KNOXVILLE — For the University of Connecticut, neither the opposition nor an onslaught of injuries this season have kept the 11-time NCAA tournament champions from winning far more often than not.
For eight-time national champ Tennessee, the Huskies have become a wall that the Lady Volunteers just can't seem to break through these days — and one that brought their nine-game winning streak to an end Thursday night.
Lou Lopez Senechal scored 26 points and Aaliyah Edwards added 25 to lead No. 5 UConn to an 84-67 victory over Tennessee in a matchup of iconic women's basketball programs at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Aubrey Griffen and Dorka Juhasz each scored 13 points for the Huskies (19-2), who led by 16 points at the end of the first quarter and extended their winning streak to 12 games. Nika Muhl had 13 assists and four steals for UConn, the runner-up to South Carolina at last season's NCAA tournament.
Jordan Horston scored 27 points for the Lady Volunteers (16-7), who closed within two points early in the third period but couldn't complete the comeback. Rickea Jackson scored 13 points and Jillian Hollingshead added 11 as Tennessee lost for the first time in 10 games.
The Huskies, in addition to maintaining their current winning streak, have won four straight against Tennessee since the series between the nonconference rivals resumed in 2020 after a 13-year gap. UConn leads 17-9, and the 26th meeting was the climax to a week-plus of "We Back Pat" games that bring attention to Alzheimer's disease, which iconic Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt died of in 2016.
"I don't know if we could recreate the rivalry we've had (in the past)," said Geno Auriemma, who took over as head coach at UConn in 1985 and has been at the helm for all 33 of the program's NCAA tournament appearances. "This is as good a nonconference game you can play anywhere."
Tennessee coach Kellie Harper, a point guard on three national championship teams for the Lady Vols in the late 1990s, said playing UConn was important to Summitt, so she hopes the series will continue. Facing the Huskies in the regular season is also good preparation for what's ahead in March — even though the Lady Vols, who have never missed the NCAA tournament since it began for Division I women in 1982, are plenty aware.
"It was tough to slow them down," Harper, who took over at Tennessee in 2019, said of the Huskies. "They were making every open shot and some tough ones."
UConn, which couldn't miss in the first quarter and couldn't buy a basket in the second, carried a 40-36 lead into halftime. Edwards had 10 points and Lopez Senechal had nine in the first 10 minutes, when the Huskies shot 71% and led 33-17. Tennessee scored the last eight points of the second quarter — four by Horston, who had 11 at the break — to make it interesting.
"It's a case of kids getting tired of getting their butts beat," Auriemma said. "That takes over. We have to change our approach. The adrenaline starts flowing."
Horston, who missed Sunday's win at Missouri due to illness as the Lady Vols improved to 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference, also had seven rebounds, two blocks and a pair of assists while playing a team-high 33 minutes against the Huskies, but she also was charged with six turnovers.
Auriemma called Horston "a terrific player. We recruited her down to the end and she chose Tennessee. Those players tend to have big games against us."
Said Horston: "I just wanted to get it done, whatever it takes. Their post players were really physical."
Jackson, who had five turnovers, had a game-high nine rebounds — Tennessee finished with a 41-30 advantage on the glass — and also made two steals. Jordan Walker had five assists for the Lady Vols.
If the Huskies were healthy, they would almost certainly be even more of a powerhouse. However, their two top players, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, and top freshman Ice Brady, are out with injuries. UConn used just seven players against Tennessee — which went 11 deep — and all five starters for the Huskies played at least 36 minutes.
"In the second quarter, they punched us and we didn't punch back," Lopez Senechal said. "We had to be more aggressive."
UConn has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for 557 straight weeks. Tennessee started the season No. 5 but has struggled at times with the toughest schedule in the country and returns to SEC play with Monday night's visit to No. 4 LSU. After the Lady Vols take on the Tigers and South Carolina on Feb. 23, they will have played all of the top six teams in the current poll.
The Huskies, 11-0 in the Big East this season, return to conference play when they host No. 21 Villanova on Sunday.