College basketball

Women: Vols follow loss with even bigger shocker

By wire services
Published January 27, 2006

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The first 900 wins seemed to come so easily for Tennessee coach Pat Summitt. Adding No. 901 has been much more difficult.

Kentucky upset top-ranked Tennessee 66-63 Thursday night, handing the Vols and college basketball's wins leader their first back-to-back defeats in nine years.

"We feel like we get everybody's best shot because we're Tennessee, but we have to learn how to give everybody our best shot," Summitt said.

The Vols (18-2, 4-1 SEC), who figured to drop from the top spot anyway after their 22-point loss Monday against Duke, will almost certainly fall further now. Tennessee had beaten Kentucky (15-4, 4-2) 24 straight times since January 1986 and entered with a 40-5 lead in the series.

For Summitt, who earned her 900th victory last week against Vanderbilt, the setback came at the hands of her former pupil. Mickie DeMoss was a Tennessee assistant for 18 years under Summitt.

"It's a great, great win," DeMoss said. "It's almost like I'm sitting here in a dream."

NO. 2 DUKE 97, CLEMSON 65: Lindsey Harding scored 17 and the visiting Blue Devils (20-0, 7-0 ACC) matched their best start. After a sluggish opening, Duke kept up its intensity after its rout of Tennessee, using a 22-2 first-half run to take control and equal its 2002-03 start.

NO. 4 LSU 75, NO. 22 VANDY 53: Sylvia Fowles had 26 points and 22 rebounds, and reigning player of the year Seimone Augustus added 28 points as the host Tigers (17-1, 6-0 SEC) pulled away in the second half.

NO. 6 MARYLAND 79, GA. TECH 71: Crystal Langhorne scored 19 of her 23 in the second half, teaming with Shay Doron to help the host Terrapins (18-2, 5-1 ACC) wear down the Yellow Jackets.

NO. 7 OHIO ST. 73, WISCONSIN 46: Jessica Davenport had 19 points and 14 rebounds and became the Buckeyes' career leader with 242 blocks as host Ohio State (16-2, 7-1 Big Ten) won its seventh in a row. The Buckeyes forced 15 turnovers, had 10 steals, blocked seven shots and held the Badgers to 29 percent shooting.

NO. 8 PURDUE 73, NO. 16 MICH. ST. 53: Katie Gearlds scored 23 and Aya Traore 17 as the host Boilermakers (16-2, 8-0 Big Ten) beat a ranked team for the fourth time this season. The Spartans (14-7, 4-4) were coming off a last-second loss to Ohio State.

NO. 14 MINNESOTA 79, N.D. STATE 70: Jamie Broback scored a career-high 33, 25 in the second half, to lead the host Golden Gophers (14-4). Five days earlier, the Bison men upset ranked Wisconsin 62-55 on the road. The women put up a battle, too, staying with Minnesota until midway through the second half.

NO. 15 UGA 75, S. CAROLINA 64: Tasha Humphrey scored 18 and Sherill Baker had 13 in the second half as the visiting Bulldogs (14-5, 4-2 SEC) beat the Gamecocks for the sixth straight time.

NO. 19 ARIZ. ST. 75, WASH. ST. 65: Amy Denson and Danielle Orsillo each scored 13, and eight players scored at least six for the Sun Devils visiting (15-5, 6-4 Pac-10).

COACH RECOVERING: Texas Tech coach Marsha Sharp was in good condition after an angiogram found no artery problems or heart damage, the university said in a release. Earlier tests suggested Sharp had blockage in a coronary artery. Instead the angiogram found a muscle bridge or band over the left coronary artery that led to initial abnormal test results.

ARKANSAS 69, NO. 24 UF 63: Leslie Howard scored a season-high 24, and the host Razorbacks (13-6, 5-1 SEC) used a 13-4 run midway through the second half to rally. The Gators (15-4, 3-3) led 47-37 with just less than 16 minutes left, but Arkansas' swarming defense and Howard's shooting turned the tide.

ETSU 61, STETSON 51: B.J. Banjo had 26 points and seven rebounds to lead the visiting Bucs (12-5, 8-2 Atlantic Sun).

[Last modified January 27, 2006, 01:22:12]