Nashville, Tenn. - UConn is expected to beat Stanford (again) in tonight's national semifinal. Few would deny that.

The Huskies are expected to face off with fellow unbeaten Notre Dame in Monday's national championship game.

Cue Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer.

"Connecticut and Notre Dame have earned the right to be No. 1 seeds," VanDerveer said. "I think the media has kind of put them in the championship game to make it some Cinderella ball. Wouldn't it be great to see these two undefeated teams?

"But myself and (Maryland coach) Brenda Frese, us and Maryland, we're here. If we're going to be someone's hors d'oeuvres, we're not going to get swallowed easily."

So Stanford refuses to be UConn's appetizer. Got it. Still, how can the Cardinal beat UConn tonight at Bridgestone Arena (9 p.m. ESPN) when they couldn't before?

The Huskies beat Stanford at home, 76-57, back on Nov. 11. They're the defending national champions. They're 38-0. They have Dolson and Hartley and Stewart, oh, my.

A team evolves during a season, so the Stanford that UConn saw in November is nothing like today's 33-3 team.

"Lili Thompson got inserted into the starting lineup and she's a fearless freshman," ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo said. "I just really, really like her. They kind of have that bevy of 6-2 girls with the ponytail that can all shoot threes. Early in the season, they were trying to figure out which one they were going to use. They settled on Bonnie Samuelson, and she's shot really well in the tournament (14-of-30 3-pointers)."

Senior forward and likely-to-be-number-one-WNBA-pick Chiney Ogwumike is the Cardinal's catalyst. She's averaged 26.4 points and 12.1 rebounds.

"Chiney is going to be a huge factor around the basket on both ends of the floor," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And I don't know that there's anybody in the country individually that can guard her. So you know you're going to have to deal with that somehow or another. And they're going to take a ton of threes. That's always been the case."

Few teams have the luxury of putting three quality players 6-foot-4 or taller on the floor at the same time. UConn does with starters Stefanie Dolson (6-5), Breanna Stewart (6-4) and reserve Kiah Stokes (6-4).

"I'd feel like we match up very well (in the frontcourt) if I'm Stanford," ESPN analyst Kara Lawson said. "I think (forward Mikaela) Ruef has continued to improve and is playing well.

"I'd feel good that I have a player that can match up with Stewart (Ogwumike). Stewart tends to be kind of the x-factor because nobody has a player that can kind of match up with her. Stanford is really the one team left that does have a player that can match up with her. That's checking a box that most teams can't check."

ESPN analyst Doris Burke stressed three things when discussing what Stanford needed to do.

"You need to play 40 minutes, not 39 minutes and 45 seconds," Burke said. "Every second of every minute that is available. They're going to test you. We've seen teams play them even for long stretches, but then you take that breath, they capitalize. They capitalize on a quick shot, a missed boxout. They're relentless with their focus, effort and energy.

"The second thing: no self-inflicted wounds. Minimize turnovers. You have to score. Connecticut, even though they're not shooting the ball well, they can still score.

"The final thing, you have to step between the lines with full faith. Look them in the eye: I can beat you. That may be hardest part, not suffering a moment of doubt."

Doubt was something Stanford didn't express on Saturday.

"We're not intimidated. We're excited," Ogwumike said. "We're different. We're improved, and we're confident and we're going to play together and play tough."

n.griffen@theday.com