Associated Press

Virginia's Ariana Moorer (15) fights for a loose ball against Tennessee's Kamiko Williams on Sunday in Charlottesville.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Momentum was lingering at the Virginia sideline, thumb out, hoping to hitch a ride but the Cavaliers missed the signal.

Less than two minutes into the second half of Sunday's game against the No. 6 Tennessee women's basketball team, the Cavaliers had hacked a dougledigit Vols' lead down to just three points. But they let up. Virginia gave up back-to-back barely contested 3-pointers and the comeback drive was over. Monica Wright led the Cavaliers with 21 points, but Angie Bjorklund had 24 for the Vols as Tennessee beat No. 12 Virginia 77-63 in front of the largest home women's basketball crowd in school history.

"Unfortunately we didn't recognize that pressure point in the game, and that was a huge pressure point," said Virginia coach Debbie Ryan.

"We did not recognize that we needed to get a stop and score consecutively," said Wright, who is a senior captain. "That's leadership. I take responsibility for that."

The curtains that usually cover the upper sections of John Paul Jones arena during women's games were pulled up and the school reported a crowd of 11,985. The previous mark was set on Feb. 5, 1986 with a standing-room-only crowd of 11,174 at University Hall. Both games featured free hot dog give-aways.

Ryan said the Vols had clearly come a long way from the freshman-laden team Virginia beat 83-82 last fall in Knoxville behind 35 points from Wright.

"They are bigger, faster, stronger," Ryan said.

"Last year they were skinny little, raggedy little freshmen," she added with a laugh. "They probably couldn't even follow some of the plays that Coach [Pat] Summitt drew on the board. I know they couldn't, cause I saw what they did."

Ryan said her youthful team is a "mirror image" of that now. She recounted seeing her freshmen forwards line up in the wrong positions, switch sides and then switch back on Sunday.

"Why would you do that?" Ryan said shaking her head. "It's like watching a roller-coaster ride."

Freshman center Simone Egwu, who has started in the Cavs' first four games, said it was "pretty unnerving at first to be a first year and to get so much playing time."

What's helped, Egwu said, was that "my teammates understand that I'm going to make freshman mistakes."

Ryan said she expects her freshmen to be a lot better by tournament time.

Egwu had 10 points and six rebounds, even going up against Tennessee's 6-foot-6 center Kelley Cain.

"We all were aware of her because she's so big," Egwu said. "It was better once we figured out how to get around her."

That took a while. Cain had six points and six rebounds, but she also had six blocks and her presence and the zone defense made the Cavaliers shy away from the lane.

"Unfortunately we were settling for long-range jumpers," Ryan said.

And they weren't hitting them. Virginia hit just 33.8 percent of its shots, and just 28.9 percent in the second half.

Wright, who had four rebounds, six assists and five steals, hit eight of 21 shots. She went 3-for-11 in the second half.

Forward Glory Johnson (14 points, 6 rebounds) said the Vols focused their defense on Wright after watching her score 35 points on them last year.

"We were making sure she never did that again," Johnson said.

But Bjorklund, scanning the stat sheet, jumped in: "She still had 21."

Johnson conceded the point. "She was creating her own shots all night, I mean her teammates set a couple screens for her, but she was doing a lot on her own. ... We're a lot happier with 21."

Shekinna Stricklen had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists for Tennessee (3-0).

Sophomore guard Arianna Moorer came off the bench to score 12 points and grab five rebounds for Virginia (3-1).

The Cavs fell behind by as many as 13 in the first half, and were down 40-33 at halftime.

Tennessee hit the first bucket of the second half, then Wright led a 6-0 run with an offensive rebound, a layup, a steal and an assist as the Cavs cut the lead to three points on a layup by Chelsea Shine.

But the Vols found Bjorklund wide open for a 3-pointer on the very next possession. Wright lurched at her at the last minute and was called for a reach-in foul. Bjorklund added the free throw.

Taber Spani added another 3 on the next possession and Tennessee was in control.

TENNESSEE (3-0)

Johnson 5-7 4-7 14, Cain 2-5 2-4 6, Bjorklund 9-17 1-1 24, Spani 3-5 1-2 8, Stricklen 6-16 7-7 20, Bass 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 0-1 0-0 0, Manning 2-5 0-0 5, Smallbone 0-0 0-0 0, Brewer 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 15-21 77.

VIRGINIA (3-1)

Shine 1-7 1-2 3, Egwu 5-7 0-1 10, Crosby 0-4 0-0 0, W.Edwards 2-6 0-0 5, Wright 8-21 1-2 21, Kellum 2-5 3-6 8, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Moorer 4-17 3-5 12, McCall 1-2 0-0 2, Hartig 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-71 8-16 63.

Halftime--Tennessee 40-33. 3-Point Goals--Tennessee 8-20 (Bjorklund 5-10, Manning 1-2, Spani 1-2, Stricklen 1-4, Williams 0-1, Bass 0-1), Virginia 7-23 (Wright 4-9, Kellum 1-3, W.Edwards 1-4, Moorer 1-5, Crosby 0-2). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Tennessee 46 (Stricklen 8), Virginia 42 (W.Edwards, Egwu, Shine 6). Assists--Tennessee 13 (Stricklen 6), Virginia 13 (Wright 6). Total Fouls--Tennessee 14, Virginia 20. A--11,895.