People clamoring for more parity in Division I women's basketball got their wish for the first 60 games of the NCAA tournament, but once the Women's Final Four began, Connecticut and Tennessee, two of the sport's most storied programs, shoved Cinderella off the dance floor.

Though the 23rd Women's Final Four included a team seeded lower than fourth for only the sixth time and just one No. 1 seed for only the fifth time, the final two combatants that emerged have amassed eight titles between them in the last decade.

In what has become perhaps the most vigorous rivarly in women's basketball -- and in a rematch of last year's title game -- Connecticut once again subdued Tennessee's Lady Vols, 70-61, April 6 in New Orleans in front of a sell-out crowd of 18,211.

The crown is Connecticut's third straight and fifth overall. Tennessee still leads Division I with six titles. Connecticut also becomes the first Division I school to win both the men's and women's basketball championships in the same year.

The Huskies, which entered the tournament as a No. 2 seed, may have felt the Lady Vols had their number -- a No. 1 seed -- but the series clearly indicates that the reverse is true. The championship-game win was Connecticut's sixth straight victory in the rivalry that dates back to 1995. Connecticut leads the overall series, 13-6. The two teams have met seven times in tournament play, including four times in the final -- all Connecticut victories. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma in fact is 5-0 in title games, having also beaten Oklahoma in 2002.

Two-time player of the year Diana Taurasi once again led the Huskies' charge against Tennessee with 17 points after averaging 22.3 points per game in seven previous meetings against the Lady Vols.

Tennessee, down by as many as 17 points in the first half, closed to within 50-48 midway through the final frame, but the Huskies were able to work the ball inside for close-range shots to keep the Lady Vols at bay. Layups by Jessica Moore and Ann Strother, who finished with 14 points apiece, stretched the Huskies' lead to 54-48, then Strother converted three free throws a minute and a half later to put the Huskies up by eight at 57-49.

Tennessee clawed to within 59-55 on baskets from LaToya Davis and Ashley Robinson, but Connecticut answered again on a three-point play by Willnett Crockett with three minutes left. Connecticut's final points came from the free-throw line.

The Huskies threatened a rout early on, sprinting to a 30-13 lead with 6:30 remaining in the first half on the strength of an 18-4 run. Connecticut held the Lady Vols to just 5-of-23 shooting over the first 13:30 of the first half, and the Huskies were 11-of-16 from the field over that same period. Tennessee scored the final 11 points of the first half and the first two of the second, but Moore poured in eight straight points and Taurasi converted a three-pointer to restore the Huskies' comfortable margin.

"The NCAA tournament is like the Ryder Cup in golf," Auriemma said. "One guy's got a five-footer for par, the other guy's got a 40-footer for birdie, and the guy misses the five-footer and the other guy makes the 40-footer and the match changes. NCAA tournaments are like that. We were up 17 and they made a run and I'm thinking we might not be able to get the momentum back. That's all we talked about at halftime. It was a big key that they never took the lead and made us be defensive."

Tennessee (31-4) paved an improbable path to the final game, winning its regional semifinal, regional final and national semifinal games in last-second fashion. In its Sweet Sixteen game against Baylor, a team that had advanced that far in the tournament just once compared to Tennessee's 23 times, the Lady Vols had to rely on a controversial foul call with just two-tenths of a second left that sent senior Tasha Butts to the foul line to convert the deciding free throws. Butts was the hero again against Stanford two days later, banking a runner with just 1.7 seconds left that sent Tennessee to its 15th Women's Final Four.

In the semifinal against LSU, Tennessee was an even more unlikely victor, since the Lady Vols didn't even have possession with six seconds left in a tie game. But a quick steal led to Davis' game-winning layup with but 1.6 ticks left. The 52-50 win over the Tigers was the lowest-scoring game in Women's Final Four history, under-doing Old Dominion's 57-47 win over Louisiana-Monroe in the 1985 semifinals.

Connecticut, which completed a 31-4 season, enjoyed less heart-stopping endings on the way to its fourth title game in five years. The Huskies' closest call came in the regional final against UC Santa Barbara, 63-55. Connecticut won its semifinal against Minnesota (25-9), which as a No. 7 seed was the lowest-seeded team to advance to the Women's Final Four since No. 9 Arkansas in 1998. Though the Gophers closed to within three points late in the game, Connecticut pulled away for a 67-58 victory.

Regionals

East regional -- Penn St. 55, Notre Dame 49; Connecticut 63, UC Santa Barb. 55; Connecticut 66, Penn St. 49.

Mideast regional -- Minnesota 76, Boston College 63; Duke 63, Louisiana Tech 49; Minnesota 82, Duke 75.

Midwest regional -- Tennessee 71, Baylor 69; Stanford 57, Vanderbilt 55; Tennessee 62, Stanford 60.

