UConn wins 2nd national title in 2 days

NEW ORLEANS -- First the men, now the women. Make it a double for UConn.\nWith the incomparable Diana Taurasi leading the way, Connecticut's women completed a championship sweep for the school by beating Tennessee 70-61 Tuesday night for their third straight title.\nSo now there's a new Titletown: tiny Storrs, Conn., the Huskies' home.\nThe victory by the women followed UConn's win over Georgia Tech in the men's championship game Monday night, making Connecticut the first Division I school to sweep both titles.\n"Unbelievable," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's so mind-boggling. An unbelievable accomplishment for a school."\nIt was the fifth title overall for the women and it came at the expense of the only other school that has won three straight championships. Tennessee and coach Pat Summitt still lead all teams with six NCAA titles, but Auriemma and the Huskies are closing fast.\nThey started fast in this one, racing to a 17-point lead in the first half. Tennessee got the lead down to six at halftime, closed to three early in the second half and trailed by just two after Brittany Jackson hit a 3-pointer from 3 feet behind the arc with 9:50 to play.\nConnecticut (31-4) got the lead back to eight, but the Lady Vols kept coming. Ashley Robinson blocked Barbara Turner's turnaround shot, raced to the other end, caught a no-look pass from Shanna Zolman and made a layup, drawing the Lady Vols to 59-55.\nIt would get no closer. Willnett Crockett's three-point play, her only points of the night, stopped Tennessee's momentum and the Huskies finished it off with free throws.\n"This season was incredibly difficult in so many ways," said Auriemma, who returned everyone from last season's national championship team. "They had to be everything everybody expected them to be."\nAs the clock wound down, Taurasi gritted her teeth and raised her clenched fists. Then she grabbed the bouncing ball after the buzzer sounded and punted it into the stands with a boot that would have done Ray Guy justice.\n"UConn domination -- bottom line," Taurasi exclaimed. "Tennessee is a great team. They were able to make their runs, but we showed a lot of composure. It is the absolute best feeling in the world."\nTaurasi, who has tormented Tennessee with big games against the Lady Vols throughout her career, led the Huskies with 17 points in her final college game and was named the Final Four's outstanding player for the second year in a row. And she had plenty of help.\nJessica Moore and Ann Strother each scored 14 points and Moore grabbed nine rebounds. Turner had nine rebounds, 12 points, four assists, two blocks and two steals.\nMoore scored 12 of her points in the second half to help keep UConn ahead and her biggest rebound came at her most painful moment of the game. She twisted her left knee after grabbing an offensive rebound and crashed to the floor after getting rid of the ball.\nWith Moore still down, Strother was fouled on a 3-point shot and hit all three free throws, giving UConn a 57-49 lead.\nZolman led Tennessee with 19 points, Robinson had 13 and Shyra Ely 10.\n"We wanted to own the game. We wanted to own the second half," Zolman said. "They had an answer for everything we did."\nSo the brash, fast-talking Auriemma once again got the best of Summitt, whose frosty relationship with the UConn coach has become legendary. The Huskies have defeated Tennessee six straight times and, even more important, they're 4-0 against the Lady Vols in national championship games, including a 73-68 victory last year.\n"His teams are a reflection of his personality," Summitt said of Auriemma. "They have a toughness about them."\nTennessee went back-to-back-to-back from 1996-98, but the Lady Vols haven't won since.\nThey made it to this year's championship game -- their 11th -- with three straight two-point victories decided in the final seconds. They kept things interesting Tuesday night but there was no chance to make a play at the end, mainly because the Lady Vols had to come from too far down.\nLess than 10 minutes into the game, Connecticut led by 11. Two minutes later, the lead grew to 16 when Strother threw in an over-the-shoulder layup. When Strother's 3 from the left wing made it 30-13 with 6:29 left in the half, the Huskies were shooting 67 percent.\nIt probably was a good omen for the Huskies when Ashley Battle took a 3-point shot from the right wing midway through the opening half. The ball rimmed out, hit the backboard and dropped through the basket.\nEven at that, Connecticut faltered after Strother's 3-pointer took the lead to 17, going scoreless the rest of the half. Tennessee closed with a rush, scoring the last nine points of the half to cut the lead to six. Ely scored the final basket in that surge and smiled broadly as she ran back down the court -- a sharp contrast to the glum looks as the Lady Vols trudged off the court when it was over.\nAn 11-1 edge in offensive rebounds enabled Tennessee to keep from getting blown out in the first half. The Lady Vols finished with a 17-7 edge in that category, but it wasn't enough to offset their 36 percent shooting.\nThe only other school to have women and men basketball teams win national championships in the same season was in Division II -- Central Missouri State University in 1984.