LSU LSU/Tennessee Tennessee Women's College Basketball recap on ESPN

Tamika Catchings scored 19 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the No. 2 Vols (13-1) beat No. 11 LSU 89-70 Thursday night in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.

All of Catchings' points counted, but during a 10-4 run the Tigers (9-4) used to cut the lead to six, the officials took away two points from Tennessee.

Kara Lawson made a 3-pointer with 10:03 left, but it was waved off because of a foul. She made both free throws for a 63-53 lead and after LSU's Marie Ferdinand was fouled at the other end, LSU coach Sue Gunter called a referee over to the sidelines.

After a conference with the other officials and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, the referee determined the wrong player took the Vols' free throws and had Lawson's points removed from the scoreboard.

Ashley Robinson then went to the line and missed the front end of the 1-and-1.

Summitt said she'd never seen an official error like that before.

"There was some confusion. I told (Lawson) that was fine, 'you need the practice,' Summitt said. "It was a correctable error since we had not regained possession. I've been coaching a long time, but that's a first."

It didn't really hinder Lawson or the rest of the Volunteers.

"I think at that point in the game, we were up by eight still. You can't do anything about it so you just keep playing, and we knew we had to finish them off," Lawson said.

And the Vols did just that.

DeTrina White's layup with 7:39 left made it 64-58 to conclude the 10-4 run. Then Marie Ferdinand missed two free throws that would have cut the lead to four, and Tennessee's Gwen Jackson made four free throws that restored the Vols' lead to 68-58 with 6:34 left.

Catchings, limited by four fouls in the second half, put the game away with a basket and a three-point play to give Tennessee a 76-62 lead with 4:04 remaining.

"We knew that they were going to make some runs at us and we thought that we would be able to make some runs of our own," Gunter said. "The difference in the game came when we didn't stop the last Tennessee run."

The Vols, returning to Thompson-Boling Arena for the first time since Dec. 15 after four straight road games, have won 27 straight SEC home games and ended the Tigers' winning streak at seven.

Jackson added 15, and Lawson and Robinson each had 10 for Tennessee.

Marie Ferdinand led LSU with 22 points, while April Brown and White each added 18 and Roneeka Hodges 11.

Tennessee used a 10-0 run in the first half to take control of the game and never lost the lead. LSU cut the lead to 19-18 after White's putback with 9:49 left in the first half.

Semeka Randall made a jumper to start the run, and Jackson's basket 2½ minutes later off an assist by Randall gave the Vols a 29-18 lead with 7:08 remaining in the first half. Trailing 43-31 at halftime, LSU trimmed the lead to six with a 7-2 run to start the second half. White's basket with 17:24 remaining cut the lead to 45-39, but Lawson hit a 3 and Michelle Snow had a fallaway jumper to restore the lead to 10 with 16:49 left.

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