West regional -- LSU 71, Texas 55; Georgia 66, Purdue 64; LSU 62, Georgia 60.

Semifinals

Tennessee 52, LSU 50

LSU: Wendlyn Jones 2-4, 4-7, 7, 8; Tillie Willis 2-4, 0-0, 6, 4; Temeka Johnson 3-8, 3-3, 2, 9; Seimone Augustus 7-21, 2-2, 9, 6; Doneeka Hodges 3-9, 1-2, 1, 7; Florence Williams 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Scholanda Hoston 1-2, 1-2, 1, 3; Treynell Clavelle 1-2, 0-2, 3, 2; Crystal White 0-0, 1-2, 1, 1. TOTALS: 19-50, 12-20, 35 (5 team), 50.

Tennessee: LaToya Davis 3-6, 4-4, 5, 10; Shyra Ely 1-11, 2-2, 7, 4; Ashley Robinson 1-3, 0-4, 6, 2; Tasha Butts 4-14, 3-5, 11, 11; Shanna Zolman 4-10, 2-2, 3, 12; Sidney Spencer 2-6, 2-2, 6, 7; Dominique Redding 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Brittany Jackson 1-4, 0-0, 1, 2; Tye'sha Fluker 2-3, 0-0, 2, 4. TOTALS: 18-57, 13-19, 44 (3 team), 52.

Halftime: LSU 25, Tennessee 19. Three-point field goals: LSU 0-3 (Augustus 0-1, Hodges 0-1, Hoston 0-1); Tennessee 3-12 (Zolman 2-5, Spencer 1-1, Butts 0-3, Jackson 0-3). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Sally Bell, Scott Yarbrough, Tina Napier. Attendance: 18,211.

Connecticut 67, Minnesota 58

Minnesota: Shannon Bolden 1-5, 1-2, 1, 4; Kadidja Andersson 2-4, 0-1, 4, 4; Janel McCarville 8-13, 2-2, 7, 18; Shannon Schonrock 3-8, 0-0, 0, 9; Lindsay Whalen 3-11, 5-6, 6, 11; Kelly Roysland 1-1, 0-1, 0, 2; Jamie Broback 4-8, 0-0, 4, 10; Liz Podominick 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 22-50, 8-12, 25 (3 team), 58.

Connecticut: Barbara Turner 3-7, 1-1, 4, 7; Jessica Moore 3-4, 0-0, 8, 6; Diana Taurasi 6-17, 4-5, 6, 18; Maria Conlon 4-7, 0-0, 4, 10; Ann Strother 4-7, 0-0, 4, 9; Ashley Battle 2-4, 4-4, 5, 8; Willnett Crockett 4-8, 1-2, 3, 9. TOTALS: 26-54, 10-12, 36 (2 team), 67.

Halftime: Connecticut 37, Minnesota 29. Three-point field goals: Minnesota 6-17 (Schonrock 3-8, Broback 2-3, Bolden 1-3, Whalen 0-3); Connecticut 5-17 (Conlon 2-5, Taurasi 2-7, Strother 1-3, Battle 0-1, Turner 0-1). Disqualifications: None. Officials: Melissa Barlow, Greg Small, Bill Titus. Attendance: 18,211.

Championship game

Connecticut 69, Tennessee 55

Connecticut: Barbara Turner 4-12, 3-6, 9, 12; Jessica Moore 6-9, 2-2, 9, 14; Diana Taurasi 6-11, 2-4, 3, 17; Maria Conlon 1-4, 4-4, 2, 7; Ann Strother 5-8, 3-3, 2, 14; Ashley Battle 1-4, 0-0, 1, 3; Willnett Crockett 1-3, 1-1, 2, 3. TOTALS: 24-51, 15-20, 31 (3 team), 70.

Tennessee: LaToya Davis 3-8, 0-0, 1, 6; Shyra Ely 4-10, 2-4, 7, 10; Ashley Robinson 6-10, 1-4, 7, 13; Tasha Butts 1-10, 6-6, 6, 8; Shanna Zolman 6-11, 4-4, 9, 19; Sidney Spencer 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Dominique Redding 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Brittany Jackson 1-7, 0-0, 1, 3; Tye'sha Fluker 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 22-61, 13-18, 39 (6 team), 61.

Halftime: Connecticut 30, Tennessee 24. Three-point field goals: Connecticut 7-14 (Taurasi 3-7, Battle 1-1, Turner 1-2, Strother 1-2, Conlon 1-2); Tennessee 4-16 (Zolman 3-6, Jackson 1-4, Butts 0-6). Disqualifications: Davis. Officials: Lisa Mattingly, Denise Kantner, Bryan Enterline. Attendance: 18,211.