While Duke goes head-to-head with Tennessee Sunday night for the right to play in the national championship game, No. 1 Connecticut and second-seeded Texas will face off on the other side of the bracket in Atlanta.
The game pits the team with the nation's current longest winning streak--Texas, with 17--versus the team that holds the NCAA women's record for longest winning streak ever, Connecticut, whose 70 consecutive wins were halted several weeks ago in the Big East Tournament by Villanova.
As such, the Longhorns' 17-game unbeaten stretch does not appear to faze Huskies coach Geno Auriemma.
"Well, I think if someone told you that there is a place in Connecticut that has great streaks you would go, 'Oh yeah,'" a sarcastic, chuckling Auriemma said.
"It is all relative, you know. Seventeen wins is a lot of wins at the end of the season, especially when you are playing the best teams, so I think the 70 in a row is gone and we have four in a row and Texas has won 17 in a row, so they are a huge favorite going into the game on Sunday."
Connecticut, which lost four seniors from last year's championship team and was expected to go through a rebuilding process this season, is instead playing in its fourth consecutive Final Four this season.
Auriemma has received several National Coach of the Year awards for his efforts to bring a freshmen-laden team so far so quickly. Among the team's victims in 2003 was then-No. 1 Duke.
The Huskies are paced by their star, Diana Taurasi. Taurasi, who was named the Naismith Player of the Year this week, has averaged nearly 26 points per game in the tournament.
Surrounding the junior standout are several underclassmen who see lots of playing time, including Barbara Turner and Jessica Moore. The duo have combined to average nearly 22 points and 12 rebounds per game in the tournament, all the while shooting 56 percent from the field.
While UConn is the dominant force in women's college basketball today, the Texas program is also one of the most storied in the country. Longhorn coach Jody Conradt and Tennessee coach Pat Summitt are the only two women's coaches with 800 wins in their respective careers.
Texas became the only non-No. 1 seed in the Final Four when it upset top-seeded LSU by almost 20 points in the regional final. Its victory came on the strength of a muscular post game and a slashing backcourt. Texas averages nearly 40 rebounds a game.
West Region MVP Heather Schreiber scored 32 points in LSU game and will force matchup problems with the Huskies as she can shoot from the inside and bang down low while Schreiber's teammate Stacy Steven's 14 points per game will guarantee that UConn stays honest.
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