Overall No. 1 seed UConn, you may have noticed, is mowing a wide swath through women's college hoops. What's their secret? Simple: They're abominably talented, with depth enough to afford everyone frequent breaks (only one player has played a full 40-minute game, and that only happened once this season). Oh, and they're programmed to not get tired:
With only 11 players, coach Geno Auriemma choreographs practices with precision, making sure the work gets done without exacting a major toll.
To do that, he has mixed in male practice players and given players with nagging conditions, such as Caroline Doty (knee) and Lorin Dixon (hamstring), occasional days to rest. And through 33 games, the strategy seems to be paying off.
As their current win streak first breaks and now threatens to shatter their own consecutive victories record with a successful tournament run, yes, "paying off" would be a fair assessment. "Meticulously calibrated killing machine" would be my choice of words.