INDIANAPOLIS -- When Sydney Wiese was 9 years old, Connecticut staged a practice prior to a 2004 game at Arizona State at the Phoenix-area high school gym where her father, Troy, was the girls basketball coach.



Wiese met legendary coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies, which sparked a dream of someday playing for the school.



"It was sort of a fairy-tale team to me," Wiese said.



Wiese was never recruited by UConn, though, instead prompting her to head to Oregon State and take part in the complete transformation of that program. And her story isn't entirely unique, with several Beavers players and coaches admiring the Huskies from afar throughout their reign as the sport's biggest power.



So that makes Sunday a fitting Final Four debut for OSU. The Beavers' next task during this historic season is attempting to pull off a colossal upset at Bankers Life Fieldhouse against a UConn team aiming to become the first in the sport's history to win four consecutive national titles.





"I'm going in no doubt, no fear," OSU All-American Jamie Weisner said. "That's just been my motto the whole time, anyway. They're just another basketball team. They aren't anything other than that.



"Obviously they have a legacy and they deserve all the credit they're getting, but we're a basketball team, too. I tie my shoes the same way Breanna Stewart ties her shoes."



There are plenty of ways to slice UConn's recent dominance. The Huskies (36-0) have won 73 consecutive games, all by double digits. They boast the three-time national Player of the Year in Stewart (19.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, four assists, 3.5 blocks and 1.9 steals per game), the 6-foot-4 forward with long arms whom OSU coach Scott Rueck says "shoots the 3 and has the pull-up and can post up and can run the floor like a gazelle." Complementing Stewart is the nation's Defensive Player of the Year in point guard Moriah Jefferson (12.6 points, 5.5 assists, 2.7 steals per game) and a third All-American in versatile post Morgan Tuck (13.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and three assists per contest).



As a team, UConn leads the nation in scoring offense (88.4 points per game), scoring defense (48.2 points allowed per game), field-goal percentage (52.9) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.84).



Those overwhelming performances have prompted recent discussion about if the Huskies are bad for the sport. Rueck believes the contrary, emphasizing that he uses that standard of excellence as motivation and inspiration.



"They have been the blueprint," Rueck said. "I mean, who doesn't want to do what they're doing? We're all striving for that...



"I'll be honest, if I were to watch a basketball game, I've told people, I would rather watch UConn than anybody. Men or women. The way that they transition, the way they share the basketball, the way they defend, I think they set a high bar in every way."



So the Beavers (32-4) clearly recognize and respect an opponent of such quality. Still, they are not wrapped up in the hubbub surrounding the nation's undisputed No. 1 team.



After all, OSU has a smothering defense that leads the nation in opponent field-goal percentage (31.7) and three All-Pac-12 performers in Weisner, Wiese and Ruth Hamblin. They've previously faced premier programs like Notre Dame, Tennessee, South Carolina and, less than a week ago, Baylor, holding off the Lady Bears in a dramatic 60-57 Elite Eight win in Dallas. And OSU did not panic as Baylor made its charge down the stretch, a component of an overall team demeanor that is part maturity, part fierce competitiveness and part playfulness that has benefited the Beavers during this lengthy NCAA Tournament run.



"Talk about giant killers and everybody puts UConn in that category. Baylor's a giant," Rueck said. "Let's not forget who Baylor is and where this team went (to beat them). I think going from that game into this one, you couldn't ask for a better lead-in game."



Added Wiese: "We have confidence knowing the experiences that we've had have culminated to lead to this moment. UConn will be the ultimate test for us, but we're excited for it. We're not gonna back down and really there's no pressure."



Like this entire Final Four experience, the Beavers are not afraid to acknowledge the magnitude of the opportunity to face this UConn team. Weisner said it's something she'll tell her children about in 20 years. For Wiese, sharing the floor with UConn players is a goal that was more than a decade in the making.



Yet it's also fitting that this is the next step on the Beavers' magical run through March, with the transformational program attempting to take down the sport's biggest power.



"It just kind of epitomizes what this program's about and what we've done," Weisner said. "I wouldn't say it's the last step, because if we beat them, there's one more step.



"But it would put a huge cap on my career and this whole season."



-- Gina Mizell | @ginamizell