The approach will be the same as it’s been all season for the Huskies. They were not distracted by their pursuit of their then-NCAA-record 70-game winning streak. They contend that they won’t be distracted by the opportunity to become the first women’s team to complete back-to-back undefeated seasons.
“You can’t look at it like we’re making history,’’ senior Kalana Greene said. “We’re just trying to win games and win a national championship. And beat Southern. So you’ve got to win all these games coming up to say we made history because it’s fragile. You could lose. Teams you’ve never played before … you’re not familiar with them. It’s so easy to lose. It would be hard for a team to beat us, but it’s so easy for us just to lose if we slip up, miss a box out or a real off shooting night. It’s easy to lose. We know it’s fragile. So, history, we can look at it after whenever the last game is.’’
Maya Moore said the Huskies will not change anything they’ve done up to this point just because it’s the NCAA tournament. As cliché as it might sound, they have taken things one day at a time, one game at a time. Coach Geno Auriemma is a short-term type of guy, and the players have bought into this philosophy.
“You don’t change at this point in the year,’’ Moore said. “You go with what you’ve worked so hard for. You either have it or you don’t. And I feel like we’re coming to a point in the season where it’s coming together and we’re just trying to sharpen up on the things we’re already good at and try to cover up on the areas we’re that we’re not as sharp at. But you don’t really do a lot of change. You just keep doing what you’re doing. We’re going to have to continue to do a good job of keeping our blinders up and playing one game at a time.’’
The only thing that will change for the Huskies as they enter the tournament will be the fact that they are no longer chasing a national championship that had eluded them since winning the last of three straight championships in 2004.
Aside from having won 72 straight games, UConn is now hunted for being the defending national champion too.
“This is water we’ve never been in … coming off of a national championship and having people want more than anything to beat you and people tired of hearing about us,’’ Moore said. “People just wanting to see Connecticut go down. And knowing that they’re coming after you that way, it absolutely makes you have to be more focused. I think we’re going to have to be even more focused this year because we’re not really chasing that first national championship. We’re trying to do something we’ve never done before and that’s going to require a lot more of us than it did last year.’’
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