Are Huskies too good? (cont.)

UConn broke its own NCAA Division I record, a 70-game winning streak set by the 2001-03 Huskies. That team finished 39-0 in 2001-02 and won its first 31 games of 2002-03 before Villanova defeated them in the Big East tournament final. That streak, which lasted from Nov. 9, 2001, to March 11, 2003, included six single-digit wins and 18 wins over ranked opponents. Unlike this team, which features two future No. 1 overall picks in the WNBA draft in Moore and Charles, the previous streak was defined by Auriemma's tasking Diana Taurasi to lead an inexperienced team that had graduated four first-round WNBA picks (Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams).

Notre Dame has a history of ending long winning streaks, including Oklahoma football's 47-game winning streak in the 1950s, North Carolina's 92-game winning streak in women's soccer in the 1990s and most famously, UCLA's 88-game winning streak in men's basketball (1971-74). But the Irish had given little reason to think Monday night would be special. In January, with Notre Dame the country's No. 3 team, ESPN selected the UConn-Notre Dame game for the first broadcast of its popular "College Gameday" at a women's basketball game. The game was a bust, a 24-point win for UConn, which scored 24 of the game's first 28 points.

But the Irish hung tough Monday night in the opening half, thanks to their gritty play and an awful shooting display by UConn. By the end of the first half, as fans gawked at the scoreboard that read UCONN 25, NOTRE DAME 23, the Huskies had put up their lowest-scoring half since March 26, 2007, when they trailed LSU 34-22 at the break and ultimately lost 73-50. UConn shot 10 of 27 (37 percent) in the first 20 minutes, and even those numbers were bolstered by a couple of layups by Charles. Moore and fifth-year senior forward Kalana Greene were a combined 3 of 15, and when the first-half buzzer sounded, Notre Dame players bounded off the court to music from the team's marching band. You wondered where Rudy Ruettiger was hiding out in the XL Center.

Life returned to normal in the second half. UConn hit nine of its first 13 shots, and Greene (who was 6 of 9 from the field in the second half and finished with 15 points) finally found her game. "We played God awful in those first two games [against UConn] and today we played like ourselves," Notre Dame freshman guard Skylar Diggins said. "We played with a sense of urgency. We were more tenacious. We really got in there and banged with them, and we didn't get punked this time. We stuck with them, but they went on their run in the second half and we couldn't match it."

Of course, as the wins keep piling up, the questions about whether UConn's dominance is good for the sport will keep coming. The Huskies are 371-28 overall since the 1999-2000 season and have now played 222 consecutive games without allowing an opponent to shoot more than 50 percent from the field (Boston College was the last to do so, on March 8, 2004).

"It's not their fault, but it's not a great thing for the sport," Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer told USA Today. "How can anybody enjoy a game that is really not much of a competition?"

Counters ESPN analyst Doris Burke: "Did anyone ask John Wooden when he was in midst of the 88-game streak, 'Is this good for men's college basketball?' It didn't happen. If they are beating your ass on a nightly basis, then get better."

The locals, at least, cannot get enough. Last week The Hartford Courant ran a countdown clock on its Web site, marking the time until the tipoff against Notre Dame.

"The interest is intense and intensifying every day," said Altavilla.

The media for Auriemma will heat up a bit this week: He's been requested by ESPN's SportsCenter, Pardon The Interruption and First Take. Shortly before he left the XL Center, a reporter asked UConn's coach if he was any less superstitious these days.

"I used to be more superstitious before Tina and Maya got here," Auriemma said with a smile. "But I'm less superstitious now."