UConn-Tennessee 2000: Don't Pass This Up

It's UConn-Tennnessee Rivalry Day on ESPN Classic, with 6 games over 12 hours kicking off at noon today. Leading off is the 1995 regular season game that started the whole thing, followed by NCAA Tournament matchups in 1995, '96, '97 and 2002.

But arguably the best game of the entire 12-year run -- which did not occur in the NCAA Tournament -- will be re-played tonight at 8 p.m.

If I heard one primary argument countering my claim that the 2001 Big East final was the greatest women's game ever played, it's that this UConn-Tennessee game at Gampel, won by the Lady Vols 72-71 on Feb. 2, 2000, was even better.

There is certainly a case to be made, considering the similar collection of talent and dramatic finish. Indeed, like UConn-Notre Dame, the two teams would meet for a third time in the Final Four, with UConn routing the Vols for the national championship in Philadelphia.

Either way, there is no denying that the final sequence of this game played a significant role in what would come 13 months later, when Sue Bird took the ball and rushed upcourt against the Notre Dame defense with 5.1 seconds left.

After Bird and Semeka Randall traded clutch shots in the final minute, with Randall's double-clutch jumper giving Tennessee a 72-71 lead with 4.4 seconds left, Geno Auriemma instructed Svetlana Abrosimova, UConn's fastest player, the rush the ball up the floor and shoot a game-winner.

Abrosimova did the first part, getting to the Tennessee foul line with time to take a potential winning jumper. But, inexplicably, Abrosimova then passed the ball to an unprepared Tamika Williams on the baseline. All Williams could do was hit the bottom of the backboard as the buzzer sounded, resulting in UConn's only loss of the season.

Abrosimova's pass led to a period of serious discord between the player and coach, with Auriemma benching Abrosimova in UConn's next game. More important, Auriemma made a key stategic shift after that experience.

Now it was Bird who Auriemma gave the ball during end-of-game scenarios in practice. And with Abrosimova injured and Diana Taurasi fouled out in the 2001 Big East final, it was Bird, again, at the buzzer.