UConn Lady Huskies; 88 and counting.......

Should the UConn lady Huskies emerge victorious against Florida State tonight, they will be in sole possession of the longest winning streak in college basketball (division 1 at least) period.  At 88 wins, they are currently tied with UCLA men's basketball team of the early 70's for consecutive games won.

Maya Moore; the alpha husky.

You'd have to go all the way back to April 2008, in the National Semifinals, to see when this team last lost a game.  Maya Moore, UConn's all-everything, was a freshman back then, and the top rated Huskies lost to a Candice Wiggins-inspired Stanford team; avenging an earlier loss to the Huskies in the process.

Maya Moore was the focus of a recruiting war between Tennessee and Connecticut, that was so intense, it strained the "working" relationship between Pat Summitt (Vols coach) and Geno Auriemma; and even led to the cancellation of their regular season series between these 2 powerhouses.  I say "working" relationship, because these two coaches could, quite honestly, care less for the other.  It's there for everyone to see (Am I the only one here who thinks that maybe these 2 need a room?).

With regards to the series being cancelled, despite one year left on the contract, Pat Summitt said that it would help Tennessee develop other rivalries, while Geno Auriemma -who's never been known to pull any punches - called out Summitt for claiming that UConn cheated to get Moore.  Go figure.

Having seen Moore play for three years now, I can see what the hype was all about.  She is playing head and shoulders above everyone else.  She is to coach Auriemma what Rebecca Lobo, Swin Cash, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi have been in seasons before.  He sure can recruit them can't he?

When the streak started, the Huskies were anchored by Tina Charles and Renee Montgomery.  After Montgomery left, the onus fell on Tina Charles to lead the team.  Charles did her work on the inside, swatting anything and everything withing 3 feet of the rim, while Moore covered the perimeter.  When all else failed, there was one solution; pass the ball to Moore.  This was the case when she single-handedly bailed a struggling team during last year's championship against Stanford.

This season, it's all about Maya Moore.  Everyone knows who's going to take the most shots, and who's getting the ball when the game's on the line.  It's really not rocket science.  Yet somehow, she just can't be stopped.  Of course, this is a team sport and everyone else is playing their part; but without Maya Moore, this streak would have ended a lot sooner.

What UConn have achieved already is remarkable.  However, questions are flying in left and right, asking whether this win streak is bad for women's basketball; a sport that hardly gets any "recognition" if at all.  Would they be getting this much attention if they weren't close to tying the 88 game streak by the UCLA men.  Would anyone even care had the streak ended earlier?  Would the Huskies be better served by losing now rather later in the season?

Whatever the questions may be, one thing stands out loud and clear; people are paying attention.  Whether they care for the sport or not, they are watching.  They might not watch each and every game, but they will try and catch up to see how the Huskies are doing.  That can only mean that the win streak is good for women's basketball; I've never known anything bad to come out of winning.  So when the streak does come to an end, it still won't take away from what these ladies have managed to accomplish.

Would the Huskies be better off losing now rather than later?  Let's keep watching and we'll find out, won't we?