Tennessee Does Honorable Thing Against Connecticut

With Chamique Holdsclaw watching, Gwen Jackson put on a Chamique Holdsclaw-type performance to lead Tennessee to victory in what has become the biggest rivalry in women’s basketball.

Jackson scored a career-high 28 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked five shots as No. 3-ranked Tennessee outlasted No. 2 Connecticut Huskies, 92-88, Thursday night at Knoxville, Tenn.

Tennessee (22-1) won its 11th in a row since losing 81-76 to Connecticut (17-2) on Dec. 30. Connecticut also beat Tennessee in last year’s NCAA championship game.

The victory was also the 750th--against 150 losses--for Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt in 26 seasons at the school. Holdsclaw, a member of national championship teams at Tennessee, had her No. 23 jersey retired in a halftime ceremony.

Center Michelle Snow and guard Semeka Randall--who had emerged as the Lady Vols’ leading scorers since top player Tamika Catchings suffered a torn ACL on Jan. 15--were held to a combined five-for-13 shooting and 17 points.

But Jackson, a sophomore forward, picked up the slack by making 12 of 15 shots. Guard Kara Lawson also had 23 points for Tennessee.

“If you had told me that we would be able to win with Michelle Snow and Semeka Randall playing the way that they played and Tamika Catchings in street clothes, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Summitt. “Gwen Jackson was our biggest player on both ends of the floor.”

Connecticut, down by seven points with 1:02 left, pulled within 90-88 on a basket by Tamika Williams with 4.3 seconds to go. Tennessee’s Ashley Robinson, a 47% free-throw shooter, was fouled and made both attempts.

Svetlana Abrosimova, Connecticut’s leading scorer at 14 points a game , left with 9:22 remaining with a sprained left foot. She played only a few more minutes, finishing with 18 points.

Shea Ralph, Connecticut’s other All-America, finished with just four points.

Diana Taurasi led Connecticut with 24 points, making six of nine three-point shots, while Williams had 23 and 10 rebounds. Connecticut made 11 of 23 three-point shots but was only 22 for 54 inside the arc.