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STORRS, Connecticut (Ticker) -- No. 4 Tennessee ended top-ranked Connecticut's 19-game winning streak with a thrilling 72-71 victory as Semeka Randall hit a 12-foot jumper with 4.4 seconds remaining. Randall made a pair of key shots in the final minute for the Lady Vols (17-3), who avenged a 74-67 home to Connecticut on January 8. She finished with 17 points, while Tamika Catchings led Tennessee with 19 and 13 rebounds. "I got a good look and took the shot," Randall said. "That's all that really happened." "I think psychologically for this team we thought we needed to play aggressively and with an attitude and match their intensity," added Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. "It was a matter of coming in and establishing who we are as a team." Tamika Williams scored 19 points off the bench for Connecticut (19-0), which also had a 19-game home winning streak stopped. "I guess it's fitting it came down to the last shot," said Huskies coach Geno Auriemma. "It was an odd game to be involved in. It looked like there were a lot of games within the game -- the first 17 minutes, the next 17 minutes and the last six minutes. The first 17 I liked, the next 17 I didn't and the last six I thought were pretty tight." The Lady Vols overcame a 14-point first-half deficit and led by nine points with 5 1/2 minutes remaining. But Williams' three-point play capped a 12-2 burst and put the Huskies in front, 66-65, with 3:44 to play. There were five more lead changes the rest of the way. A jumper by Catchings gave Tennessee a 67-66 lead with 3:18 left, but Sue Bird drilled her third 3-pointer of the game to put Connecticut in front, 69-67. Randall made 1-of-2 free throws with 2:17 remaining, then hit an eight-foot pull-up jumper for a 70-69 lead with 28 seconds left. Bird put the Huskies in front for the last time at 71-70 with a short baseline jumper with 17 seconds to go. Michelle Snow had 13 points and eight rebounds for Tennessee, which shot 43 percent (27-of-63) and battled to a 36-36 stalemate on the boards. The Huskies got 16 points from Shea Ralph, who made 6-of-8 shots, and 15 points and eight assists from Bird. "For the life of me, I can't figure out what goes through the kids' heads. As a coach, that will be my job to figure out in the next month," Auriemma said. "We have the appearance of a great team and the mind-set and maturity of a team uncapable of being where we are. This puts it in perspective." Bird's 3-pointer capped a 9-0 run and extended Connecticut's lead to 19-9 just over seven minutes into the first half. A layup by Williams made it 29-15 with 5:26 to go before halftime, but the Lady Vols closed with a 13-5 burst to get within 34-28 at intermission.
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