PHILADELPHIA, April 2 – Tennessee starting guard Kristen Clement did not play tonight in the national championship game against Connecticut after spraining her right ankle during practice this morning.

Clement, a junior who starts at shooting guard, had started all 36 games for Tennessee this season, averaging 5.6 points and 3.5 assists per game. X-rays were negative.

Clement tested the ankle before the game after entering First Union Center on crutches. As her teammates warmed up, she limped to the bench and sat with former Tennessee star and current Washington Mystic Chamique Holdsclaw, who was in town with the U.S. Olympic team.

Clement was the last player to come out on the court when the Lady Vols took the floor for warmups. Clement sat on the bench as the team went through layup drills but went to the center circle with the other Tennessee captains to meet with the officials prior to the game.

Raised in nearby Broomall, Pa., Clement had been a fan favorite of the Philadelphia crowd.

Staying on Top
All but one of Connecticut's regular season games were televised and the Huskies appeared on national telecasts seven times. Tennessee was on television 21 times, including five national appearances.

The recruiting advantage of appearing on television so much is obvious. Good players want to go where they can be seen and where they can win. Connecticut and Tennessee offer both.

"It's a double-edged sword, isn't it?" U-Conn. Coach Geno Auriemma said. "More teams need to get on TV so they can recruit better players. But more teams need to get better players so they can get on TV. How do you do that? That's the tough part."

Auriemma thinks the talent pool in women's basketball, though growing, remains too small when compared with the men's game, which still has its traditional powers but sees far more upsets.

More work at the youth level is needed, he said.

"It's getting there," Auriemma said. "There's more kids playing. And maybe after watching our game [with Tennessee], more kids will play. It's just a natural evolution.

"I think it's going to take awhile. We're not there yet. But if you saw where we were in my first Final Four in 1991, trust me, we're in another galaxy now."

But in a galaxy that still has only two major stars, with others shining only from time to time. Louisiana Tech Coach Leon Barmore said schools need to put more into marketing their programs, and TV networks must do a better job seeking out teams.

"You can go to Iowa State and there's 10,000 or 12,000 there, and if they're playing Texas Tech, that's a good TV game. That should be on," he said. "I could go on and on.

"Yes, they need to expand it. Yes, they need to search out those games that have the interest. Absolutely, because it's just not fair some of these teams are sitting out there and getting on national television all the time."

International Schedule
Both Connecticut and Tennessee got an early start to the season with trips abroad this past summer to play some of Europe's top club teams. The Lady Vols' travels took them to Belgium, Switzerland and France. The Huskies went to France, Belgium and Italy. Tennessee finished 5-0. Connecticut ended up 3-2. . . .

Every Lady Vols player since 1976 has played in at least one Final Four during her career.

Big Numbers
The Final Four drew more reporters – 669 – than any previous women's Final Four. The crowd of 20,060 at Friday's semifinal games was the second-best for a national semifinal and was the largest crowd to ever witness a college basketball, men's or women's in Pennsylvania. Tonight's attendance was also 20,060.

Fan Injured
A woman fell out of the stands and landed in a runway about eight feet below during halftime.

The woman, who was not identified, fell over a railing and into the hallway leading to the U-Conn. locker room. She was fitted with a neck brace and taken away on a stretcher.

No railing gave way. One usher said that the woman appeared to have been trying to get to her seat when she fell.

– The Associated Press contributed to this report.

© Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company
 

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