Storrs — If March basketball stands for anything else other than madness, it's this: finality. You lose, you're done. But Monday night, even in victory, there's finality for some UConn Huskies.

The No. 1 women's team in the country plays ninth-seeded Duquesne at Gampel Pavilion, with a thanks-to-television tip of 9 p.m. Win or lose, it's the final home game for seniors Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson, who may make history in a few weeks, leaving as the only class in the history of the game to win four national titles.

It's likely the final game for Morgan Tuck, too, as she decides whether to complete her final year of eligibility at UConn or declare for the WNBA Draft.

Just don't expect the players to focus on anything other than Duquesne. Sentiment comes later.

Stewart, when asked after Saturday's win over Robert Morris about how the team keeps its focus, cracked, "we don't listen to you guys too much," alluding to the media.

There was even some finality on Saturday at Gampel: The final game in the 38-year coaching career of Robert Morris coach Sal Buscaglia. It even elicited a question to UConn coach Geno Auriemma about his future plans.

"I'd probably stay in coaching. The worst thing about winning a lot is winning a lot. The worst thing about winning championship is winning championships, because once you do, nothing else is sufficient," Auriemma said on the podium. "So if you've never been where we've been, how can you miss it? You just keep being Don Quixote, searching and searching, going and going, until one day you say you're done with coaching.

"I know a lot of my friends who have been coaching longer than Sal that are still out there every day trying to get their first title."

Included in that list would be Duquesne coach Dan Burt, whose team defeated Seton Hall 97-76 in Saturday's other game at Gampel. The Dukes (28-5) lost a close game to George Washington two weeks ago in the Atlantic 10 title game.

Duquesne fans chanted "We want UConn!" in the closing moments of the victory over Seton Hall.

"We completely embrace the challenge of playing UConn, 100 percent," Burt said. "We're excited about it. It's been our goal. They're the most dominant, best team in the world. We're going to play free. We're going to have fun. We're going to see where we stand."

m.dimauro@theday.com