NEW ORLEANS – In the end, Tennessee always seems to find a way.

LaToya Davis scored with 1.6 seconds left after LSU’s Temeka Johnson lost the ball in the backcourt, giving Tennessee a 52-50 victory over the Lady Tigers in the national semifinals on Sunday night.

Nothing has come easy for the Lady Vols this season, but remarkable balance and resiliency have put them in their 11th national title game.

It was the third-straight two-point, last-second victory for the Lady Vols, who had only three players score in double figures.

With the score tied 50-50, once again Tennessee put the ball in the hands of Tasha Butts, who had scored the winning points in the Lady Vols’ last two narrow wins.

She missed this time, giving LSU the ball with 6 seconds left. But Tennessee trapped Johnson in the backcourt, forcing the turnover. The ball squirted out and Shyra Ely came up with it and quickly fed Davis underneath for an uncontested layup.

UConn 67, Minnesota 58

NEW ORLEANS – With one final swat, Diana Taurasi secured Connecticut’s place in another national championship game.

Connecticut fought off repeated comebacks by a gutsy Minnesota team and stayed on track to win a third straight NCAA title with a 67-58 victory in the semifinals Sunday night.

Taurasi scored 18 points, made the pass that led to one of the game’s biggest basket and then crushed Minnesota’s final hopes by flicking away Shannon Schonrock’s 3-point shot near the end.

The Connecticut victory keeps alive the possibility of the first championship double for a school.

UConn will play Georgia Tech for the men’s title Monday night.

And look who’s waiting for the women in Tuesday night’s championship game – none other than Tennessee, winner of six national titles and UConn’s main rival for supremacy in women’s basketball.

Tennessee advanced to its 11th NCAA championship game with a 52-50 victory over LSU in the other semifinal. It will be the second straight year and fourth time since 1995 the two powers have played for the title.

Connecticut won the three previous times, including a 73-68 victory last year in Atlanta.

Tennessee is the only school with three straight national championships, winning from 1996-98.

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