UConn-ND showdown set

(1) UCONN 75, (2) STANFORD 56

nashville, tenn. » TheConnecticut Huskies are back in a very familiar position, undefeated and playing for a national championship in women’s basketball.

They will be going for an unprecedented ninth national championship afterBreannaStewart scored18 points and the Huskies advanced to another title game with a 75-56 win over Stanford on Sunday night.

It wasn’t easy early, though the Huskies (39-0) did theirpart and set upthe highlyanticipatedchampionship showdown of perfect teams.

They will square off against Notre Dame on Tuesday night in the title game. It will be the first women’s national title game between unbeaten teams.

“It wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t beat teams that were any good,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said of the matchup with Notre Dame. “I think women’s basketball needs rivalries like this, teams that aspire to be great and want to win championships.”

The Huskies won their 45th straight game after overcoming another sluggish start. Stewart, the national player of the year, missed her first four shots and UConn was up only 28-24 at halftime.

But Connecticut settled down and put the Cardinal away in the second half, outscoring Stanford 47-32. Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis found her shooting stroke, scoring all of her 15 points in the second half.

Bria Hartley added 13 points for UConn. Stefanie Dolson and Moriah Jefferson each had 10.

Stanford (33-4) lost its third national semifinal since reaching the 2010 championship againstUConn, which the Huskies also won. AllAmerican Chiney Ogwumike finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Amber Orrange scored 16 points and Lili Thompson had 12.