SHATTERING THE GLASS SLIPPER

TRENTON, N.J. - Watch out Stanford, UConn's coming back to meet you in the Final Four.

One year after their 2008 Final Four loss to the Cardinal, the Huskies will get a chance to redeem themselves after defeating No. 6 seed Arizona State, 83-64, Tuesday night in the Trenton Regional Finals at Sovereign Bank Arena to advance to the school's second-straight Final Four and second-straight against Stanford.

As the game entered its final minute, the crowd of 4,758 at Sovereign Bank Arena rose for a standing ovation. With all the talk about pressure to succeed, the Huskies let it all fade away as they celebrated on the court after the game, dancing and cheering along with the crowd as they received the Regional Championship trophy marking the 10th time in school history that UConn has advanced to the Final Four.

"It's not been about 'National Championship or bust,' and we're just zombies or robots that are just going through the season not enjoying anything along the way," Auriemma said. "It's been one great event after another. It's been one great win after another; one great performance after another, especially with these two right here [forward Maya Moore and point guard Renee Montgomery] who played out of their minds tonight. We've enjoyed every bit of it and we love the pressure."

Moore, the Trenton Regional's Most Outstanding Player, led all scorers Tuesday night with 25 points. Her 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the first half put her first all-time on UConn's single-season scoring list, ahead of Kara Wolters' 694 set in 1995-96.

Montgomery, who fought off early foul trouble with three fouls in the first half, had her best game of the tournament so far, scoring 22 points on 11-for-16 shooting, with four assists.

For the second straight game, No. 1 seed UConn (37-0) overcame a slow early start to pull away for a double-digit victory.

While the Sun Devils (26-9) never put the Huskies in the same type of hole that California did just two days prior in the Sweet 16, they stayed in the game for longer, closing the gap to within eight points at 59-51 nine-and-a-half minutes into the second half on a 3-pointer from guard Nia Fanaika.

"At this point I told our team, 'This is where we have to make our run,'" said Arizona State coach Charli Turner Thorne. "All the film I've watched, if anybody hangs around it's either in the beginning of the first half or middle, and they make their push. They understood that and we just didn't get it done."

From that point on, UConn made its big push, extending the lead back to a comfortable 16 points over the game's next two minutes, with an 8-0 run that included two of Moore's five 3-pointers and made the score 67-51. The Sun Devils never got closer than 12 points the rest of the game.

"Our team is just one of those teams that just we're always looking to get on a run," Moore said. "Every time out, every huddle, 'let's get on a run.' I really believe that everybody believes that we are capable to go on runs like you saw."

The biggest advantage for UConn in the game came on the boards, where the Huskies out-rebounded the Sun Devils, 45-19. Tina Charles led all rebounders with 13 to go along with 18 points. No Arizona State player had more than three rebounds.

"We talked about how in order to win the game we needed to rebound and we just didn't do that," said Arizona State's Danielle Orsillo, who had a team-high 18 points.

For Arizona State, the loss ended a remarkable run to the Elite Eight that transpired all without the team's leading scorer Dymond Simon and included upsets over No. 3 seed Florida State and No. 2 seed Texas A&M.

"We definitely had to face some obstacles this year, and that's one great thing that we can take from this season - how our team came together and overcame those battles," said Arizona State point guard Briann January, who finished with 12 points and three assists. "We grew so much together. We got so close as a team and I think that's what allowed us to be so successful and make a run in this tournament like we did."

Meanwhile, the Huskies now must turn their focus to the same team that dashed their National Championship hopes last year, when Stanford defeated UConn 82-73 in Tampa, Fla.

"Both teams have worked so hard to be in the position that we're in," Moore said. "Their team and our team, we've had some great games to get into the Final Four, so I think we're both on a roll."