You've gotta believe that, after 3 games in 5 days and travelling some 1,200 land miles, the US National team must be feeling a little Suzanne Pleshette-ish (you young'uns who don't know what I'm talking about, check here).

Sunday afternoon found them facing the Tennessee Vols led, of course, by Candace Parker (22pts, mostly in the second half). But it was the freshmen (again) who made themselves known early on: Sydney Smallbone seemed unintimidated, and forward Angie Bjorklund dropped in 13 points

Not unlike the game up in Connecticut, the Lady Vols cut a 12-point deficit to only three points, 73-70, with four minutes left before a 10-2 USA team run put the game away, winning 83-72.

Leslie dominated the paint. scoring 18 points and pulling down 12 boards in 29 minutes. It should come as no surprise that Taurasi led all scorers in the contest with 28 points, notching rebounds, four assists and two steals.

"Taurasi just loves me," joked Coach Summitt with the radio announcers post-game. "And she feels the need to show me how much every time she plays here." Her bemusement at Taurasi's success at TBA -- recently renovated -- was echoed by the announcers during the game. "She always scores 30 here," said one. "We could do 20 million dollars of renovations and she'd STILL score 30."

Additional quotes and photos.

Next up? Baylor (a mere 938 miles way) on Tuesday. At least it's a night game (7pm).

Looks like there will be radio (92.2 FM - KLRK) and the Bears' site says there'll be a webcast (ww.BaylorBears.com) but my browser crashed when I tried to access it (and yes, I did add an extra w).