Big East Championship On The Line Tonight

Prior to the season, many UConn players figured Monday night's game with No. 4 Rutgers at the XL Center (7 p.m., ESPN2) would have Big East championship implications.

"We've been working all year for [this]," said point guard Lorin Dixon. "Here, you work hard every day and there's a great prize waiting for you at the end if you go all the way."

Tonight's game will, as expected, settle the outright Big East regular-season championship - though the Huskies had a bit of a scare getting here, as DePaul was two seconds away from knocking off the nation's No. 1 team Saturday in Chicago.

Whether it was overlooking the Blue Demons, fatigue, or some other factor, UConn (28-1, 14-1 Big East) will have to put everything behind them to prepare for one more showdown with the archrival Scarlet Knights (23-4, 14-1).

"The first goal for our season was to go undefeated in the Big East," said forward Maya Moore. "That can't happen. But we can still attain goals for now, as far as winning a regular season championship."

Rutgers handed UConn its only loss of the year, a wild, 73-71 game on Feb. 5 that featured Rutgers guard Epiphany Prince scoring 33 points.

The Huskies led by nine at halftime, but trailed by as much as seven late before a pair of clutch Moore 3s brought the deficit to 72-69. A defensive stop was followed by Renee Montgomery bobbling a pass from Swanier. Essence Carson stole the ball and made one free throw to put the game out of reach.

The key in that game was Rutgers' relentless pressure that caught UConn off guard. Auriemma said matter-of-factly that Rutgers' superior guard play was the difference, and has been the primary factor for the Scarlet Knights winning four of the teams' last six meetings. UConn had won 18 of the first 19 in the series.

"Last year we got great guard play and we beat them two out of three," Auriemma said. "The year before they beat us twice and we got bad guard play. I'd have been a lot more worried if we'd gone down there, played well and lost."

But things have changed since the two teams met a month ago.

The spectacular emergence of Swanier, added to the 'big 3' of Moore, Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery, is exactly what the Huskies needed to spread out their scoring.

The senior point guard has figured heavily in wins over St. John's (20 points), LSU (nine rebounds and a key block), Marquette (nine assists) and the win over DePaul Saturday.

For Moore, the freshman phenom averaging 18.3 points per game, Monday's game offers another step in her maturation as a basketball player. She was locked down by Essence Carson - and two quick fouls - en route to a scoreless first half on Feb. 5.

"I think Rutgers will have a great chance if Maya picks up a couple of early fouls," Auriemma said. "I don't know who we could beat in that scenario."

The visitors from Piscataway, N.J. have seen their share of changes, too.

Rutgers lost Myia McCurdy for the season with an ACL and LCL tear last month. Despite only averaging three points and three rebounds per game, McCurdy was the 'point guard' of the Scarlet Knights' heralded '55' man-to-man pressure defense.

That apparently hasn't fazed Rutgers too much, though - they've allowed point totals of 43, 46 and 49 in the three games since McCurdy's injury. Still, Rutgers only has a seven-man rotation and will be limited in how much they can press.

"The important thing every year is to be better in February than you are in January, and to be better in March than you were in February," Auriemma said.

The winner of Monday's game will earn the top seed in next week's Big East tournament in Hartford. These two teams have split the regular season and postseason championships since 2005.

The Scarlet Knights won the regular-season championship in 2005, but lost to UConn in the Big East final, 67-51. In 2006, Rutgers went undefeated but lost in the Big East semifinals to West Virginia. The Huskies again won the tournament. Last year, it was UConn ending the regular season at 16-0, but the Huskies fell to Rutgers in the tournament championship game.

Contact Kevin Meacham at Kevin.Meacham@UConn.edu.