Bridgeport — Geno Auriemma was asked early Sunday afternoon whether he's spoken to the newcomers on the team about the pressures of the NCAA tournament, especially now that the Bridgeport Regional Final and a potential 14th straight trip to the Final Four looms.

"I've gotten to this point by not talking to them," Auriemma said with a laugh. "Sometimes you can put a seed in their head that you think is good and it turns out not so good. So I think you've just got to let them play."

No. 1 N.C. State and No. 2 UConn meet in the NCAA tournament Elite 8 Monday at Total Mortgage Arena (7 p.m., ESPN) and both coaches, N.C. State's Wes Moore and UConn's Auriemma, are bringing the same philosophy.

N.C. State, a 66-63 winner over No. 5 Notre Dame in the Sweet 16, is 32-3. UConn, which beat No. 3 Indiana 75-58, fueled by a 16-0 run to start the third quarter, is 28-5. And the coaches don't want the teams, both regular-season and conference tournament champions, to alter what got them here.

"There's something we talk about all the time," said Auriemma, whose team is making its 16th straight regional final appearance. "If you play every game, which is, believe me, not easy to do. But if you play every game in the NCAA tournament like it's the national championship game ... I want them to treat Monday's game exactly the way we treated last Monday's. Hopefully they don't have to do anything different than they've been doing."

"We're fortunate enough we've got a veteran team and they've all been here several times," Moore said. "I think the preparation, you don't really change anything. You want the process to be the same as it's been all year."

Both teams showed the resilience and experience to master Saturday's Sweet 16 undertaking.

UConn was led, in part, by seniors Christyn Williams (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) and Olivia Nelson-Ododa (10 points, 14 rebounds), who helped the Huskies to a 39-27 rebounding advantage. N.C. State, meanwhile, got a steal and a layup from graduate student Raina Perez with 14 seconds left for a somewhat miraculous finish by the Wolfpack, who once trailed by double figures.

N.C. State's five starters, three graduates, a senior and a junior, have all played 90-or-more career games and have combined for a career total of 6,600 points, more than any other team in the Elite 8.

By comparison, UConn's five have 4,592 career points, but the Huskies are not far behind when you consider that Auriemma's team has two more 1,000-point scorers coming off the bench in fifth-year senior Evina Westbrook (1,322) and graduate Dorka Juhasz (1,207).

UConn and N.C. State will be meeting for the fifth time in the NCAA tournament. UConn won its first-ever regional final against the Wolfpack and legendary coach Kay Yow in Philadelphia in 1991, but also lost a regional final to Yow and Co. in 1998 in Dayton, Ohio.

The teams' last meeting came during the 2007 regional final in Freso, Calif., with UConn taking a 78-71 victory.

This is their first meeting with Moore as N.C. State's head coach.

"They're solid. They're experienced. They know how to win," Auriemma said, asked what challenges the Wolfpack present. "They play great together. They don't seem fazed by anything. They had 9 million reasons to lose that game (Saturday) and they ended up winning it. It just goes to show you their resolve and their ability to just play and play the whole 40 minutes."

N.C. State swept the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season and tournament titles this season for the third time in program history and the first time since 1985. It was the first regular-season championship since 1990.

Elissa Cunane, the team's 6-foot-5 senior center was named ACC tournament Most Valuable Player. Moore was honored as the league's coach of the year, sophomore Diamond Johnson took Sixth Player of the Year honors and Cunane earned first team All-ACC honors.

Cunane leads the Wolfpack, vying for their first Final Four appearance since 1998, with 13.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

"Honestly, I don't really feel like there's pressure on us," Cunane said. "I feel like as a team we just want to prove what we can do and play to the best of our ability. That's not because it's been a drought (since 1998) ... but we want to do it for this team that we've worked so hard for this year and for our coaches and for the fans and for everybody."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

No. 1 N.C. State vs. No. 2 UConn

NCAA tournament Elite 8

Location: Total Mortgage Arena, Bridgeport

Tip: 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Records: UConn 28-5, N.C. State 32-3

Last game: UConn beat No. 3 Indiana in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 Saturday 75-58; N.C. State beat No. 5 Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament Sweet 16 Saturday 66-63.

Last game's starters: UConn, 6-3 F Aaliyah Edwards (7.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg), 6-5 F Olivia Nelson-Ododa (9.5 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.8 bpg), 5-11 G Paige Bueckers (13.8 ppg, 4.2 apg, 1.6 spg), 5-11 G Christyn Williams (14.5 ppg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg), 5-11 G Azzi Fudd (12.4 ppg).

N.C. State, 6-1 F Kayla Jones (8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.1 apg), 6-5 C Elissa Cunane (13.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg), 5-4 G Raina Perez (8.8 ppg, 2.8 apg, 1.1 spg), 5-8 G Kai Crutchfield (6.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 1.1 spg), 6-0 G/F Jakia Brown-Turner (9.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg).

Noteworthy: N.C. State, despite being the top-seeded team in the Bridgeport Region, finds itself in the unenviable position of having to beat No. 2 UConn in front of a Huskies-centric crowd at Total Mortgage Arena. Many of the Wolfpack players, however, have been in tough situations on the road before including a win last year at top-ranked South Carolina, something which gives them confidence, senior center Elissa Cunane said. "I think tomorrow is a home game for them. There's no question about that," Cunane said. "We've gone to South Carolina and beat them at their home, Indiana this year. We're capable of beating a great team on their home court, so we know we're capable of doing it tomorrow." Said N.C. State coach Wes Moore, told of Cunane's response: "No doubt that gives me confidence, so hopefully it gives them confidence. Hopefully it gives the players confidence that it doesn't really matter. We're going against five at a time." ... UConn dominated the boards in Saturday's Sweet 16 victory over Indiana, outrebounding the Hoosiers 39-27. Senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa finished with 14 rebounds and sophomore Aaliyah Edwards had 10, with the two combining for 10 offensive rebounds. The Huskies were 31-for-67 shooting (46.3%), attempting 19 more shots than Indiana, which went 23-for-48 (47.9%). "I do think as you go on in this tournament, really the thing that separates the teams that win and the teams that lose is your ability to get more shots than the other team gets," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Shots are going to be hard to make in tomorrow's game and the more of them you get, the better chance you have. We have the ability to be a really, really good rebounding team and (Saturday) we showed it." ... UConn has been to an unprecedented 16 regional finals. Next on the list, according to research by ESPN, are Louisiana Tech (1982-90) with nine and Tennessee (2002-08) with seven. ... N.C. State and UConn will begin a regular-season series next year, with the Wolfpack returning to Connecticut. "I don't know why, but I've agreed to a series with UConn," Moore said with a laugh. "In case y'all want to come back and see me again, I'll be holding a press conference again." ... N.C. State has won 13 games in a row, with its last loss coming Feb 1 at Notre Dame (69-66). UConn has also won 13 straight, last falling Feb. 9 against Villanova (72-69). ... N.C. State guard Kai Crutchfield's dad, Buddy, is a former NFL cornerback for the Washington Redskins and New York Jets.

— Vickie Fulkerson