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Thursday, February 1, 2001
Slight edge, and No. 1 ranking, taken off this matchup
Associated Press
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee's Semeka Randall doesn't get
tired of playing Connecticut -- even if it's not for the national
championship.
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END OF AN ERA?
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WNBA coaches are expected at the game as both UT and UConn are senior-laden. A capacity crowd of 24,000 should fill Thompson-Boling Arena as UConn has replaced SEC foes as Tennessee's biggest rival. The home-and-home games -- created to provide more exposure for women's basketball -- might end this season.
"It's clearly been a great rivalry," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "It's been great for women's basketball."
So why stop?
Summitt cited the schedule demands on the Lady Vols -- who already face the toughest league competition in the SEC and play a slate of nationally ranked teams out of conference. Over the next two years, she also wants to play "home" games for Kara Lawson of Alexandria, Va., a suburb near Washington, D.C.; for Michelle Snow in the Pensacola, Fla., area; and for April McDivitt in the Connersville, Ind., area. "We are in a real crunch for games," Summitt said.
Summitt has expressed an interest in scheduling the Huskies once a year -- with the home court rotated each year. Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has said he is agreeable to either scenario but has said the battles are fun and without pressure. He holds a 7-5 edge over Summitt in head-to-head competition. Summitt said the likelihood of the programs meeting again in the NCAA Tournament -- either in a regional game, semifinal or championship game -- makes scheduling two games during the regular season less attractive.
"The possibility of meeting three times in one year psychologically concerns me," Summitt said. "Sometimes the team with the better talent loses the game because they are psyched out before they step on the court."
She also said a UT-UConn matchup may be more appropriate for both teams in the postseason. "February 1 is not a great time to put a lot of pressure on your basketball team, but it is a great way to measure the progress we have made since the last game ... . I am
anxious to see how the individuals will respond," Summitt said.
For Summitt, the goal is to peak in March in the postseason. Overemphasizing the UT-UConn game in the regular season could have a detrimental effect on the players. The rivalry has been voted by fans as second only to that of the North Carolina and Duke mens' teams. The UT-UConn matchup on ESPN is part of the sport network's Rivalry Week. Duke and Carolina play at 9 ET tonight on ESPN2.
-- Scripps Howard News Service |
Randall and the other seniors on both teams face each other for
the seventh time in their careers and the second time this season Thursday.
"Great battles have come out of that game and different things
will happen," she said. "It is a great game, period, for women's
basketball."
Round 2 of the quintessential rivalry in women's college
basketball is different this time.
Neither is ranked No. 1, and each has a defeat.
The third-ranked Volunteers' Tamika Catchings will sit on the
sideline while UConn's Svetlana Abrosimova appears to be back at
full speed.
"This is one of the few times that the free world is not riding
on the outcome of this game," Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said.
What remains the same is the excitement generated each time both
teams take the court. No. 2 Connecticut and No. 3 Tennessee have
combined to win five of the last six national titles and have
played 12 times since the Huskies vaulted to No. 1 for the first
time after beating the Vols on Jan. 16, 1995.
"It's clearly been a great rivalry, good for both programs,
good for women's basketball," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.
"When you look at the big scope, certainly these two games have
brought a lot of national attention and just fan interest from
across the country."
Tennessee's 24,535-seat Thompson-Boling Arena will be near
capacity for the rematch.
Connecticut (17-1) won the first meeting of the season 81-76 on Dec.
30 in Hartford, to take a 7-5 lead in the series.
The Vols (21-1) have won 10 in a row since that defeat, even
though Catchings' season ended Jan. 15 when she tore a ligament in
her right knee.
On the very same day, the Huskies were overpowered 92-76 at
Notre Dame, ending a 33-game winning streak.
Summitt is looking forward to the matchup, not just to even the
score, but to evaluate her team.
"It's a great way to measure our progress from the last time we
played and also to see how this team will respond in front of a
packed house, playing against a team that has had a lot of success
against us of late," she said.
The Vols will get another view of themselves without
Catchings, who scored 17 points in her last game as Tennessee came
back from a 17-point deficit. The first 1,000 fans in the arena
will get light blue headbands like Catchings wore in games.
"Now they don't have their best player, but they're going to
come out stronger without Catchings. They know they have nothing to
lose," Abrosimova said.
Randall has taken up the slack for Catchings, averaging 12.6
points in the last five games, and has thrived against UConn,
averaging 17.2 points in her four-year career.
"We're not asking any one or two players to make up for the
loss of Tamika. We're challenging this basketball team by
committee," Summitt said.
UConn looks a little different, too.
Abrosimova, the Huskies' main scoring threat, scored just four
points in 11 minutes in the last game against Tennessee due to back
spasms. But she appears recovered after a 25-point performance
against Syracuse on Saturday.
Connecticut's other All-America, Shea Ralph, who scored 15
points in the first game, is in a scoring slump. She missed 12 of
15 field-goal attempts in the last three games.
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ALSO SEE
Voepel: Revelations on rivalries
Mowins: Huskies have edge in round two
Holdsclaw: Never an easy game
Rizzotti: Hatred began brewing in 1995
UConn-Tennessee all-time results
Dec. 30: UConn tops Tennessee 81-76
Tennessee to retire Holdsclaw's jersey Thursday
Catchings' surgery set for Feb. 5
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