UConn’s Winning Streak Ends At 90 Games: What Did We Learn From Stanford’s Victory?

UConn’s streak came to an end last night: Stanford’s 71-59 win at Maples Pavilion halted the Huskies’ run at an NCAA record 90 consecutive wins.

But the really intriguing part of the women’s basketball season has just begun. UConn losing opens up the field, and there are a few titans waiting in the wings to make this year’s run toward an NCAA championship one of the most contentious in years. What did we learn last night?

UConn isn’t invincible. Geno Auriemma’s team is talented and deep, as always. But it’s also very young, and “deep” is more true of the reputed talent level than the performance to this point. If Maya Moore isn’t on — and last night may have been the worst game of her career — UConn can be beaten. That’s not exactly a simple blueprint to execute, but it’s hope for the non-UConn world.

Maya Moore isn’t quite indomitable. Moore made five of 15 shots, four of 11 threes, grabbed eight rebounds, dished four assists, had two steals, and committed no turnovers. And yet, this was a really, really bad game for Moore: physical, swarming defense from Chiney and Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen scuttled virtually every attempt for her to shake loose inside, and then kept her from getting open looks from behind the arc. Even when she was good — Moore scored eight straight points in one stretch — a nagging flaw would flare up, like her free throw shooting. By the end, Moore looked bedraggled, and her signature hustle had all but disappeared. That doesn’t happen often, but when it does, UConn is merely very good rather than great.

Stanford is really, really good. Between the Ogwumike sisters, Pedersen, and Pohlen, the Cardinal have a fantastic inside-outside attack, and if Pohlen shoots as well as she did on Thursday night (eight of 15 from the field, five of nine from three) in the NCAA Tournament, this team will almost assuredly be in the Final Four. Does Stanford beat UConn right now on a neutral court? Probably. The question may end up being: can the Cardinal do that in Indianapolis?

We may not have seen the last of this matchup. There are very few teams that can do to Moore what Stanford did, and the rest of Connecticut’s schedule won’t have the luxury of seeing Connecticut at home on the West Coast. Tiffany Hayes won’t always make just one shot. Kelly Faris may have more 31-point nights — and get help from teammates. Freshman Bria Hartley, so good early this year, vanished last night; if she continues to develop, UConn will have another scoring option. UConn will be there at the end of the year.

Stanford should be, too. That team now knows it can slay a giant, and there’s no UConn fear factor for the Cardinal. And Stanford, with more frontline talent, can better handle Baylor and Brittney Griner than UConn. Those three teams are all still favorites to make it to the 2011 Final Four in Indianapolis (for a fourth: Duke? Xavier? Tennessee?), and if all three can get to the Hoosier State, it could mean a classic Final Four — and a second straight UConn-Stanford championship game.