Storrs – Geno Auriemma often gets quizzical looks when he refers to this empire he’s created as “fragile.” But, you know, he didn’t get to be Geno just by wearing snazzy suits. And his point was illustrated rather glaringly Monday night Gampel Pavilion.

In one moment, the handful of fans in attendance at the NCAA tournament second-round game might have wondered if their Final Four plans had just gone poof. That’s when Breanna Stewart collided, somewhat violently, face to face with Rachel Hollivay of Rutgers. Stewart hit the deck to what had become a silent arena.

Stewart lay on her back, teammates around her. She eventually made it to her feet, but didn’t spend much more time on the floor, later victimized by her second foul.

And then in a knockout game, the Huskies were facing life without their best player for at least the balance of the first half. Life without Stewart teetered, if ever so briefly. But the Huskies used a run late in the first half to dispatch Rutgers, 91-55, and move to the Sweet 16 for the 22nd straight season and 23rd time overall.

The Huskies (34-1) advanced to Saturday’s Albany Region semifinals for a date with Texas at noon at the Times Union Arena.

“I told the players in the locker room that what we did in the game was pretty impressive, when you consider how the game was played and that Stewie only played four minutes in the first half,” Auriemma said. “It looked like we really didn’t miss a beat. I’m really proud of the way we handled ourselves. I couldn’t be happier for this group. They deserve it.”

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis led the Huskies with 23 points, playing her final game at Gampel Pavilion. Mosqueda-Lewis left to a standing ovation with a little more than six minutes left. Mosqueda-Lewis made five 3-pointers and is six threes shy of tying the NCAA record of 392.

“I felt like they were going to bang up our big guys a little bit,” Mosqueda-Lewis said. “It’s up to us guards to make something happen.”

Moriah Jefferson had 19 points for the Huskies, eclipsing 1,000 points in her career. Morgan Tuck had 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Gabby Williams scored 11.

To think that some programs would give their coaching staffs a raise for reaching merely one Sweet 16. Consider the Huskies have made it every year since 1994. UConn has made the Elite Eight 20 times and has reached the Final Four 15 times, every year since 2008.

“I thought it was a good time to talk to our players about that after the game,” Auriemma said. “Sometimes, you take it for granted. You realize that if it was that easy a lot more people would have done it. It’s not easy.

“We do certain things to put ourselves in a position to win these games,” Auriemma said. “I want them to know it’s not just because we’re Connecticut or because the NCAA is just going to give it up us. We have to earn it every year. … Twenty-two years in a row. I don’t even know what to say. … When you look back on it, sometimes it leaves you in awe of how much we’ve done.”

Rutgers (23-10) moved within six at 24-18 midway through the first half, even prompting Auriemma to call a rare timeout under what passes for duress now for Connecticut: a six-point lead. The Huskies responded with an 11-0 run, capped by one of five three-pointers from Mosqueda-Lewis.

Stewart, who started the second half, had one point at halftime and didn’t make her first shot until 12:42 remained in the game. Meanwhile, her team had scored 51 in the first half, thanks to 51 percent shooting. Williams came off the bench to score seven and add four rebounds. In the first half when the Huskies essentially won the game, Mosqueda-Lewis and Jefferson combined for six 3-pointers.

Stewart finished with eight points, failing to score at least 10 points for the first time in her postseason career.

Fifth-seeded Texas (24-10) advanced to the regional semifinals by defeating No. 4 California at Cal on Sunday night. The Longhorns will be among the biggest teams UConn has seen this season, led by 6-foot-7 Omani McGee-Stafford and 6-foot-5 Kelsey Lang.

McGee-Stafford has played as well as any center in the postseason. She had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Cal and has 79 points (15.8 per game), 55 rebounds (11 per game) in five postseason games this season, including the Big XII Tournament.

The regional final is next Monday night in Albany. The Huskies would advance to the Final Four in Tampa, where they competed in 2008, and lost to Stanford.

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter: @BCgenius