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KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Round one goes to No. 1. Top-ranked Connecticut remained unbeaten with a 74-67 victory over No. 2 Tennessee as Svetlana Abrosimova scored five of her 14 points in the final 2:44. Sue Bird scored 25 points on 8-of-10 shooting to lead the Huskies (12-0), who grabbed a 5-4 lead in the all-time series between two of women's basketball's perennial powers. Connecticut also avenged last season's 92-81 home loss to the Lady Vols when the schools also were ranked first and second. Michelle Snow had 21 points and 12 rebounds and Semeka Randall scored 20 points for Tennessee (10-2), which shot 34 percent (22-of-65) and had a 10-game winning streak snapped. The Huskies, who will host a return match on February 2, led almost from start to finish. Two free throws by Bird with 6:41 left in the first half put Connecticut ahead for good, 26-25. Tennessee got within 34-33 on a layup by Kyra Elzy, but the Huskies closed the first half with a 9-4 burst. The advantage grew to 13 early in the second and Connecticut still led 63-52 with six minutes remaining. But reserve April McDivitt drilled a 20-footer for her only basket of the game, sparking an 8-0 run that got the Lady Vols within 63-60 just over two minutes later. Bird made 1-of-2 free throws and Abrosimova had a layup to restore UConn's six-point cushion. After Michelle Snow converted a three-point play for Tennessee, the Huskies went 8-of-9 from the line over the final 69 seconds. Connecticut shot 47 percent (27-of-58) from the field, making 4-of-7 3-pointers, to overcome 23 turnovers. The Lady Vols had a 43-39 rebounding edge but missed 14-of-33 free throws. The crowd of 20,789 was some 2,500 short of capacity at Thompson-Boling Arena.
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