Connecticut has history in its sights in NCAA women's final NEW ORLEANS - Every team has ups and downs during a season. That's why journeys such as this are referred to as climbing the ladder of success. Not even the mighty Connecticut women's basketball program is immune to slipping once in a while. "I think we've mentioned it before, we can almost count on one hand what it felt like, how many practices we've had where everyone was there, that type of thing," Kelly Faris said. Then again, not every program is UConn, with the depth and capability to adapt to injuries and inconveniences as the Huskies have done in the first 38 games this season. "When you get to this point in the season, you know that everybody's had their ups and downs as well and some worse than others," Faris said. For the Huskies (34-4) there is only one more rung to climb this season to reach the ultimate high. On Tuesday at the New Orleans Arena they play Louisville (29-8) for the national championship. If UConn wins, it will be its eighth title, tying Geno Auriemma with Pat Summitt for the most in women's basketball. It will also leave Auriemma just two short of tying John Wooden's college basketball record of 10. And with a new five-year deal to start next season, and a rising group of freshmen, the possibilities are positive. To do this, the Huskies will need to turn Louisville's shiny chariot into a pumpkin. Impressive wins over No. 1 Baylor, Tennessee and California in the last three rounds have been a credit to the resolve of a well-coached team that believes anything is possible. "We think that we are not done with what we've come here to do, and that is to win a national championship," Louisville guard Shoni Schimmel said. And we're ready for anything. Why not go out with a bang? Louisville has lost 11 straight to UConn since its last win in 1993. It lost this season's Big East Conference meeting, 72-58, in Hartford on Jan. 15. But this time the Cardinals have shooters like Schimmel and Antonita Slaughter on a hot streak. "We didn't execute well," Louisville's Bria Smith said of the January game. But it's later in the season now and we know what's going to come with UConn, its game plan and everything. I think we are going to be more ready. Louisville has never won a women's national championship. It last played for one in 2009 when UConn beat the Cardinals in the final. "Our realistic expectation from the first day of practice was to be playing here," Louisville Coach Jeff Walz said. I thought we had a talented enough team and a deep enough team to get to the Final Four. But to an even greater extent than UConn, the Cardinals have dealt with crippling injuries to Asia Taylor (hip) Shawnta' Dyer (knee) and Tia Gibbs (hip). And they survived. Still, UConn is a formidable foe, one that gave up just under 50 points a game in its first five NCAA games. It is riding the emotional high of brushing off the burden of losing four straight to Notre Dame by beating the Fighting Irish in Sunday's semifinal. And the Huskies are playing well, led by freshman Breanna Stewart, the most outstanding player of the Bridgeport Regional, who scored a career-high 29 points in the win over Notre Dame. "I'm hoping she misses the bus [to the game]," Walz said with a smile. Stewart, the national high school player of the year in 2012, has scored 110 points in five NCAA tournament games, the most in program history. "For your teammates to be relying on you, well, that's what you want as a player," Stewart said. You want them to depend on you to make the big shots and do things like that.