Connecticut vitals: Huskies (35-1) have won 16 straight games, dating back to a 72-71 loss to the Lady Vols on Feb. 2. Last title-game appearance was in 1995, when UConn ran the table with a perfect 35-0 record. Ranked No. 1 in both the ESPN/USA Today and The Associated Press Top 25 polls.

Tennessee vitals: Lady Vols (33-3) have won 20 straight games, dating back to a 78-51 loss to Georgia on Jan. 17. Last title-game appearance was in 1998, when Tennessee ran the table with a perfect 39-0 record. Has reached five of the past six national championship games. Ranked No. 2 in both top 25 polls.

Key matchup: The young point guards carried the day in the semifinals and will be on center stage again Sunday night. Sophomore Sue Bird (UConn) and freshman Kara Lawson (UT) have shown no signs of wilting under pressure, and need to come up big in their showdown. Bird and Lawson control tempo, break down defenses, nail 3-pointers and play with a fire that rubs off on their teammates. Whichever makes the other players around them better on Sunday will have the advantage. UConn coach Geno Auriemma says Bird is the best point in the country and he may be right. Tennessee coach Pat Summitt says nothing that Lawson does surprises her, and counts on Lawson to be the coach on the court.

Key stat: The stats don't always tell the story but free-throw stats usually tell us whether a team is aggressively attacking defenses and making things happen. Connecticut and Tennessee like to get to the line a lot because they are good penetrators and slashers and force defenses to make plays on them. The Huskies' Shea Ralph and Svet Abrosimova are masters at going hard to the basket, scoring and drawing the foul. They were a perfect 10-for-10 from the line Friday night while UConn hit 19 of 22 free-throw attempts. Kara Lawson and Semeka Randall do the same thing for the Lady Vols. They combined to shoot 15-for-18 Friday as Tennessee netted 22 of 29 free throw attempts against Rutgers.

Battleground: The open court. Both teams love to get out in transition to that place where their horses run free. The Huskies and Lady Vols play tough defense, so the more easy baskets and breakaway layups they can get the better off they'll be. The big names didn't have their best games Friday, so if we're lucky, Abrosimova, Ralph, Catchings and Randall will be ready to put on a show in the Sunday night spotlight. Controlling the boards is critical to establishing the running game. They'll also have to protect their own glass and get the quick outlet to Bird or Lawson and go, go, go.

Notable: The Huskies and Lady Vols split their regular-season meetings with each winning on the others' home court. In the first meeting, Bird was the word after scoring 25 points on 8-for-10 shooting. The Husky defense held Tennessee to 33 percent from field, and the Lady Vols shot themselves in the foot by hitting just 19 of 33 free-throw attempts. In the second contest, UT dominated inside with Catchings, Randall and Michelle Snow scoring 49 points while the guards took much better care of the ball, turning it over just 11 times.

Advantage: Connecticut seems to be in the driver's seat with its depth (the bench provided 32 points against Penn State) and the strong will of Sue Bird, who refuses to let her team lose. A big question that should be answered early is whether it matters that Connecticut hasn't been in a title game since 1995, while Tennessee is playing in its fifth final in six years.