NEW YORK – Talaysia Cooper scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half to help Tennessee beat No. 17 Iowa 78-68 on Saturday night in the first Women’s Champions Classic.
Her jumper with 3:04 left in the fourth gave the Lady Vols (7-0) a 68-67 lead and set up a 12-1 run to close the match. Cooper scored four straight in the spurt, including one on a steal on the inbounds with 1:23 left to seal the victory.
Lucy Olsen scored 23 points for Iowa (8-1), which recorded 30 turnovers on the season.
No. 2 UConn defeated 22nd-ranked Louisville 85-52 in the second game of the doubleheader.
It was a matchup between two first-year head coaches at their school. Jan Jensen took over for Lisa Bluder, who retired in the offseason after leading Iowa to back-to-back national championship games. Jensen, who was an assistant at Iowa for the past 24 years, was the first coach in school history to start her career 8-0.
Kim Caldwell came to Tennessee after a successful stint at Marshall and before that at Division II Glenville State. She brought her fast-paced pressing style to Tennessee, as well as her hockey line changes. The Lady Vols are constantly rotating players in and out every minute or two to keep them fresh.
Iowa struggled with the frenetic pace, committing 18 of its turnovers in the first half with the game tied at 35 at halftime.
Neither team could build a big lead in the second half until Cooper provided the game-changing run in the final few minutes.
Chamique Holdsclaw, Diamond DeShields, Rickea Jackson, Andraya Carter and Sue Bird were all in attendance at the Barclays Center, where they sat courtside with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
This was the first meeting between the storied programs since 1993, when Pat Summitt and C. Vivian Stringer coached the schools.
