Down by eight points with 6:51 to go, the top-ranked UConn women's basketball were on the verge of tasting defeat for the first time since the 2008 Final Four.

UConn didn't have Tina Charles and Kalana Greene, both now playing professionally. It didn't have injured junior guard Caroline Doty. It didn't have freshmen post players Stefanie Dolson and Samarie Walker, who both fouled out earlier in second half. Seemingly the Huskies didn't have an answer for Baylor's 6-foot-8 center Brittney Griner or enough experienced players to dig out of the hole.

Then came a remarkable reversal of fortune. Maya Moore (30 points, seven rebounds, six assists) righted the Huskies course with a three-point play. Freshman Bria Hartley, who had one point in the first 36 minutes, had eight crucial points down the stretch as the Huskies won 65-64 to extend their NCAA Division I women's basketball record winning streak to 80 games.

"It was such a great scenario the way it played out," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "When we got up 15, we looked, acted and carried ourselves on the court
like we are Connecticut and this is what we do to people every night. Then they realized that you din't happen to do this to anybody, you just happen to be on the team with the guys who have done it and now we are going to have to find out how to
do it. I am not sure they thought they could do it.

"I was really anxious just like anybody else to see how we do the rest of way. They did exactly what we hoped they would do, they grew up a little bit. When we go to Georgia Tech on Sunday, our freshmen are not going to be freshmen any more. It took Bria Hartley 37 minutes and then she had eight of the biggest points of her life - up to this point. If I could have written a scenario, I don't think I could have written it better for all the things that you wanted to come out of the game so you could help your team move on. We played great, we played lousy. We made great plays, dumb plays. We dominated defensively at time, struggled at times, got every shot we wanted at times, couldn't get a shot at times. It is the second game of the year and there is a lot of pressure on these guys."

The two national player of the year candidates had their ups and downs. Moore was electrifying in staking UConn to a 15-point lead and then promptly disappeared as Baylor came storming back. Baylor's Griner had six quick points as the Lady Bears jumped out to an early 8-3 lead and then went almost 22 minutes before scoring again thanks to the physical defense of UConn's Samarie Walker and the collapsing defense by the Huskies who were aided by the fact that other than Odyssey Sims, none of Griner teammates were eager to take and make a perimeter jumper.

"Compliment Connecticut, they were down eight and we couldn't put them away," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said.

"It was a heck of a ball game today. It wasn't pretty, neither one of us are polished right now. Neither one of us were at our best."

Mulkey did not comment directly on the play when it appeared as if Baylor should have been awarded possession of the ball out of bounds after Maya Moore's shot with time running down on the 30-second shot clock didn't hit the rim. Instead, Baylor had to scramble up the court and Odyssey Sims' desperation 35 footer came after the final buzzer. Mulkey asked the media in attendance what the rule was but did not directly criticize the officials. Looking at the replay, Melissa Jones had possession of the ball with about 5 seconds to go which is well after the shot clock expired.

Barb Jacobs, the Big East Assistant Commissioner for Women's Basketball Officating released a statement saying "if the other team has the ball as the horn is going off, then it is a possession, there is no shot-clock violation."