Lady Vols

INDIANAPOLIS - Some things just don't happen. Wile E. Coyote doesn't catch the Road Runner. Martha Stewart doesn't leave crumbs on the tablecloth, and the Tennessee women's basketball team doesn't lose in the Final Four to a team of neophytes. But the Lady Vols squandered a 16-point, second-half lead and a six-point advantage in the final three minutes against Michigan State in the national semifinals last night, as the Spartans won, 68-64, to claim one of the most shocking upsets in women's basketball history.

NEW ORLEANS - If it is true that Tennessee and Connecticut will always play each other in the NCAA women's basketball championship game, then it's becoming increasingly true that Connecticut will always beat Tennessee. For the sixth straight time and, more importantly, the fourth time in a final, the Huskies turned back the Lady Vols last night, 70-61, to win their fifth national title, their third consecutive championship and the fourth in the past five years. The win gave Connecticut an unprecedented Division I double - championships for both the men's and women's team.

Tonight's game No. 1 Tennessee (31-3) vs. No. 2 UConn (30-4) Site: New Orleans Arena Time: 8:30 TV: ESPN How Tennessee got here: Beat Colgate by 77-54 in the Midwest first round; DePaul, 79-59, in the second round; Baylor, 71-69, in the regional semifinal; Stanford, 62-60, in the regional final and Louisiana State, 52-50, in the national semifinal. How Connecticut got here: Beat Penn by 91-55 in the East first round; beat Auburn, 79-53, in the second round; beat UC-Santa Barbara, 63-55, in the regional semifinal; Penn State, 66-49, in the regional final and Minnesota, 67-58, in the national semifinal.

NEW ORLEANS -- A reporter posed a hypothetical question to Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt yesterday to gauge the depth of feeling between her team and Connecticut heading into tonight's national championship game. If Summitt were driving down a dark road and saw Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma's car stranded, would she drive on past? Stop and help? Or drive on past and then call for help? "Well, I stop and ask if I can help him. Why wouldn't I? Reverse the role," she replied.

NEW ORLEANS - The Tennessee women's basketball team and its coach don't know how they are pulling off these remarkable finishes in the NCAA tournament, just that they are going to play for another national championship. For a third straight game, the Lady Vols pulled off a miracle in the closing seconds, this time nipping Louisiana State, 52-50, in the national semifinals last night to earn a berth in tomorrow night's title game against Connecticut. "I walked in [to the locker room] and told them I was really proud of them, but I don't know how much more of this I could take," said Tennessee coach Pat Summitt.

CHICAGO - Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said this week she is impressed with the "toughness" of her No. 1-seeded Lady Vols, who are likely to oppose either DePaul or George Washington in a second-round NCAA tournament game Monday in Tallahassee. Tennessee plays No. 16 seed Colgate in the first round today. "I see a lot of very strong No. 8 [George Washington] and 9 [DePaul] seeds in the field this year," said Summitt, who has led Tennessee to six NCAA titles. "The gap between teams has narrowed.

For those who say the NCAA Division I women's basketball committee is too much a slave to the traditions of the game, the panel said, "Hah," and tossed history out the window, in relative terms, in yesterday's tournament seedings. The nine-member panel, for instance, decided to deny a top seed to the two-time defending champion Connecticut Huskies, sent the Tennessee Lady Vols out of their comfort zone for the first time ever, and gave a back of the hand to Stanford, the Pac-10 regular-season and tournament champion, by giving the Cardinal a lowly No. 6 seed.

ATLANTA - Connecticut Women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma has succinctly described the difference between his team and the rest of the field as the Huskies have Diana Taurasi and no one else does. It seems simplistic, but it was so accurate in last night's national championship game, as the Huskies won their second straight title on the back of Taurasi, with a 73-68 win over Tennessee. Taurasi, who didn't score for the first 8:45, made up for lost time with 28 points on a variety of shots, inside and out, in a magnificent performance.

ATLANTA - Here's how you know the Tennessee-Connecticut women's basketball rivalry is big: Almost all the participants spend a lot of time sidestepping the question of how big it is. They represent the two most decorated programs in the sport and between them have won six of the past eight national championships heading into tonight's NCAA title game, but players and coaches on both sides say they are just two teams who tend to play each other a lot....