NORFOLK, Va. — Candace Parker is a redshirt freshman for Tennessee who can play every position and distribute the ball as easily as she scores. Oh yeah, she dunks, too.

The 6-foot-4 Parker became the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game yesterday, jamming one-handed on a breakaway just 6:12 into the second-seeded Lady Vols' 102-54 victory against an Army team that was making its NCAA tournament debut.

Then, for good measure, Parker ensured her place in basketball lore by becoming the first to do it twice in a college game with another one-hander on the baseline.

She finished with 26 points in 26 minutes, and added five rebounds, a career-high seven assists, four blocks, two steals in the Cleveland Regional game — and the feeling of an obstacle cleared.

"It's a relief to finally do it and get it over with and be done with it," said Parker, who's been peppered with questions from fans and even her teammates about when she would finally throw one down in a game.

Parker, who first dunked when she was a 15-year-old high school sophomore, gave fans a possible preview in warmups, dunking several times. Then she made tournament history.

The first came when she took an outlet pass from Sidney Spencer, causing the large contingent of Lady Vols fans to begin thinking it was time.

"I was buzzing," guard Shanna Zolman said, "and I was on the bench."

Parker beat Army's Margaree King down the center of the floor, elevated and dunked with her right hand, causing fans at the Constant Convocation Center to go wild.

It was the second college dunk attempt for Parker, who missed against Auburn on Feb. 23. She became the fourth woman in college history to dunk in a game, joining Georgeann Wells of West Virginia (twice in 1984), Charlotte Smith of North Carolina (1994) and Michelle Snow of Tennessee, who did it in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

A little over eight minutes later, the Lady Vols (29-4) held a 37-17 lead thanks to a 24-4 run and the only suspense left was whether Parker would try to do it again.

She did, with 14:18 left, working a give-and-go with Nicky Anosike from the right corner, and taking a return pass with a clear path down the baseline. This time, it happened so fast that the crowd didn't even have a chance to anticipate the moment.

Tennessee will play George Washington tomorrow night.

Army coach Maggie Dixon is the younger sister of Pittsburgh men's coach Jamie Dixon. They are believed to be the first brother and sister to coach in the Division I tournament in the same year. Jamie Dixon is a former University of Hawai'i assistant.

ARMY FELL TO (20-11)

George Washington 87, Old Dominion 72: Sarah-Jo Lawrence scored 20 points and the seventh-seeded Colonials (23-8) held off a desperate rally by the Lady Monarchs at Norfolk, Va.

The loss was the fifth in a row in the tournament for Old Dominion (21-9). Shahida Williams led Old Dominion with 19 points.

Purdue 73, Missouri St. 52: Aya Traore had 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds and Erin Lawless scored a season-best 19 points for fourth-seeded Purdue (25-6) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Missouri State guard Kari Koch entered the game averaging 20.5 points, but was held to 11 on 5-for-17 shooting. Sarah Klaassen added 10 points for the Lady Bears (17-5).

UCLA 74, Bowling Green 61: Lisa Willis had 23 points, 12 rebounds and five 3-pointers, and Noelle Quinn had 21 points and seven rebounds as fifth-seeded UCLA (21-10) beat Bowling Green (28-3) at West Lafayette, Ind.

The Bruins ended their postseason misery with their first NCAA win since beating Colorado State in the 1999 regional semifinals.

Rutgers 63, Dartmouth 58: Cappie Pondexter scored 21 points, Matee Ajavon added 19 and third-seeded Rutgers (26-4) beat Dartmouth (23-7) at Trenton, N.J.

Rutgers scored the first 13 points of the game, then had to beat back a second-half rally by the Big Green.

TCU 69, Texas A&M 65: Ashley Davis had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and 11th-seeded TCU (19-11) beat sixth-seeded Texas A&M (24-8) at Trenton, N.J.

TCU reached the second round for the fifth time in six years.

BRIDGEPORT REGIONAL

Connecticut 77, Coppin St. 54: Barbara Turner had 23 points and Ann Strother added 11 for second-seeded Connecticut (30-4) at State College, Pa.

The Huskies snapped Coppin State's 21-game winning streak, which had been the second longest in the nation. Coppin State finished the season 22-9.

Virginia Tech 82, Missouri 51: Dawn Chriss had 21 points, and fellow senior Carrie Mason scored key second-half baskets as seventh-seeded Virginia Tech (21-9) beat Missouri (21-10) at State College, Pa.

Another senior, Kerri Gardin, had 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Duke 96, Southern 27: Monique Currie scored 19 points to lead top-seeded Duke (27-3) over Southern at Norfolk, Va.

Southern (20-11) set a tournament record for futility with its point total, breaking the mark of 29 set by LIU against Connecticut in 2001.

The Jaguars had 28 rebounds and shot 18.3 percent. They also finished with 26 turnovers, almost matching their point total.

Southern Cal 67, South Florida 65: Chloe Kerr blocked a shot by South Florida's Jessica Dickson with 16 seconds to play, and Camille LeNoir made two free throws in the last 12 seconds as eighth-seeded Southern California (19-11) beat South Florida (19-12) at Norfolk, Va.

Eshaya Murphy had 21 points, LeNoir added 17 and Kerr had 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks for Southern Cal.

Hartford 64, Temple 58: Danielle Hood scored 20 points as 11th-seeded Hartford (27-3) upset Temple (24-8) at Trenton, N.J., for its first NCAA tournament victory.

Ikea Witt added 17 points for the Hawks, including two free throws with 11 seconds left to help seal the victory.Georgia 75, Marist 60: Tasha Humphrey scored 23 points and Sherill Baker added 23 points and nine steals to lead third-seeded Georgia (22-8) over Marist (23-7).

Alexis Kendrick had 11 points to help Georgia advance to the second round for the 11th time in 12 years.

Fifi Camara had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Marist.

ALBUQUERQUE REGIONAL

St. John's 78, California 68: Kia Wright had 26 points and Angela Clark had 14 points and seven rebounds to help seventh-seeded St. John's (22-7) beat California (18-12) at State College, Pa., in its first NCAA tournament game in 18 years.

Greeba Barlow added 21 points for St. John's.

Maryland 95, Sacred Heart 54: Jade Perry had 20 points and 10 rebounds and second-seeded Maryland (29-4) routed Sacred Hearts (26-5) at State College, Pa.

Laura Harper added 16 points and 13 boards for the Terps.

Ohio State 68, Oakland 45: Jessica Davenport, the Big Ten Conference's player of the year, had a double-double in the first half and finished with 19 points and 18 rebounds as top-seeded Ohio State (29-2) beat Oakland (15-16) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Debbie Merrill added 23 points for the Buckeyes.

Merrill and Davenport combined to hit 20 of 29 from the field while the rest of the Buckeyes were 12 of 40.

Boston College 78, Notre Dame 61: Brooke Queenan had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Aja Parham scored 16 points to help Boston College (20-11) beat Notre Dame (18-12) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Playing for the first time in 17 days, the eighth-seeded Eagles outrebounded the Irish 42-31, outscored them 29-10 from the line and held the former Big East rival to 34-percent shooting.