PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Pat Summitt has been in all sorts of crazy games in her Hall of Fame career. She couldn't remember one quite like this.

Her No. 8 Lady Volunteers, led by Shekinna Stricklen's 16 points and 11 rebounds, pulled off the biggest comeback in school history by rallying from a 20-point halftime deficit to stun No. 15 Rutgers, 55-51, yesterday.

"Never in my 35 years of coaching have I seen a game like that," said Summitt, who earned her 994th career win. "I've been in a lot of games, I've been behind a lot in my career, this one stands out as one of the most special."

The only game that came close to this was when the Lady Vols rallied from a 17-point second-half deficit to stun Virginia in the regional finals of the 1996 NCAA tournament.

Trailing 33-13 at the half yesterday, Summitt ripped into her inexperienced team telling them it would be a long plane ride home for the Lady Vols if they didn't start playing with some "Tennessee pride."

The Lady Vols, who had never trailed by 20 points at halftime before, responded, with the first 11 points of the second half.

"We came in and regrouped at halftime," said Angie Bjorklund, who scored all of her 12 points in the second half. "I give a lot of credit to Rutgers. They did a great job defending us and we didn't know how to handle it."

Trailing 49-40 with 6:40 left, Tennessee (11-2) went on a 13-0 run. Bjorkland's jumper with 1:30 left gave the Lady Vols their first lead of the game at 51-49. Epiphanny Prince missed a floater on the other end and Stricklen hit two free throws with 39.8 seconds left.

Prince made a tough jumper in the lane to cut it to two with 21.8 seconds left. She then forced a jump ball, giving Rutgers a chance to tie the game, but Kia Vaughn missed underneath and Bjorklund sealed the game from the free throw line.

"When you let people like that believe that they can win you're in trouble," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said. "They didn't have a hesitation about playing. We're afraid to lose. You don't understand the great benefit of playing to win. You have to risk failure for success. There's no such thing as a moral victory."

NO. 1 CONNECTICUT 76, LSU 63

Renee Montgomery scored 21 points to lead four teammates in double figures as the Huskies (13-0) beat the Lady Tigers (6-5) at Storrs, Conn., in a matchup of teams that made the Final Four last season.

NO. 3 TEXAS A&M 78, GEORGE WASHINGTON 59

Danielle Gant had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Tanisha Smith added 16, including two 3-pointers to start a game-opening 14-3 run, as the Aggies (12-0) routed the Colonials (7-6) at College Station, Texas.

NO. 4 TEXAS 82, LAMAR 45

Brittainey Raven scored 17 points, and Erika Arriaran added 13 points, including three consecutive 3-pointers to open a 65-36 lead with 9:21 left, as the Longhorns (12-1) cruised past the Lady Cardinals (8-4) at Austin, Texas.

NO. 7 BAYLOR 95, TEXAS STATE 55

Danielle Wilson had 26 points, seven rebounds and four blocks as the host Lady Bears (12-1) cruised past the Bobcats (6-6) at Waco, Texas.

NO. 9 AUBURN 79, STEPHEN F. AUSTIN 56

Sherell Hobbs scored 19 points and the Tigers (15-0) rolled past the Ladyjacks (5-7) at Auburn, Ala. for their best start since winning their first 29 in the 1988-89 season.

NO. 10 LOUISVILLE 78, DEPAUL 60

Angel McCoughtry scored 25 points, Candyce Bingham had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and the Cardinals (14-1) won their ninth straight, beating the Blue Demons (12-3) at Louisville, Ky., in the Big East opener for both teams.

NO. 12 NOTRE DAME 66, SETON HALL 60

Ashley Barlow scored 14 points, including a jumper with 90 seconds left for a 60-56 lead, then hit two free throws with 20 seconds for a 64-59 lead as the Fighting Irish (12-1) held off the Pirates (11-2) at South Orange, N.J., in the Big East opener for both.

NO. 14 MARYLAND 83, RICHMOND 65

Kristi Toliver had 21 points and the Terps (12-2), trailing 58-54 with 12:40 left, went on a 20-2 run in beating the Spiders (11-2), who went 1 for 16 from the field in the final 12 minutes at Richmond, Va.

NO. 18 FLORIDA 74, OHIO 56

Jennifer Mossor scored 19 points and the Gators (14-1) broke open a tight game with a 9-0 spurt in the second half to beat the Bobcats (4-8) at Athens, Ohio.

IOWA STATE 55, NO. 20 VANDERBILT 51

Alison Lacey scored 20 points, Heather Ezell added 18 and the Cyclones (11-2) fell behind 12-6, but rallied for a 25-17 halftime lead. The Commodores (11-4) got no closer than three thereafter at Ames, Iowa.

DIVISION II

DIXIE STATE 95, CHAMINADE 36

BreAnne Haslam and Deney Phommabout each scored 15 points, and the Rebels (7-5) opened the game with a 21-2 run to rout the Silverswords in a Pacific West Conference opener at St. George, Utah. Jasmine Dulan led Chaminade (0-9) with eight points.

HAWAI'I-HILO 73, HAWAI'I PACIFIC 63

Hina Kimitete scored 23 points as the Vulcans (4-3, 1-1) beat the Sea Warriors (4-8, 1-1) in a non-conference game at Hilo. Mana Hopkins had 13 points and 10 rebounds for HPU.