KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Connecticut might be Tennessee's longtime rival, but Diana Taurasi has become the Vols' nemesis in just two games.
Taurasi scored a career-high 32 points as the top-ranked Huskies beat No. 2 Tennessee, 86-72, Saturday to improve to 16-0. The sophomore guard scored 24 points before fouling out a year ago in the last meeting between the teams, which Tennessee won 92-88 in Knoxville.
But this time finding a way to stop Taurasi and four seniors was too much for the Vols (11-1). Most of the Thompson-Boling Arena-record crowd of 24,611 left early.
There have been 34 meetings of No. 1 vs. No. 2 teams since 1979. The No. 1 team has won 19. Five of those 1-2 matchups have been between these teams. Connecticut leads the series 8-6, and has won three of the last five meetings.
"Connecticut is clearly a more aggressive and physical basketball team," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said. "They work so hard. We didn't have an answer for Taurasi."
Swin Cash added 16 points for Connecticut, Tamika Williams had 13 and Sue Bird 12. Williams also had 15 rebounds and Cash 10 as the Huskies outrebounded Tennessee 40-31.
No. 3 Oklahoma 80,
No. 9 Texas Tech 68
Lubbock, Texas LaNeishia Caufield scored 23 points, and Rosalind Ross added 21 and 12 rebounds for Oklahoma (12-1, 2-0 Big 12). The Sooners took a 24-3 lead and dominated throughout. Natalie Ritchie and Amber Tarr led Texas Tech (9-3, 1-1) with 13 points each.
No. 4 Iowa State 88, Nebraska 54
Ames, Iowa Lindsey Wilson scored 23 points, and Iowa State rebounded from its first loss. Angie Welle added 14 points for Iowa State (13-1, 1-1 Big 12), which had a 26-game home-court winning streak ended in a 69-63 loss to Kansas State on Wednesday. Nebraska (10-5, 0-2) played without guard Keasha Cannon, whose mother died Dec. 19.
No. 5 Stanford 81, Fordham 55
New York Sebnem Kimyacioglu scored 14 points in a reserve role, as Stanford (14-1) extended its winning streak to six games.
No. 6 Vanderbilt 77, Penn State 62
Nashville, Tenn. Chantelle Anderson scored a game-high 22 points in front of the largest crowd (9,712) at Memorial Gym this season. Zuzi Klimesova finished with 20 points for Vanderbilt (13-3).
Michigan State 70,
No. 8 Georgia 49
East Lansing, Mich. Syreeta Bromfield had 20 points and nine rebounds in the Spartans' first victory over a nonconference ranked opponent in five years. The loss was Georgia's worst since a 99-70 defeat at Connecticut in last season's opener. Kelly Roehrig added 14 points and eight rebounds for Michigan State (10-3). Tawana McDonald led Georgia (11-1) with 14 points.
No. 13 Louisiana Tech 90, UTEP 53
Ruston, La. Cheryl Ford had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Amber Obaze scored 20 as Tech (9-3, 4-0 WAC) won its sixth straight. Tech forced 28 turnovers. Kimya Murray led UTEP (3-8, 1-2) with 20 points.
No. 19 North Carolina 76, Lehigh 47
Chapel Hill, N.C. Nikki Teasley had 21 points and six steals to lead Carolina (12-2) over Lehigh. The loss was the sixth straight for Lehigh (4-9).
No. 22 Tulane 69, Southern Miss 68
New Orleans Delacey Joseph's jumper at the buzzer lifted Tulane (13-2) past Southern Miss (7-7). Teana McKiver scored a game-high 33 points for Tulane (13-2). La'Tasha Sumerall led Southern Mississippi with 16 points.
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