SAN ANTONIO -- Maya Moore has caused plenty of headaches for opponents in her three seasons at Connecticut. But when she thinks back to how her first season with the Huskies ended, she gets a bit of a stomachache herself.
UConn lost 82-73 in the national semifinals to Stanford then.
"I couldn't tell you about every win that I've had, but I can tell you exactly what happened in every loss," Moore said.
OK, well we can wryly point out that isn't necessarily just because Moore is a ferocious competitor, although she is. But for anybody, it would be much easier to recall the details of something that has happened twice rather than something that has happened 114 times.
Yes, that's Moore's record after three years at UConn: 114-2. Two national championships. Two Wade trophies. The most recent of both of those things came here in the Alamo City in the past few days.
No, Moore isn't completely perfect in a Huskies uniform. Just close to it. Except
"You mentioning it, I get a nauseated feeling of never wanting to feel that again," Moore said of that 2008 loss to the Cardinal.
Ha! She thinks she feels sick? What about the Stanford players, such as fellow Kayla Pedersen, who won that '08 semifinal battle (but not the national championship) and now has lost to Moore in the past two NCAA tournaments?
"She's extremely tough, an incredible player," Pedersen said. The Cardinal junior added that although teammate Nneka Ogwumike did a solid job of guarding Moore in Tuesday's championship game, "Contested shots are like open for Maya. UConn really looked to her in the second half, setting more screens for her. And she delivered for them."
Moore finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds in what was, by anyone's definition, a rather dreadful game. It was mostly thanks to Moore that this 53-47 bricklayers' convention had much pizzazz to it at all. Well, after the break, that is. In the first half, Moore was just about as good as everybody else (2-of-8) at managing to avoid putting the ball in the basket.
In the second half, though, she was the same "old" Maya. What Pedersen said is so true. Moore can make contested shots swish as smoothly and surely as if she were all alone in the gym practicing pressure-free.
"I remember how I felt during that [2008] game -- and the difference between that and how I felt last year and how I feel now, as far as the amount of confidence and being engaged emotionally," Moore said of what she learned from that loss to the Cardinal. "You know it's always possible to play badly. But at this point, I know how to change that. The state of mind you need to be in.
"What would be the point of losing my freshman year if we weren't going to come back like this? That will always be motivation."
Um, should we mention again that loss was in 2008? And yet it still fuels her? Because there haven't been any subsequent losses, that one will have a heck of a long shelf life.
And the parallels to Diana Taurasi's UConn career continue for Moore. Taurasi lost in the national semifinals in her freshman season, then won the NCAA title the next three years.
Moore is one title from matching that, but she'll have to do it next season without Tina Charles or Kalana Greene. Even that seems fitting. Taurasi was the headline performer her last two seasons, and she had no understudy step in even briefly to effectively play a part during that time. Taurasi was "the show" every game for UConn from the fall of 2002 until the spring of 2004.
That's what Moore will be next season for the Huskies, even more so than she has been already. It doesn't mean UConn will be bereft of other talented players, of course -- just that the spotlight will never leave Moore.
"It's so hard to describe -- she has a knack," UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey said in trying put Moore's contributions into perspective. "I'm going to really try to appreciate her more every day. It feels like she should be a senior already because she's had such a great impact on our program for so long. I can't imagine what opposing coaches feel like."
Well, actually it's not that hard to imagine. They feel the way coaches felt going against Taurasi (and how WNBA coaches still feel). It's this "Good grief, not again" resignation.
But whereas Taurasi very clearly delighted in being the dagger through so many hearts, Moore doesn't let that show as much. They are different personalities who generate the same kinds of results.
Moore has been part of a victory streak (78) that has lasted even longer than Taurasi's (70) when she was at UConn. And although the big picture is impossible to ignore completely, it doesn't clog Moore's mind.
"I don't think you have enough room in your head to think about all that," she said of the historical record of her career and how it's continually building. "Hopefully, there will be plenty of time to sit back and look at it someday. But if you do that now, you miss the moment.
"It's something our coaches emphasize, and it's worked great. We're not going to change that mindset. I mean it's exciting to be aware of the potential you have. But you don't want the potential of greatness to be a distraction."
And although some might suggest Moore is already too good for the college game, part of what makes her so treasured in this sport is that she doesn't think that at all.
Moore will again spend next season sweating all the little details at UConn -- not just on the basketball court but also in the classroom. She's at the pinnacle there, too, and was named ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-American of the Year in women's hoops.
"I think women's basketball players are really great representatives of student-athletes and just college students in general," Moore said. "The work ethic that we develop as basketball players -- it carries you through your life. Just the idea that the game and life is bigger than you. Which is a very valuable quality for you to be a good person."
Dailey isn't the only one who should remind herself to appreciate Moore every day. So should anybody who really loves college sports. Because Maya Moore is exactly what that's all about.
Mechelle Voepel, a regular contributor to ESPN.com, can be reached at mvoepel123@yahoo.com. Read her blog at http://voepel.wordpress.com.