SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Tennessee coach Pat Summitt thinks losing to Stanford may have been just what the third-ranked Lady Volunteers needed.

Since then, the Lady Vols have put together back-to-back complete-game efforts, beating No. 15 DePaul by 34 on Wednesday and No. 14 Notre Dame, 87-63, yesterday.

"I think our loss to Stanford got our attention," Summitt said. "I think our team had been a team that would come out and play hard and play well in spurts. But in terms of consistency and sense of urgency, I did not think we had played that way until DePaul. I thought DePaul we had 40 minutes of intensity. I thought we had the intensity here today."

Tennessee lost to No. 2 Stanford, 73-69, in overtime Dec. 22, ending a 10-game winning streak,

Angie Bjorklund matched a career high with seven 3-pointers for 21 points and Candace Parker added 20 points to pace the Lady Vols. Bjorklund said the Irish left her wide open because they were double- and triple-teaming Parker.

"I think it helps to have five players out there on the court every time who can score," Bjorklund said.

Still, Bjorklund was surprised how wide open the Irish left her. So was Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw.

"I think if I was that open I'd probably make them, too," she said. "It's a little easier when nobody's around you."

The Lady Vols (12-1) took control from the start, forcing the Irish (12-2) out of their normally pressing defense by making their first four 3-pointers, three of them by Bjorklund. Tennessee used a 22-2 run midway through the first half to open a 30-10 lead and were in control throughout.

"I like to say, 'Pick your poison.' Because if you're going to double me then it's going to leave someone else open and they're perfectly capable of knocking down the shot or getting to the basket," Parker said.

Nicky Anosike added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Vols and Alexis Hornbuckle had 10 points. Charel Allen scored 17 and Devereaux Peters had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Irish, who trailed 41-22 at intermission.

"We played scared," McGraw said. "We looked like we were afraid to get our shot blocked most of the game and never really took the shots we normally take."

No. 4 North Carolina 99, Georgia Tech 78: Rashanda McCants scored 19 points Jessica Breland added 18, and the Tar Heels (14-1) overcame a season-high 32 turnovers to beat the Yellow Jackets (13-2), who got a conference record 11 steals from Jacqua Williams in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both at Chapel Hill, N.C.

No. 6 Rutgers 58, St. John's 50: Epiphanny Prince scored 15 points, Essence Carson added 13 and the Scarlet Knights (11-2) used a 9-0 run for a 45-35 lead midway through the second half in beating the Red Storm (9-5) at Piscataway, N.J., in the Big East opener for both teams.

No. 12 Duke 98, Miami 72: Chante Black and Wanisha Smith each scored 16 points, and Black also added 10 rebounds and four blocks to lead the Blue Devils (12-3) past the Hurricanes (7-9) at Coral Gables, Fla., in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both.

No. 17 West Virginia 79, South Florida 73: Olayinka Sanni scored 23 points and Sparkle Davis had 22, including six during a 15-2 run for a 69-55 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left, leading the Mountaineers (11-2) over the Bulls (10-4) in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.

No. 25 Arkansas 80, Texas Tech 57: Ayana Brereton scored 16 points, and the Lady Razorbacks jumped to a 13-2 lead and never looked back in romping past the Lady Raiders (12-2) at Fayetteville, Ark., to improve to 15-0, the best start in team history.

PACIFIC WEST

GRAND CANYON 85, BYU-HAWAI'I 60: Samantha Murphy scored 21 points, Stacy Haddow had 16, Rosalyn Nelson 15 and Jacque Stevens 11, leading the Antelopes (7-7, 3-0) over the Seasiders (1-9, 1-2) at Phoenix.

Hoku Holdcraft scored 13 points, and Richelle Fenenbock and Amanda Watts each had 12 for BYUH.

DIXIE STATE 95, CHAMINADE 65: Jessica Jones scored 16 points, Sammi Griffiths had 13 and Jessica Carver 12, and the Rebels (6-9, 2-1) raced to a 50-29 halftime lead in routing the Silverswords (0-8, 0-2) at McCabe Gym.

Samantha Saito scored 15 points, Caitlin Prager had 12 and Simrin Cummins 10 to lead Chaminade.