Huskies face struggling Scarlet Knights

Greatness.

What exactly is it? Does it mean stellar individual performances or an all-around outstanding team effort? Does it mean having a perfect record in the books?

Does it mean all of the above?

For the No. 1 women's basketball team (21-0, 7-0 Big East), tonight's game against Rutgers may test just what it means to be great in the eyes of the public, as the Huskies take on the Scarlet Knights (12-7, 4-4 Big East) at the XL Center at 8 p.m.

And the Huskies could care less about the hype. The fact that UConn is the top-ranked team - the only remaining unbeaten team - and all of the attention that comes with it is the last thing on the players' minds.

"I don't think I've ever been more focused on what my team needs to do and who we're playing and what I have to do to get my team ready than anything else," said head coach Geno Auriemma.

But there is still the rivalry that has developed in recent years.

Almost a year ago, this particular matchup saw a then-No. 1 Huskies team - with a perfect record of 21-0 heading into the game - face its biggest conference rival, then-No. 7 in the country with an 18-3 record.

It was the game that fans would view as a test for UConn, as they traveled to the Rutgers Athletic Center, a place well-known for its ability to intimidate opponents.

It was the biggest upset that no one, except perhaps the Scarlet Knights and their fans, saw coming.

Rutgers - who at the time had won its previous 14 of 15 games - put the pressure on immediately, using the notorious "55 press" as soon as the game began.

By halftime, UConn was hearing deafening chants from the crowd, despite the fact that the Huskies were up by nine while shooting 34.6 percent from the field.

Still, it seemed as though the Scarlet Knights had the momentum, playing scrappy and forcing costly turnovers near the end of the game.

All that mattered at the end of the night was the score when the buzzer went off: 73-71, Rutgers.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Huskies.

"The way we lost, it hurts the most, knowing we didn't step up like we could have," said Maya Moore that night, adding an optimistic note that it was still early enough in the season to bounce back.

The Scarlet Knights celebrated as if they had won the national championship. Epiphanny Prince led all scorers with 33 points - 27 coming in the second half.

"There is nothing but total respect and admiration for Connecticut," said Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer after the win last year. "They're legendary. They're not just anybody."

What a difference a year makes.

This year, the Huskies are once again at the 21-0 mark heading into tonight's matchup. The team is coming off an 80-61 win against Georgetown and the Huskies have learned from their prior mistakes. Accoring to Tina Charles, Auriemma stresses that she should just play the game rather than making public statements about what she would like to do.

"Don't say you're going to get psyched up for this game, you're supposed to get psyched up for every game and play hard and play your best," she said. "So I think regardless of who I'm playing against and [whatever] center it is, I just have to go out there and play my game."

On the other hand, the Scarlet Knights have lost two of their last three games, most recently losing to South Florida, 59-56, at the RAC, despite Prince's 25-point performance. It was her 12th game of the season scoring at least 20 points. The loss for Rutgers marked its first time losing to the Bulls.

Stringer said after the game that she felt the team has played like it has "nothing to lose," according to the Scarlet Knights' official Web site.

The game followed a Rutgers 78-68 upset of then-No. 17 Notre Dame last week. It was the Scarlet Knights' first win against a ranked opponent this season. Yet, with its most recent loss, the team lingers just outside of the AP Poll's Top 25.

And still, here the two teams will meet, the Huskies once again trying for 22-0 and the Scarlet Knights trying to pull off the upset.

It has been 364 days since that night, the only mar on UConn's regular season record last season, and the Huskies are not counting the Scarlet Knights out.

Not ever, and especially not this time.

"I said, you know, we can't let their record decide how we approach the game," Auriemma said. "And now, they're coming in four and four, and there's a certain element of desperation on their part because I'm sure they don't want their season to start slipping away."

"We're not focused on what their record is. It's still Rutgers-Connecticut."