OMG thanks for the great memory! Such fun games. This game is historically noteworthy on several counts. It was divine payback for a rare loss UConn handed us a few weeks earlier in a packed, raucous TBA. The one where Shea Ralph said the arena looked like someone threw up orange all over it.
If not mistaken, I think this is the game where Semeka earned her "Boo" nickname from the Huskie Hoard then proceeded to hit the game winning shot. Also the famous Kara Lawson postgame "We're Number One!" runaround which they took great offense to and held against her for a decade.
This is perhaps my fave LV/UConn game ever:
2000 01 UCONN at Tennessee - YouTube
Beat them 92-88 in an unlikely, great game without Tamika, who had blown her knee out a few weeks earlier. Semeka had an off game and fouled out. But outstanding, gutty games by Kara Lawson, Gwen Jackson, and Ace Clement, yes Ace Clement sporting the Tamika headband of honorary hustle. Another 20,000+ rockin crowd.
This week is the 20th anniversary of perhaps the most exciting LV game I've ever seen:
1997-98 Tennessee vs North Carolina - YouTube
Regional finals against North Carolina at Vandy 1998. Undefeated streak on the line, behind most of the game, LVs stage a furious comeback late featuring Chamique and the Fab Four Frosh - 2 Meeks, Tree Jeter, and Clement. Vandy's ancient, cramped, oddly configured gym was absolutely on fire with LV fans, including me and Tennessee's then govenor who I remember jumping up and down on his chair during the comeback. And Sylvia Hatchell's outfit was ugly, because some things never change!