Women's Basketball

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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Shanna Zolman sank a key 3-pointer with 1:06 left and scored 23 points to lead No. 1 Tennessee to an 81-72 win over Kentucky on Thursday night.

Shyra Ely added 22 for Tennessee (17-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference), which won its 10th straight game.

Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt won her first meeting against former assistant Mickie DeMoss, who was an assistant at Tennessee from 1985-2003 before taking over the Wildcats last spring. Each of the five Tennessee starters hugged DeMoss as they were introduced before the game, which drew 8,429 fans, the second largest crowd for a women’s game at Memorial Coliseum.

Sara Potts scored a career-high 29 points to lead Kentucky (9-10, 1-5), which lost to Tennessee for the 23rd consecutive time, but trailed only 72-67 with two minutes left.

The Wildcats had a chance to get closer, but LaToya Davis intercepted a pass and got fouled at the other end. Zolman sank a 3-pointer from the corner 20 seconds later to put the Lady Vols up by eight.

Tennessee went 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to seal the victory, its first without point guard Loree Moore. Moore sustained a season-ending knee injury in Tennessee’s win at Duke on Saturday.

Summitt and DeMoss, still close friends, briefly embraced at midcourt as the game ended, neither wearing a smile.

Despite four early turnovers, the Wildcats trailed 9-7 six minutes into the game. Danyelle Payne’s jumper with 7:54 left in the opening half put the Wildcats up 20-19, their first lead.

The Lady Vols retook the lead and built it to 10, but the Wildcats finished the half with an 8-2 burst and trailed only 36-32 at the break.

Tennessee hit six of its first 10 shots after halftime to restore the double-digit lead.

Potts’ 3-pointer from the top of the key with 11:59 left ended a 3 1/2-minute Kentucky scoring drought and trimmed the Wildcats’ deficit to 54-43.

Kentucky mounted a 9-2 spurt following a basket by Sidney Spencer. Angela Phillips’ pull-up jumper with 9:45 remaining drew the Wildcats to 58-52.

The lead bulged to 12 before back-to-back jumpers by Shambrica Jones cut the Wildcats’ deficit to 68-63 with five minutes left. Jones, who scored 14, left the game two minutes later with an apparent knee injury.

Kentucky fell to 0-14 all-time against the No. 1 team, including seven losses to the Lady Vols.

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