UConn joins elite group with win

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - UConn joined a very select group with their 30th win of the season, 69-59 over Rutgers Monday night. They became just the 13th Division I women's basketball team - and the fifth in UConn history - to finish the regular season undefeated since the 1985-86 season.

Only five of those teams - Texas in 1986, Tennessee in 1998 and UConn in 1995, 2002 and 2003 - ended up winning national championships. Only one of coach Geno Auriemma's teams, the 1997 team which lost to Tennessee in the Elite Eight, has failed to win a national title after finishing the regular season unbeaten.

"This is Connecticut, and for better or worse, I've created a scenario where the only story left to write is if we don't win [a national title]," said Auriemma.

Of course, while Auriemma has been here before, this UConn team has not.

"It means a lot [to be 30-0]," said senior guard Renee Montgomery. "I've never been able to do it the whole time I've been here. It's something we set out to do."

"It's progress. It's something we've never done before," said sophomore forward Maya Moore. "It's given us some confidence, and it reminds us how special this season is."

According to Auriemma, UConn accomplished one of its three goals this season after winning the Big East regular season title Saturday.

"We proved without a shadow of a doubt that we're the best team in the league," Auriemma said. "And now for three days someone else gets the chance to say, 'we're the tournament champion.' … During [the NCAA Tournament] is when the history of this team will be written."

Stars search for answers

The anticipated showdown between Maya Moore and Epiphanny Prince, the two teams' leading scorers, never quite materialized.

Moore scored 12 points, seven below her season average, and only four in the first half. Against Rutgers' zone defense, she only reached double-digits in the final minute of the game with four free throws.

"You have to break the zone down," said Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer. "It can throw any team off, especially one that's used to scoring lots of points, when you can't get all those points."

Moore has averaged more than 15 points in five career games against the Scarlet Knights. But she was held scoreless in the first half of last year's 73-71 loss in Piscataway (she scored all 15 of her points in the second half), and Moore tallied just seven points in last year's Greensboro Regional final victory.

On the other side of the court, Prince scored just 11 points on 13 shots. Thirteen months ago, Prince scored 33 points to spark an upset over then-No. 1 UConn, in what turned out to be the Huskies' only regular-season loss.

Prince averages 19.4 points per game, but she was 0-for-4 from 3-point range Monday.

The Quotable Geno

"I didn't see a lot of Connecticut people down here. It's like, 'yeah, hurry back, would you? And bring back some cheese steaks. You're 30-0 - so? It ain't like you haven't done it before.'" - Auriemma on why, given UConn fans' expectations, a 30-0 record isn't as special as it should be.

Tournament talk

All 16 Big East teams concluded their regular seasons Monday, so the field for this weekend's conference tournament at the XL Center is set.

The top four seeds went to, in order, UConn, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Villanova. Those teams will all receive a double-bye into the quarterfinals. Notre Dame, DePaul, Rutgers and USF, seeded Nos. 5 through 8, receive byes into Saturday's second round.

The tournament begins Friday night in Hartford. First-round and quarterfinal games will be webcast on the BigEast.org, the semifinals will be Monday on ESPNU, and the championship will be March 10 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

The pairings: No. 9 USF vs. No. 16 Cincinnati, winner vs. No. 8 USF, winner vs. No. 1 UConn; No. 10 Georgetown vs. No. 15 Seton Hall, winner vs. No. 7 Rutgers, winner vs. No. 2 Louisville; No. 11 West Virginia vs. No. 14 Providence, winner vs. No. 6 DePaul, winner vs. No. 3 Pittsburgh; No. 12 Syracuse vs. No. 13 St. John's, winner vs. No. 5 Notre Dame, winner vs. No. 4 Villanova.