College GameDay, an energized Thompson-Boling Arena and a bevy of former players and coaches in town provided the backdrop for Tennessee's anticipated match up with No. 5 UConn Thursday night.
The Lady Vols came into the game riding the confidence of a nine-game win streak, going up against arguably its biggest non-conference challenge of the season to this point in a Huskies team they hadn't beaten in three-straight meetings.
Despite a valiant comeback effort after trailing by as much as 16 points in the first half, Tennessee never fully closed the gap, falling 84-67.
It was the Lady Vols' first loss since Dec. 18 at Stanford.
After sitting out of the Missouri game last week due to illness, Jordan Horston came off the bench and led Tennessee with 27 points on 6-of-14 shooting while Rickea Jackson scored 13 and Jillian Hollingshead finished with 11.
Lou Lopez Senechal tallied 26 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored 25 for UConn.
The Huskies (19-2) jumped out to a 16-point lead, shooting more than 71% from the field in the first quarter and another 60% from 3-point range. Edwards scored 10 points and Lopez Senechal tallied 9 in the first 10 minutes.
Tennessee seemingly had no answer when as its deficit swelled, but the Lady Vols hung around in the second quarter, using its defense to make UConn uncomfortable.
The Huskies committed seven turnovers and fouled eight times in the period. Their shooting went cold, too, hitting only 28% of their shots.
On the offensive end, Tennessee (16-7) made the most of what its defense provided.
Jordan Walker scored on the fastbreak to open the quarter, then Jackson scored off of another UConn turnover to pull Tennessee within 12. Senechal hit a jumper and Aubrey Griffin scored to up the Huskies' lead to 37-23, but the Lady Vols controlled the rest of the frame.
Horston knocked down a deep 3-pointer and Hollingshead sunk a pair of free throws as part of a dominating 13-3 close to the first half that had Tennessee trailing just 40-36 at the intermission.
Tennessee's confidence, at least for a moment, seemed to spill over into the opening seconds of the third quarter. Horston scored on a layup that pull the Lady Vols within a possession, but 10 fouls and UConn rediscovering its shot (57.1% from the field) had them continuing to play catch-up.
The Huskies stretched its lead back to double digits following another Edwards score and took a 68-55 advantage into the fourth where Tennessee managed to score but struggled to stop UConn from doing the same.
UConn made the push it needed to put the Lady Vols away for good, outscoring Tennessee 16-10 in the final quarter.
The road ahead doesn't get any easier for Tennessee.
The Lady Vols, back in SEC play, will put their perfect 8-0 conference mark on the line in Baton Rouge, Louisiana against No. 3 LSU at the Pete Maravich Center on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
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