(2) Duke 75, (1) Tennessee 53
DURHAM, N.C. -- Pat Summitt was in unfamiliar territory. Rarely has she seen Tennessee so thoroughly outplayed, so thoroughly beaten.
"Losing's one thing," the Hall of Fame coach said. "Losing the way we lost is something quite different. It's unacceptable in this program. So we will learn from it."
Lindsey Harding had 15 points, four assists and eight steals, and four teammates joined her in scoring in double figures as No. 2 Duke routed the top-ranked Lady Vols 75-53 Monday night to deny Summitt her 901st victory.
Monique Currie had 13 points and Mistie Williams, Abby Waner and Chante Black all scored 10 for Duke (19-0), which took the lead for good midway through the first half and then pulled away.
"We knew it was going to be a battle," Blue Devils coach Gail Goestenkors said. "It was a great team effort. Five players in double figures, and everybody who came off the bench contributed something to win the game."
Candace Parker, Tennessee's dynamite freshman, had 17 points, five assists and three blocks, but she got little help. Leading scorer Shanna Zolman was held without a point, only the third time this season she has failed to reach double figures.
"Shanna's a non-factor, and the disappointing thing is that when she wasn't scoring, she wasn't doing other things," Summitt said. "That was a big disappointment, and obviously hurt us."
Six players scored for the Lady Vols (18-1), and their 53 points were a season low. They were coming off an emotional victory over in-state rival Vanderbilt that gave Summitt win No. 900, but they never had a chance in this one.
At least Summitt avoided the worst loss in her 32 years at the school -- she and Tennessee lost to Texas 91-60 in 1984.
"We knew win or lose, it was just one game," Goestenkors said. "It doesn't change anything. It was an opportunity to find out how good we were. Today, we were pretty good."
It was the second time this season Duke won a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup -- the top-ranked men's team beat Texas 97-66 in early December.
Harding and her teammates got a little revenge for losing to Tennessee two seasons ago in the most recent game between the top two teams in The Associated Press' women's poll. The Lady Vols were the lower-ranked team then when they won in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but their next trip to the historic arena didn't go so well.
"We've been in this environment several times," Goestenkors said. "Now we use it to our advantage. We fed off the crowd, and the crowd fed off us."
With all the tickets sold well in advance -- there were a surprising number of Tennessee fans scattered throughout the crowd of 9,314 -- the environment was raucous even before the opening tip. A small, yet enthusiastic group of Cameron Crazies chanted "Our house! Our house!" as the players left their benches, and they continued the harassment.
Of course, the best distraction came from Duke's defense. The Lady Vols shot 45 percent, missed all but two of their 10 free throws and had 22 turnovers.
"I think they had the swagger we usually carry," Tennessee guard Alexis Hornbuckle said. "It seemed like we got frustrated, and we let down instead of getting fired up and trying to get it back."
Harding keyed a 14-4 run soon after halftime with two free throws and a jumper from the baseline, and Waner swished a 3-pointer to make it 46-31. During Tennessee's drought, Parker looked like a first-year player, driving through a host of defenders to pick up a charge.
"Sometimes, I think that we forced it a little bit," Parker said. "I had some turnovers in transition and things like that."
Sidney Spencer made two 3s to momentarily halt the Blue Devils' momentum, but Waner responded with a 3 to restore control.
"I expected them to make a comeback," Harding said. "They're Tennessee. But we had so much depth, we were able to keep going and going and going. It seemed like we never got tired."
Spencer had 11 points for the Lady Vols, and Hornbuckle added 10.
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