Tennessee and North Carolina made a women's basketball date in early December look and feel a lot like April.

The Lady Vols didn't cut down any nets after their 83-79 victory Sunday night before a crowd of 16,845 at Thompson-Boling Arena. Instead, they exhaled a sigh of relief after surviving a struggle that lasted down to the final five seconds.

"I'm really pleased with our toughness down the stretch,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said.

Lady Vols guard Alexis Hornbuckle covered for teammate Candace Parker's sluggish start and finished with a game-high 25 points. She swished two late free throws and then sealed the victory with a breakaway layup behind Carolina's press with two seconds left.

Hornbuckle's clincher came after North Carolina freshman Rebecca Gray, who came into the game 14-for-14 from the free-throw line, missed the second of three attempts with 5.5 seconds left and the Tar Heels trailing 81-79.

Parker finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds. Fifteen of her points came in the second half.

Point guard Shannon Bobbitt was UT's other double-figure scorer with 10 points.

Top-ranked Tennessee (6-0) built double-figure leads in both halves.

The Lady Vols made six of their first seven shots to start the second half.

They had their biggest lead - 74-61 - with just 6:28 left.

Yet No. 4 North Carolina (9-1) stalked them to the end, buoyed by 22 points from Erlana Larkins and 19 from Rashanda McCants. A whopping 57-39 rebounding advantage was led by Larkins' 15 rebounds.

"They did a great job of getting the ball inside and working the glass,'' Summitt said. "We couldn't move them inside."

Tar Heels reserve Jessica Breland added 14 points and LaToya Pringle had 10.

"I hope you were impressed with my team tonight,'' North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell told an assembly of media and fans afterward, "because I was. … We fought back. We fought hard. We were in position to win the game."

With a 60-32 edge in points from close-range, Hatchell couldn't figure out how the Lady Vols attempted 11 more free throws (26-15), which afforded them a 20-8 edge in free-throw scoring.

North Carolina freshman point guard Cetera DeGraffenreid, who had seven turnovers and zero assists, fouled out with 6:28 left and took a slow walk to her team's bench. McCants fouled with 13.8 seconds left and Carolina trailing 79-78.

"The foul line was the difference,'' Hatchell said. "The numbers don't lie. You can look at this and read it."

Tennessee's top-scoring trio reflected the hard-fought nature of the game.

Parker struggled to get off a shot, let alone make a basket, against the Tar Heels defense in the first half. A combination of defenders shut down Parker's workshop around the basket. She had just six points and six shots before the break. Tennessee's All-American went nearly 12 minutes without so much as a single shot attempt.

"I think in the first half I was disappointed in myself,'' Parker said. "My energy wasn't where it needed to be."

Bobbitt's mismanagement of the shot clock played a part in UT's sputtering finish as Carolina gathered three consecutive turnovers and nearly wiped out a seven-point deficit inside the final two minutes.

Bobbitt was caught unaware by the ticking clock, but she knows what to expect in the coming practice sessions.

"We're going to have the shot clock down to 15 seconds and I'm going to be aware of it,'' Bobbitt said.

Finally, for all of Hornbuckle's heroics, she committed the foul on Gray that sent the Tar Heels sharpshooter to the foul line with a chance to tie the score.

"Not again,'' thought Hornbuckle, recalling a similar situation in a game against Connecticut her freshman season.

"I am so intense. I feel like I have to contest every shot,'' she said. "I should have let it go. I would've been heart-broken if that would've been the reason we lost."

Hornbuckle's heart was fine. The outcome was safe - but not without considerable effort.

Hatchell already was turning the pages of a calendar in her mind, thinking about a possible rematch.

"Hopefully, we'll get to see Tennessee again,'' Hatchell said, "which would probably be in the Final Four."

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.