Like Old Times for Lady Vols

It wasn’t exactly Turn Back the Clock Day at the Hartford Civic Center. But there was little doubt Saturday that both Connecticut and Tennessee were hoping to restore some of their old swagger.

And it was 10th-ranked Tennessee that did the high stepping, overcoming a 10-point second-half deficit -- and benefiting from two pivotal free-throw misses by Connecticut’s Ann Strother -- to edge the No. 15 Huskies, 68-67, in front of a crowd of 16,294.

Tennessee ended a six-game losing streak to Connecticut, which has won the last three national championships -- beating the Lady Vols in the finals of 2003 and 2004. It also was Tennessee’s first victory over UConn at Hartford in four tries.

“We knew we were coming into a great environment, and sometimes on the road it can be a challenge,” said Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt. “But to see this team step up ... we’ve had our lapses in games but I thought in the second half we maintained our intensity and made two great runs.

“Also, when I woke up this morning I kept thinking, ‘It’s about time Tennessee won one.’ ”

It was one of Summitt’s California acquisitions, Sa’de Wiley-Gatewood, who made the difference for Tennessee (10-3).

The freshman from Pomona, and Lynwood High, scored nine of her 12 points in the second half, and the biggest came on a driving layup with 15 seconds left to put Tennessee ahead for only the second time, 67-66. Fouled on the play by Willnett Crockett, Wiley-Gatewood completed the three-point play to put the Lady Vols ahead by two.

“I was just pushing the ball and whatever was open, I would pass it or take it to the hole,” Wiley-Gatewood said. “When I saw a lane was open, I took it to the hole.

“I was committed to Tennessee for four years. So it felt like I’ve been losing to them for four years.”

Connecticut (8-4) still had a chance when Strother was fouled by Alexis Hornbuckle as she attempted a three-point shot with 3.9 seconds left. But after making the first free throw to bring the Huskies within 68-67, Strother missed the next two. When the last shot rimmed out, Tye’sha Fluker grabbed Tennessee’s 38th rebound and the Lady Vols ran out the clock.

“I never thought they weren’t going in so I was surprised by it,” said Strother, a junior who scored 16 points. “I hope I get the chance to be in that situation again.”

Hornbuckle came off the bench to lead Tennessee with 14 points. Freshman Charde Houston led the Huskies with 19.

“Some things you can accept,” said Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma. “One is it wouldn’t be much of a rivalry if we won them all. So you can accept the fact you’re not going to win them all against Tennessee. That’s not hard to do.

“You can’t accept Willnett Crockett not trapping the pick-and-roll [when Wiley-Gatewood scored] like we’ve done every single time someone has done it against us the entire year. But when you play a game like this today, and you see the shots the Tennessee kids made late and the plays they made ... well, I remember those days.”

During its recent dominant stretch against Tennessee, Connecticut had always put together at least one key run that the Lady Vols couldn’t seem to answer.

The Huskies’ first thunderbolt Saturday came in the first half, a 10-0 spurt that turned a 17-15 lead into 27-15.

The Lady Vols could barely dent that margin by halftime despite a surprise miscue by the Connecticut coaches, who, thinking they had a foul to give, instructed Nicole Wolff to foul Hornbuckle with two seconds left. It was Connecticut’s seventh foul of the half, sending Hornbuckle to the free-throw line, where she made both attempts to cut UConn’s lead to 36-27.

“That was my fault,” Auriemma said.

After Connecticut started the second half with a three-point play by Houston, the Lady Vols began to turn the game their way, outscoring the Huskies, 15-5, over the next eight minutes. A layup by Hornbuckle at the 12:55 mark cut the deficit to 44-42, and Tennessee appeared to be wearing down the smaller, leaner Huskies.

But the Huskies had one more key run in them, a 9-1 burst that appeared to put them in control with a 53-44 lead.

Tennessee kept grinding away, though, using full-court pressure and getting to the free-throw line often. And with 2:38 to play, Hornbuckle gave the Lady Vols their first lead, 62-61, with an acrobatic reverse layup.