Stanford Stanford/Tennessee Tennessee Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Susan King hit two free throws to give the Cardinal (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 Associated Press) a 58-51 lead with 5 1/2 minutes left. But Stanford, which led most of the game, didn't score again.

Tennessee (9-0) scored the final 12 points en route to a 63-58 victory Sunday.

"For 35 minutes we played very well," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "You have to play a perfect game to beat them here and we came close."

Michelle Snow gave the Lady Vols the lead for good and its first since 19-18 with a one-handed basket off an assist by Tamika Catchings to make it 59-58 with 2:32 left.

Four free throws down the stretch sealed the win.

In the final minute, Snow missed a shot and crashed to the floor with King for the loose ball and was fouled. Snow made one free throw, then King picked up her fifth foul when she intentionally fouled Catchings with 2.5 seconds left.

Catchings, who finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds, made both free throws to ice the victory.

Stanford, which had two weeks off, was prepared for Tennessee's quick transitions and rebounding. The Cardinal changed its defense throughout the game, even using a triangle-and-two, and confused the Lady Vols.

Tennessee, which had trouble scoring inside, outside and at the free-throw line, until the decisive stretch, shot a season-low 19-for-59 from the floor.

"At first we were back to bad habits," said point guard Kara Lawson. "We did quick shoot the ball. We did jump-shoot the ball. We didn't get the ball into the post. We didn't really get into an offense,"

But Tennessee learned and switched up the defenses on Stanford, making the players take quick shots down the stretch. The Cardinal finished 20-for-57 from the field.

"That was about the only thing that we confused them on all day," Tennessee coach Pat Summitt said.

King, a freshman point guard, led all scorers with a career-high 21 points for Stanford, which has lost to Tennessee four straight times.

Tennessee used five different players to guard her and didn't find way to stop her until the final minutes.

"Susan King was everything and more than we had heard that she was," Summitt said. "Nothing really affected her."

Snow scored 11 points in the second half and finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She came off the bench for the second straight game as Gwen Jackson and Ashley Robinson have started in the post.

Ahead 31-28 at halftime, Stanford stretched its lead to eight three times in the second half.

King made a basket inside for a 40-32 lead with 16:46 left. But the Cardinal couldn't completely shut down Tennessee.

Catchings made a steal and a basket with 9:38 left, cutting the deficit to 52-48. On the next possession, she made one free throw.

On Stanford's next miss, she got the rebound and Semeka Randall scored, reducing the Cardinal lead to 52-51 with 8:07 left. Stanford then scored six points, restoring the lead to seven points 2 1/2 minutes later. That was the Cardinal's last gasp.

"We did not capitalize on being up eight points," VanDerveer said. "Tennessee really stepped up."

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Women's College Basketball Scoreboard

Stanford Clubhouse

Tennessee Clubhouse