WOMEN'S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP In a season of parity, UConn, Tennessee still standing

Two tradition-rich programs will play again for the national title.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Somehow, an NCAA tournament that seemed so unpredictable at the start has come down to a most familiar finish.
Connecticut and Tennessee, the two heavyweights of women's basketball, will play for the national championship Tuesday night.
If that sounds like a rerun, well, it is. They've met three times before in the title game, including last year, and Connecticut won all three.
Defending champion
The Huskies are back, in search of their third straight title and fourth in five years, and they're making no apologies for being here.
"For the most part, I would think people would like someone else to be in the finals," UConn's Diana Taurasi said. "But as long as I'm wearing the Connecticut jersey, I don't care what people think."
Connecticut returned to the championship game with a 67-58 victory over Minnesota Sunday night, its 17th straight win in NCAA tournament play. To run that streak to 18, the Huskies will have to beat the only program that has won three straight championships.
Tennessee squeezed past LSU 52-50 in the semifinals and will try for its seventh title, but first since 1998. It was the Lady Vols' third straight last-second victory by two points, but they see no reason to apologize, either.
"I guess the way we feel is that we're supposed to be here because we keep finding ways to win," Tennessee's Shyra Ely said.
Ely helped Tennessee (31-3) find a way against LSU. The ball squirted her way when LSU's Temeka Johnson fell as she was bringing it up the floor and Ely alertly fed LaToya Davis for a wide-open layup with 1.6 seconds remaining.
Connecticut (30-4) held off repeated comebacks by Minnesota to send its three seniors -- Taurasi, Maria Conlon and Morgan Valley -- to their third straight title game.
"You're never really used to it," Conlon said. "It's a different place, a different team. Every one is special in its own way. This one is different from last year and the year before."
Reassessment
So what was all this talk about parity? Coaches keep saying there are more good players and more good teams, that anyone can lose. Which is true. Four different teams, including UConn and Tennessee, were ranked No. 1 this season, there were several upsets in the NCAA tournament and LSU and Minnesota both made the Final Four for the first time.
Still, look who's still standing at the end.
"I just think the expectations that are placed on the players by the respective coaching staffs of both of those schools are just different than some of the expectations placed on kids at other schools," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.
"That might be the best way I can explain it. There's an expectation level that exists and there is no choice. You don't congratulate yourself and have a parade for losing in the Sweet 16 or going to the final eight and well, we'll get there next year. Maybe it's that kind of mentality that allows us to play well at this time of year."
Rivalry
The Connecticut-Tennessee rivalry is not especially long, just intense. They first met midway through the 1994-95 season, when UConn won 77-66 and replaced the Lady Vols at No. 1 in the polls. The Huskies beat Tennessee again 21/2 months later to win their first national championship, and they've met every season since.
Connecticut leads the series 12-6 and has won the last five games, including an 81-67 victory in Knoxville on Feb. 5.
"It never gets old," UConn's Jessica Moore said. "UConn. Tennessee. It is women's basketball in a nutshell. We are the two most popular teams in the country and I'm sure it will give ESPN some good ratings."
Like it or not, one of the two will become the national champion -- again.