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UConn women unlikely to face much challenge at Philly Regional

THERE IS NO point trying to sell this weekend's Philadelphia Regional of the women's NCAA Tournament as any more than what it is.

The UConn women's basketball team will play at the Liacouras Center this weekend. (AP file photo)
The UConn women's basketball team will play at the Liacouras Center this weekend. (AP file photo)Read more

THERE IS NO point trying to sell this weekend's Philadelphia Regional of the women's NCAA Tournament as any more than what it is.

Not only will the fox enter the hen house Sunday, the doors of the Liacouras Center will be locked behind her.

If you want to see women's collegiate basketball played at its highest level, you should definitely watch top-ranked Connecticut. But if you hope to see a miracle upset, don't hold your breath.

UConn's winning this region and advancing to the Final Four in Indianapolis is as close to a lock as you can get in sports.

Because of that "on any given Sunday" thing, I'll generously concede that No. 5 seed Georgetown has 4.765 percent chance of beating UConn. But if this were not being played on Sunday . . .

OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit. Georgetown lost twice to its Big East rival this season, but the losses were by only 10 and 16 points. That's close to a high mark for most teams playing Connecticut these days.

Georgetown (24-10) has lost 24 straight to Connecticut, its last win coming on Feb. 27, 1993 - two seasons before the Huskies won the first of their seven NCAA championships.

The Hoyas' first trip to the Sweet 16 will result in a quick bus trip back down I-95 to Washington.

Apparently, I might be only the latest to serve as a motivator for lightly regarded Georgetown. Seems the Hoyas were miffed that President Obama didn't pick them to move on against Princeton, his wife's alma mater, in their opening game.

"My young ladies work extremely hard," Georgetown coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said after the Hoyas beat No. 4 seed Maryland. "For President Obama to say that we can't beat Princeton, [ESPN analyst] Kara Lawson to say we can't beat Maryland, and people to doubt us, it gives us a reason to prove our doubters wrong."

No external motivation will help against the Huskies. That isn't belittling Georgetown. It's just being realistic about Connecticut's strength.

No team coming to North Philadelphia has enough stuff to halt the Huskies Express. On paper, the Sweet 16 matchup between No. 2 seed Duke (31-3) and No. 3 DePaul (29-6) looks as if the winner could challenge UConn (34-1). But Connecticut took out Duke, 87-51, on Jan. 31, then crushed DePaul, 89-66, 5 days later.

UConn is 4-0 against the teams in its region, with the average victory margin 21.25 points. If Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma was upset that only 5,729 fans, about half the capacity of Gampel Pavilion, showed up to watch the Huskies blast Purdue at home in a second-round game on Tuesday, he might want to prepare himself for less than capacity at the Liacouras Center.

Georgetown and the University of Maryland are only 12 1/2 miles from each other, yet only 4,493 fans were at their second-round game in College Park. Md.

Duke, one of the top teams for a decade, had only 3,644 in 9,000-seat Cameron Indoor Stadium for its second-round game.

DePaul comes in from suburban Chicago.

Unless the "Huskies Hoard" comes down from Connecticut, attendance could be shaky.

"I guess we need to win more than we do," Auriemma, whose team has won 113 of its past 114 games, sniped about the disappointing attendance in Storrs. "Everybody loves a winner, you know."

The Huskies have become boring in their dominance. They perform at a level so much higher than almost everybody else, it's often like watching the Harlem Globetrotters play the Washington Generals.

There are only so many times you can do the bucket of water/confetti trick before it's no longer interesting.

To be honest, only three teams in the tournament have a chance of beating Connecticut, and none will have a chance until the Final Four in Indianapolis.

Stanford (31-2), the No.1 seed in the Spokane Regional, stopped UConn's 90-game winning streak on Dec. 30, dealing the Huskies their only loss of the season. The Cardinal is also the last team to beat the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament, in 2008.

In the Dallas Region, top seed Baylor (33-2) has dominating center Brittney Griner. The Bears lost, 65-64, to the Connecticut on Nov. 16 in Hartford. A neutral court could change things.

Of course, the matchup most women's basketball fans are eager for is a national semifinal between the Connecticut and Tennessee, the current and former queens of basketball.

The Lady Vols (31-2), the top seed in the Dayton Region, and Huskies have not played since 2007, over a matter neither Tennessee coach Pat Summitt nor Auriemma will clarify.

There is no real parity in women's basketball. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, only one seed lower than fourth - No. 9 Arkansas in 1998 - has reached a Final Four. As a No. 3 in 1994, North Carolina is the only seed lower than second to win the title.

Some team might be able to handle Connecticut. That team won't be in Philadelphia. *

Send email to smallwj@phillynews.com.

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