Can it be an inspiring upset when the number one team in the country wins at home, on TV, before a packed house?

Sure it can-- and it was certainly a surprise: with two starters lost for the year and Brittany Hunter still unavailable, the Huskies faced the prospect of exhaustion against the athletic Tar Heels, who had beaten them three times in a row.

UNC executed perfectly at the start, scoring the first eight and controlling the glass; it felt like 2005. At halftime the visitors led by eleven.

But halftime changed everything. Montgomery-- who lit up the scoreboard with 26-- kept her focus, while UNC's guards lost theirs. Tina Charles-- outmuscled early by Larkins-- took charge; UConn's game plan-- above all, keep Larkins from shooting-- began to pay off.

Above all, Charde Houston responded: her second half included the best basketball of her career so far. "Having Mel [Thomas], with her leg [elevated], yelling [encouragement] at me," Charde recalled, "that really touched my heart."

When you're tacitly expected to win everything every year, the biggest shocks are usually the letdowns (or, worse yet, the injuries). This time, though, the fans in Gampel (and the fans, and the haters, on ESPN) saw UConn win a game many people expected they'd lose. Some fans call it the Huskies' finest hour ever, which might be a stretch. But it was sure fun to watch-- except for those among us in Tar Heel blue.