As if I needed a refresher course, I was reminded this week that I do not cover a normal team.

Perhaps the fact that their team hadn't lost since the 2008 Final Four made some UConn fans forget what it's like to lose but some of the comments and e-mails following the 12-point loss at Stanford had me shaking my head in disbelief.

It's been open season on Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes, UConn's two most experienced players. There can be no doubt that neither Moore nor Hayes played well against Stanford. The two team-first players took turns acting like they had to single-handedly win the game. In the last three days of practice, both have been reminded of this on a regular basis by the UConn coaching staff. Will there be a game when they play like they did against Stanford? I have no way of knowing that but if it happens against a good team in the NCAA tournament, the Huskies will not win a third straight national title. Then again, I'm not exactly breaking new ground her. Usually if your two best players play poorly against a team of comparable talent, you tend to lose.

There has been one criticism I wanted to address. Why can't Maya Moore play more like Diana Taurasi, why can't she get to the free throw line like Diana did, when her team needed her why couldn't she rescue the Huskies like Diana always did. My thought is what Diana Taurasi are we talking about? Is it the one who has won four straight WNBA scoring championships and developed into what many basketball insiders believe is the best women's basketball player in the world or the Diana Taurasi that led UConn to the three straight national titles.

I have mentioned this before but Taurasi took 386 free throws in 144 career games while Moore has shot 376 free throws in 119 games. Personally, I have always felt that Moore's role on the team more closely resembles the one Svetlana Abrosimova played more than the one Taurasi was asked to fill and if you look at the record books, Abrosimova took 550 free throws in 127 games, in other words Abrosimova took 1.2 more foul shots a game during her career than Moore has to this point but since I never receive e-mails comparing Moore to Abrosimova, I will address the comparisons to Taurasi.

I decided to take a look back at Taurasi's senior season and this is what I found.
Jan. 3, 2004: Taurasi was 5 of 16 from the floor and had more turnovers (5) than assists (3) in a 68-67 loss to Duke at the XL Center.
Jan. 13, 2004: Taurasi was 4 of 15 from the field and attempted just two free throws in a 66-51 loss at unranked Notre Dame.
Jan. 17, 2004: Taurasi was 4 of 13 and again took two foul shots as UConn defeated Boston College 69-61 as the Huskies avoided back to back losses for the first time since 1993.
Jan. 24, 2004: Taurasi missed nine of her 11 shots although she did make 7 of 8 from the free throw line as UConn held off unranked Seton Hall.
Feb. 21-25, 2004: Taurasi goes three straight games without attempting a free throw and in the next game she was 1 of 4 from the foul line and 3 of 13 from the field in a three-point loss at unranked Villanova.

Those performances seem to be forgotten. Is it because UConn was viewed to be a flawed team since the graduation of Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones and Tamika Williams? Or perhaps because Taurasi cemented her legacy by leading UConn to the national title, her third straight. Taurasi was a special player at UConn, arguably the best ever, but she did have her off nights and not just in the well-documented loss to Notre Dame in the Final Four as a freshman. Taurasi, like Moore, occasionally fell in love with the 3-point shot, didn't get into the lane as much as she should have and had stretches when she was too stagnant on offense. Moore does fall into those same traps from time to time and like Taurasi before her, she is reminded of that on a regular basis by her coaches at UConn. Whatever happens tonight won't wipe away what happened at Stanford. Villanova will run their stuff, take a ton a 3-pointers, make almost no attempt to offensive rebound and figures to struggle to score as it has all season long. The game will be another chance for Moore to take the lessons she receives in practice and apply them on game situations, nothng more and nothing less. Whether it is against Duke, Oklahoma, Notre Dame, West Virginia or at some point in the NCAA tournament, Moore won't be allowed to simply run around a screen, catch and shoot on a regular basis and will have to prove she learned her lesson in the Stanford loss. If Moore is half the competitor I think that she is, I expect that is exactly what she will do or at least try to do exactly that when that time comes.