INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Breanna Stewart's goal when she came to UConn was to win four national championships.
She'll have to beat her hometown team, Syracuse, to finish off that unprecedented feat in women's basketball.
UConn will be playing for its fourth consecutive title Tuesday night and 11th overall. A victory over the Orange would move coach Geno Auriemma past vaunted UCLA men's coach John Wooden for the most in NCAA basketball history.
''I don't know what I can do to help them except keep reminding them all the time `this is your spot, you've owned this spot for the last three years','' Auriemma said.
''Now there's no guarantee you're going to get it Tuesday night, but we're not going in there Tuesday night hoping we win. Because these three (players) they've done more than that, it doesn't mean we're going to win, but I don't have to help them with that mentality.''
While the Huskies are no stranger to the title game, Syracuse is a newcomer. The Orange have been on an unexpected run in the NCAA Tournament. The fourth-seeded team had never gotten out of the opening weekend of the tournament before this season. Now they'll have the monumental task of spoiling UConn's coronation.
The former Big East teams met at least once a season before the Orange went to the ACC in 2013. They haven't played since they left. Since UConn won the first of its 11 championships in 1995, Syracuse hasn't had much success. The Orange lost the final 23 meetings with Syracuse's last victory coming in 1996. To make matters worse for the Orange, history isn't on their side.
The Huskies will play Tuesday night without freshman Katie Lou Samuelson. She broke the third metatarsal bone in her left foot in the first half. She missed practice Saturday because she was feeling under the weather. She started on Sunday, scoring seven points in the first half in 17 minutes. She didn't come out of the locker room for the start of the second half, returning to the UConn bench early in the third quarter with a boot on her foot.
''I guess it happened on the very first possession that we had where she drove it to the basket and she said she felt something but didn't really say anything and just continued to play on it,'' Auriemma said. ''And it wasn't until late in the first half that we found out that there was something wrong.
''Then by halftime, when we were in the locker room, we knew that when she wasn't back in the locker room right away, it had to be something. And then before the half started, before the second half started, Rosemary Ragle, our athletic trainer, told me she has a broken bone in her foot and she's out. And we just addressed it with our team real quick and play on.''
Both teams advanced to the championship game with routs. The Huskies won by 29 points, setting a Final Four record that surpassed the 28-point win by Tennessee over Arkansas in 1998. It was UConn's 74th consecutive victory, the second-longest winning streak in NCAA and school history.
Syracuse jumped all over seventh-seeded Washington en route to an 80-59 rout.
---
Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg
