ST. LOUIS — If quick, relentless and explosive Connecticut has a match, it can only be one of the school’s five previous NCAA women’s champions.
Patient and diligent Stanford, the last team to beat the Huskies in the 2008 semifinal, was avenged remarkably easily last night, UConn rolling to a 83-64 victory and a matchup tomorrow night with Louisville, a Big East rival UConn already has handled by 28 and 39 points this season.
No NCAA team, men or women, ever has gone undefeated and won every game by 10 or more points, but this now seems a lock for a team locked in on the school’s’ first national title since 2004 and first perfect record since 2002.
“They are on a mission,” said Stanford Coach Tara Vanderveer. “They don’t make a lot of mistake, they don’t take bad shots. And they play with a purpose.”
Ball bearings don’t roll off a plate any easier than Geno Auriemma’s team put this away. The Huskies worked inside and outside, forced 15 turnovers, 10 in the first half when the game effectively concluded with UConn’s 24-10 run from a 14-13 deficit.
“I can’t say enough about the defensive effort these kids put forth tonight,” said Auriemma. “I was nervous about how we were going to be able to guard Jayne Appel and Stanford in general.”
Appel, the Cardinal pivot who had 46 points in a regional final win against Iowa State, had to put up 19 shots to get 26 points, and the inside-outside game that wrecked UConn a year ago never materialized until Connecticut had a 31-point lead.
“That was part of the game plan, guard the perimeter,” said Maya Moore, the player of the year in women’s basketball who, with 24 points, didn’t have to be last night, so complete was her teammates’ efforts. “Jayne is going to score; we try to make it tough on her but if other people get involved it gives them momentum.”
Stanford (33-5) had none from the start because UConn senior point guard Renee Montgomery, who had 26 points, six assists and four steals, didn’t allow it, enabling teammates who apparently don’t realize how much pressure they are under to play loose as underdogs.
“A performance like tonight’s is what I have come to expect from Renee in any big game,” said Auriemma. “I can’t remember a drill all year she didn’t treat like it was for the national championship.
“Everything was at that level every day.”
What this UConn team lacks in depth compared to some others, it makes up for in depth of maturity. The Huskies weren’t so happy about beating Stanford as in showing themselves how far they have come.
“It just feels good to make progress,” said Moore. And Montgomery measured that in her freshman and sophomore seasons her team failed to reach the Final Four, too.
“Stanford was the freshest loss of all the losses I’ve had in my career that got me to where I am today,” she said.
Which is one game short of her first-time title, leading a team that is all time.