OKLAHOMA CITY – Even with an injured shoulder, Candace Parker was still able to lift Tennessee into another Final Four.

Parker scored 26 points and returned after dislocating her left shoulder to lead the Lady Vols out of a second-half deficit for a 53-45 win over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final Tuesday night.

She twice left the game in the first half with the injury and she didn’t return until about halfway through the second half.

She scored six of the Lady Vols’ points in an 8-0 run as they overcame a 42-37 deficit, all while wearing a brace to stabilize her left shoulder.

“I was just going to play as hard as I could and not to think about my shoulder and my situation,” Parker said.

Connecticut 66, Rutgers 56

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Connecticut’s Maya Moore struggled to get open all night against Rutgers’ smothering defense. Then, given a rare open look from long range, the fabulous freshman shot the Huskies back into the Final Four.

Moore hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than 3 minutes left to propel top-seeded UConn past the No. 2-seeded Scarlet Knights 66-56 on Tuesday night in the Greensboro Regional championship.

Renee Montgomery and Ketia Swanier each scored 15 points to lead the Huskies (36-1), who rallied from a 14-point deficit to win their 15th straight game and reach their ninth Final Four – but first since winning the 2004 national championship. “I would say maybe it’s our turn,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Also, I think the price some of these kids have paid, the last four years and this year in particular, they were destined and due. They’ve risen to every challenge they’ve faced and I couldn’t be prouder.”

Moore finished with seven points – just her second single-digit performance of the season – but her final basket couldn’t have come at a better time. With the game tied at 49-all, she took a feed at the top of the key and, with two-time Big East defensive player of the year Essence Carson sagging off of her, pulled up and swished a 3 to put UConn ahead to stay.

The Huskies then were perfect on 14 free-throws in the final 2-plus minutes.

to snap their three-year hiatus from the biggest stage in women’s college basketball.

“When you think about, what’s a Final Four mean to me,” Auriemma said. “I don’t care if I never go to another one, but for these kids to get to their first, that’s what coaching is all about.”

Connecticut will face Stanford in the semifinals. The Huskies beat the Cardinal 66-54 in the Paradise Jam tournament in the Virgin Islands in November

Matee Ajavon scored 18 points on 8-of-23 shooting to lead Rutgers (27-7), the defending Greensboro Regional champion which was denied its second consecutive Final Four berth.

Carson finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds but was held scoreless in the second half, and Kia Vaughn added 11 points for the Scarlet Knights, who gave UConn its only loss of the season two months ago before the Huskies beat them by 20 points in the regular-season finale.

This time, two of the Huskies’ highest-profile players struggled on the offensive end for much of the night, but came through when it counted most.

Moore had trouble getting touches while being swarmed by defenders Brittany Ray and Heather Zurich and managed just seven shots, making three.

Montgomery, who scored at least 20 points in each of the teams’ two previous meetings, was just 4-of-14 from the field and made only one of her nine attempts from behind the arc. But twice in the second half she knocked down tying jumpers, including one with 71/2 minutes left that highlighted the 15-5 run that gave UConn its first lead.

Kaili McLaren, whose layup less than a minute later put the Huskies ahead for the first time, finished with 10 points, and Tina Charles added 12 rebounds.

Rutgers raced out to a huge, early lead when Epiphanny Prince’s free throws with about 8 minutes left capped the 17-5 run that made it 25-11, but the Scarlet Knights largely did it with their trademark tough defense: They held the Huskies to two baskets during an 8-minute stretch, and during that span they forced UConn into 2-of-9 shooting and generated six turnovers with their half-court trap.

Eventually, UConn made it a game again by erasing that deficit with a 19-5 run that bridged halftime. The Huskies outscored Rutgers 12-3 during the final 41/2 minutes of the half to pull to 32-27 at the break – their season-low for scoring in a first half.

Montgomery’s first tying jumper came with 181/2 minutes left, producing the first tie since it was scoreless.

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