CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Angie Bjorklund scored 24 points and hit
the big shots when Tennessee (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) needed
them as the Lady Vols beat No. 12 Virginia 77-63 on Sunday.
Tennessee
(3-0), playing for only the second time in Charlottesville, led 40-33
at halftime and pulled away after the Cavaliers (3-1) closed to 42-39.
The rally riled up the crowd of 11,895 fans, a record for a women's
basketball game at Virginia.
But Bjorklund stopped the surge with
a four-point play, and when Taber Spani followed with a 3-pointer, the
Lady Vols' lead was back to 10. Virginia got no closer than seven again.Shekinna
Stricklen added 20 points and Glory Johnson 14 for Tennessee, which has
beaten the Cavaliers in 12 of 14 meetings, but lost to Virginia at home
last season, 83-82.
Preseason All-American Monica Wright led
Virginia with 21 points, but Chelsea Shine, coming off a 27-point
effort in a victory against South Carolina Upstate, had her first shot
blocked by Kelley Cain and never seemed to recover. She scored three on
1-for-6 shooting.
Ariana Moorer scored 12 for the Cavaliers and Simone Egwu had 10.The
Lady Vols used an early 24-9 run to open a 26-15 lead. Stricklen had
eight points in the spurt, and 6-foot-6 Cain blocked three shots and
altered several others.
Tennessee built its lead as high as 13 on
several ocassions, but Wright and Moorer hit 3-pointers and Whitny
Edwards had a jumper in an 8-2 run for Virginia to end the half.The
game was billed as Hot Dog Day, with every fan receiving a voucher for
a free hot dog and drink as part of a promotion to draw the largest
crowd in program history. The previous mark of 11,174 was set Feb. 5,
1986 when Virginia played North Carolina at its old arena.