MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Sometimes the underdog comes out on top. Sometimes the team no one gave a chance pulls together enough talent and luck and squeezes out the victory no one thought they were capable of claiming.

Sometimes, however, a team on a 71-game winning streak gets their 72nd, a team with 15 conference championships gets their 16th, and an underdog is forced to play out their role in the entire scenario exactly how everyone predicted they would.

Unfortunately for the West Virginia University women’s basketball team, they had to live out the latter on Tuesday night in the XL Arena in Hartford, Connecticut. Whereas the Huskies were poised to win their 16th title, it was just West Virginia’s second trip to the final game, their first also ending in a loss to Connecticut on their home court.

If all you saw of the UConn Huskies’ 60-32 win over the Mountaineers was that final score, you would most likely assume that the rout was on from the opening tip and West Virginia never had a chance. Your assumption would only be partially correct.

UConn did jump out to a 17-point lead in the first half, but it was without much help from the team’s top two performers, Maya Moore and Tina Charles. The All-BIG EAST performers combined to shoot just 3-17 in the first 20 minutes, but guards Tiffany Hayes and Kalana Greene more than made up for the lack of production on the interior with 19 points between the two by the half.

The problem was, West Virginia was struggling to make shots even more than the Huskies were. Sarah Miles and Liz Repella were also just a combined 3-17 from the field, but no one else on the team was taking many shots at all, much less making them.

Trailing just ten as they went into the locker room, the Mountaineers had to have felt good about their chances of improving their shooting in the second half and getting back into the game against a UConn team that had yet to play like they were capable of.

So WVU went on an 8-3 run to open the half and pull within five and the Huskies were scrambling to find a way to stop the quick spurt that included five quick points from Repella. But after Natalie Burton connected on just one of her two free throw attempts with 15 minutes remaining, UConn remembered how to play basketball, and West Virginia completely forgot. With the score 33-28, UConn score 27 of the game’s final 31 points to dismantle whatever game plan the Mountaineers had come with.

“We cut it to five and had a couple bad shots, and they got a couple offensive rebounds," Head coach Mike Carey said. "Then the game

got very, very physical and we're not going to win that battle with them."

So the Mountaineers took shots from the outside, even when they weren’t the slightest bit open. When they were, however, like on consecutive attempts by Repella and Korinne Campbell, they were badly missed. On the other side of the court, Moore and Charles had finally found a bit of the touch that had been missing in the first half and finished with 10 and 12 points, respectively.

Hayes and Greene each poured in 15 points, while Greene’s 12 rebounds also represented a game-high.

“We had breakdowns on defense, offense," said Repella, who led WVU with 10 points. "You can't have those breakdowns and play with UConn.”

Despite handling whatever West Virginia had thrown at his team with relative ease, Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said after the game that this Mountaineers team will cause other squads a fit in the games they have left to play this year.

"You saw what they've done the last three nights," said Auriemma of the Mountaineers. "DePaul's a good offensive team, they shut Rutgers down and did essentially the same thing against us. I wouldn't want to play them in the NCAA tournament."

It is safe to say that West Virginia feels the same exact way about Connecticut. Luckily, with a likely 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, it won’t be until a later round that the Mountaineers would ever have to face the nation’s best team. Maybe if they can get another meeting with the Huskies, the third time will be the charm.

Or maybe Connecticut will prove yet again that they are the number one team in the land for a very good reason.