To do it, the Huskies will have to defeat Stanford - the team that knocked them out of the Final Four last season. Oklahoma and Louisville will play in the other semifinal tonight with the title game Tuesday.
The Huskies have already handily beaten both those teams, routing Louisville in the Big East Tournament championship game. That leads some to believe that the winner of today’s matchup with Stanford will end up as the national champion.
“I’ve heard people say that,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. “But it’s not the case. The championship game is Tuesday night. I don’t want to make tomorrow the championship game.
“There’s no comparison between the Louisville team we played in the Big East Tournament and the one here today. And there’s certainly no comparison between the Oklahoma team and the team that’s here today.”
UConn (37-0) has been dominant all season, winning by 31 points a game and not allowing a team to come within 10 points all season. The Huskies are seeking the school’s third undefeated season and the fifth in women’s basketball history.
This Stanford team (33-4) is different from the one that topped UConn last year. Gone to the WNBA is All-American guard Candice Wiggins, who had one of the best tournaments in NCAA history last season.
Oklahoma, Louisville
are in it to win it
ST. LOUIS - Louisville versus Oklahoma feels like the consolation game of the NCAA Final Four.
Good reason. Both semifinalists have been drubbed by top-ranked Connecticut. Twice in the Cardinals’ case.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz, whose team lost by 28 and 39 points, joked that it was all part of the plan to lull the unbeaten Huskies into a false sense of security. Of course, the Cardinals first have to win the opener tonight and then Connecticut (37-0) would have to get past Stanford (33-4) in the second semifinal.
Oklahoma’s Sherri Coale, on the wrong end of a 28-point blowout at Storrs, Conn., in late November, bristled a bit at the notion that it’s the Huskies’ tournament to lose.
Led by double-double machine Courtney Paris, Oklahoma (32-4) is a legitimate title contender heading into its first-ever meeting against Louisville. Coale prepped the Big 12 champions for their second Final Four appearance with a visit to the city in late December.
Louisville (33-4) is making its first Final Four appearance. All-American Angel McCoughtry averages 23.2 points and 9.3 rebounds for a school that appears to be ahead of schedule under Walz, an assistant on Maryland’s championship team two years ago.
