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Angie Bjorklund is making a habit of gathering SEC honors.

The Tennessee women's basketball forward received her third SEC freshman-of-the-week honor after averaging 14.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.5 three-pointers in the Lady Vols' games at DePaul and Notre Dame. No other conference rookie has been named the league's freshman of the week more than once this season.

Bjorklund shot 75 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. She hit a seven-of-nine attempts against Notre Dame, matching the school single-game record for treys for the second time this season.

The significance of Bjorklund's latest honor was that it was earned on the road. Prior to last week, Bjorklund had averaged 5.7 points per game in four games away from home and shot 3 for 15 on 3-pointers. In a Dec. 22 game at Stanford, she scored zero points and shot 0-for-5 from the floor.

"I think she's growing with each road game,'' UT coach Pat Summitt said.

Bjorklund also is preparing better for these games, making a point of taking more shots beforehand.

"Just getting shots in before the game, getting mentally prepared, I think that helped me a lot,'' Bjorklund said. "I think the more we play on the road and the more I play on the road, hopefully it will go up from there."

In 13 games this season, Bjorklund is averaging 10.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and shooting 46.3 percent on 3-pointers (31-for-67).

With Tennessee opening conference play against No. 22 Auburn at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday, Summitt expects Bjorklund to draw more defensive attention.

"She's just got to be more strategic in how she uses screens,'' Summitt said.

Rankings: Tennessee moved up to No. 2 in the Associated Press women's basketball poll after impressive victories over DePaul and Notre Dame.

Connecticut, which also had some impressive victories, stayed at No. 1, but the Lady Vols moved past No. 2 Stanford. The Cardinal, which handed UT its only loss this season, fell to UCLA and Southern Cal.

Connecticut routed three teams - Army, Hartford and Purdue - by nearly 50 points each.

Stanford's losses got the Lady Vols' attention. The Cardinal upset UT 73-69 in overtime.

"Teams have to understand how to handle success and failure,'' Summitt said. "I've always been straightforward on how to handle both."

Dan Fleser covers women's basketball. He can be reached at 865-342-6288.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.