Parker says shoulder will hold up

TAMPA - Candace Parker says her left shoulder "feels great." But she's also glad Tennessee is playing in the second game tonight in the Women's Final Four. That gives her two more hours of rehab.

Tennessee's top player dislocated the shoulder in the Final Four-clinching win last Tuesday over Texas A&M. She has been practically living with Tennessee trainer Jenny Moshak the past five days, although she has been able to practice. And as coach Pat Summitt noted, "One-handed, she's better than a lot of players."

Parker, who will wear a brace, said last week her shoulder was about "80 percent." Yesterday, she wouldn't put a percentage on it, but did say, "I feel confident that I'm going to go tomorrow and just play as hard as I can. So, obviously, it's gone up."

She was framed

Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, who was named the Associated Press Coach of the Year for the fifth time yesterday, said he first laid eyes on prize freshman Maya Moore when he was watching recruit Ketia Swanier, now a senior, in the Georgia state championships. He was impressed, and when he returned to Storrs, he received a letter from Moore's mother with photos and newspaper clips. "It said, 'Coach, just want you to be aware there's a great player down here,' " Auriemma recalled. "Her name is Maya Moore and you might want to keep an eye on her in the next couple of years.' " Auriemma said Moore knows nothing of this. "I have that in my desk, a picture of her in ninth grade, like [grinning], like you get in ninth grade," he said . . . The St. Pete Times Forum is sold out for the Final Four, which means there'll be an attendance record set for a women's college basketball game in Florida. The current mark is 12,222 in 2001, set by the University of Florida. Tonight's games will draw 21,655.