was nearly filled. Auriemma praised the fans after the game, grabbing a microphone at midcourt. "I want to thank all you people for coming out today, we really appreciate it," he said.
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