Make no mistake that the UConn women's basketball team wants nothing more than to head to Oregon for the New Year's Eve matinee with an unblemished record. That, of course, would mean walking off of Maples Pavilion with a victory tomorrow.

However, don't expect the players or coaches to make a big deal or even a little deal at protecting their own record 99-game home winning streak by bringing an end to Stanford's string of 82 home victories in a row.


"I think the media cares more about the ranking and who is playing how," UConn senior Kelly Faris said. "When we look at it, that is on paper and what's on the court is going to be two really competitive teams. It is going to be a dogfight, two years ago when we were here that was what it was and they came out on top. They played harder in the end. Coach (Geno Auriemma) was talking to us earlier and both teams obviously have a lot of talent and when you have high ranked teams playing each other it is not going to come down to the talent, it is going to come down to how hard you work, who is going to get the loose balls who is going to dive on the floor and be more aggressive. For us it is a good test for us up to this point and it is going to be a dogfight.

"I don't think we'd say we are going to come out and try to break their streak. That is not really what we came here for, of course we want to win and we are motivated, well the ones who have been here and experienced the loss here that definitely sticks in the back of your mind and you learn from that, of course you hope you do. You have to come out knowing what they are going to give you, knowing how aggressive it is going to be, what the atmosphere is going to be like. The streak thing, if you focus on that you are not going to be focused on the right things."

Obviously in the Stanford camp the topic of the home streak might be used just a little more for motivational purposes than it will for the Connecticut team.


"The home win streak means a lot to us," Stanford junior Chiney Ogwumike said. "We have get new players every year so the win streak means a lot to us as returners and it means a lot to the freshmen because they are joining. The most exciting thing for me is we are back to our comfort level here at Maples and I think that is very exciting."