The 91-24 blowout loss left a lasting impression on Seton Hall head coach Phyllis Mangina.

Watching the Connecticut women’s basketball team waltz into South Orange, N.J., and dismantle her Pirates by 67 points in early January, she realized what it would have to take to defeat arguably the best collegiate women’s basketball team of all time.

‘For a team to go in night in and night out knowing they have a target on their back, they’re playing at an extraordinary level,’ Mangina said. ‘How they defend, how they run the floor, it’s so detailed. They do it at a level of excellence we haven’t seen in a long time.’

With a 66-game winning streak, UConn (27-0, 13-0 Big East) is just five wins away from breaking its own record for most consecutive victories in women’s college basketball history. Throughout the year, the team has been unstoppable. During the win streak, Connecticut beat all 66 of its opponents by double digits – the smallest margin of victory this year was 12 points against the No. 2 team in the country, Stanford.

UConn won at No. 14 Texas by 25 points, at No. 9 Florida State by 19 and against No. 7 Notre Dame by 24.

The Huskies will be at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday night, trying to extend their already-historic win streak. Standing in their way will be Syracuse (19-7, 6-7 Big East). The Orange was throttled by UConn by 53 points last year in Hartford, Conn.

‘Opponents are just different names on different jerseys to us,’ UConn senior guard Kalana Greene said. ‘We try not to focus on what they’re going to do but on what we have to do.’

In the midst of a historic winning streak, the UConn women have been described with many adjectives.

Remarkable. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Invincible.

And Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Quentin Hillsman sees one reason why the Huskies have been able to garner such accolades.

Actually, he sees 11 reasons.

‘Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Tiffany Hayes, Caroline Doty …’ Hillsman said referring to Connecticut’s starters. ‘If I had the roster in front of me, I’d just read it to you.’

So the ultimate question becomes: Can Connecticut be stopped? And, if so, how? Mangina acknowledged that to beat UConn on any given night, an opposing team would have to bring its A+ game and maintain that effort for every second of the entire game.

That would mean stopping reigning national player of the year Maya Moore, a task few, if any, teams have been able to accomplish this season. Moore is second on the team in points per game with 18.1, just a fraction behind teammate Tina Charles, who averages 18.2.

Four of UConn’s starters average double digits in points, three shoot at least 50 percent from the field and two shoot more than 40 percent on three-point attempts.

The sheer magnitude of UConn’s starting five is what has baffled so many teams throughout this win streak. Even if opposing teams shut down one or even two starters, the rest are there to pick up the slack.

And that’s before the Huskies go to the bench.

UConn’s athleticism and strength has also been a major contributing factor to its success. Even though the team can shoot the ball from the outside, the low post presence of the Huskies in Charles and Moore makes it nearly impossible to cover all areas of the court against Connecticut.

But with such strength, Mangina pointed out that most of the pressure to win is squarely on the Huskies’ shoulders. The key element for their opponents, she said, is to eliminate the fear factor that comes with such a staggering lineup.

‘I don’t think it’s an impossibility,’ Mangina said. ‘But the second you give that team an inch, they’re going to take a mile. They’re going to score anyway. Just don’t give them easy ones.’

When the Huskies battled No. 2 Stanford, in December, the Cardinal led 44-42 early in the second half. But without warning, UConn blew a game – once in contention – wide open, responding with a 30-6 run over the next 11 minutes. Stanford never recovered.

Aside from the best field-goal percentage in the nation (52.1 percent) and the third-best scoring offense (83.2 points per game), Connecticut also has the top-ranked defense in the nation at 46.2 points-allowed per game. The most points allowed all season was 68.

With three games remaining on the regular-season schedule, followed by the Big East and NCAA Tournaments, Connecticut has a chance to shatter its own record. With three returning starters, it also has a chance to carry it into next season.

But Greene said she does not want to look ahead or into the past with regards to the win streak, but she realizes how quickly it can all fade away.

‘As long as this team plays to the level we know we can, who knows how far (the streak) can go?’ Greene said. ‘But it’s very fragile. If we don’t do (the right) things, it can all be taken away.’

azmeola@syr.edu

Published on February 23, 2010 at 12:00 pm