Can anyone beat UConn women's basketball team?

By DOUG FEINBERG,

(AP) -- As Connecticut aims to win its seventh national title, its rivals share a common goal - beat the Huskies.

UConn capped an undefeated 39-0 season with its sixth national championship, and no team even came close to threatening that perfection as every victory came by double digits. The top-ranked Huskies had two previous unbeaten seasons, 1995 and 2002.

"It's a new season, and no one can take away what we did last year," said coach Geno Auriemma, who is four wins short of 700 for his career. "Yes, the guys we have coming back are really good, but we don't see it as the pressure of defending a title but more as a chance to win a new one."

With four starters returning, including player of the year Maya Moore, UConn is in a good position to repeat as champions and cut down the nets in April in San Antonio. They might even challenge their own record 70-game winning streak.

The Huskies biggest test during the regular season will come Dec. 23 against No. 2 Stanford. UConn eliminated the Cardinal in the national semifinals last season, avenging a defeat the year before in the Final Four.

Stanford also returns most of its team from last season, including preseason All-America center Jayne Appel.

"It's just one game on the calendar, and we have a lot of basketball to play before and after that game," Appel said.

Auriemma isn't the only coach who should reach the 700-win plateau this season. Virginia's Debbie Ryan stands one victory away, and Ohio State's Jim Foster is 15 short. Auriemma was an assistant coach for both.

Although those three coaches made their impact from the sideline, Baylor freshman Brittney Griner will definitely make hers on the court for Baylor. The 6-foot-8 phenom who became a YouTube sensation with her dunks already has people saying she'll change the game the same way Wilt Chamberlain or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did on the men's side years ago. Baylor drew more than 6,000 fans for their first exhibition game.

"If she works hard, keeps the same attitude she's got, she's going to have an impact on the NCAA level, she's going to have an impact on the WNBA, she's going to have an impact on the Olympics," LSU coach Van Chancellor said. "In my opinion, she's going to win a lot of gold medals."

Griner will be a force on the defensive end, too, with her 7 1/2-foot wingspan.

"I hope that she has the impact that we all think that she will, but we're not going to talk about that," Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said. "She does have skills and athleticism like none I've ever coached. Yet she is quick to tell you she can't do it by herself, and she has players around her that she will make better. I hope that all those predictions come true."

Griner will get her first chance to become the seventh woman to dunk in a college game when the Bears open up at Tennessee on Nov. 15. The Lady Vols are coming off one of their worst seasons under Pat Summitt. Tennessee lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in its history.

The Lady Vols were one of the youngest the Hall of Fame coach had ever instructed, and this year's squad has three freshmen, six sophomores and three juniors - but no seniors.

"I'm not going to lower my standards because of that, not at all. My thought is we have to raise the bar," she said.

Tennessee will be missing sophomore Amber Gray, who is recovering from a brain aneurysm that doctors found while performing shoulder surgery on her in July. She isn't the only player missing the season. North Carolina is unsure whether senior Jessica Breland will play this year as she has been sidelined with Hodgkin's lymphoma, which has gone into remission. And California lost star freshman Tierra Rogers, who was diagnosed with a rare heart condition after collapsing after a preseason workout.

And Rutgers will be missing star Epiphanny Prince, who decided to forgo her senior season to play overseas.

Updated November 7, 2009