Ogwumike Focused, Living In the Moment For Stanford - Stanford junior All-American Nneka Ogwumike did not bite when she was asked about The Streak today. Remember what happened to Ohio State after Jantel Lavender said she wanted to stand in the way of a potential 88-game winning streak and did not want to be part of a trivia question? UConn 81, Ohio State 50.

Ogwumike said the Cardinal do think about The Streak a bit, but only from the standpoint of what it has meant to women’s basketball.

“In the sense that it’s a great accomplishment for women’s basketball, yeah,’’ Ogwumike said. “But I wouldn’t say that we are saying `we wish that was us’ or `we need to stop it.’ We’re just focusing more on ourselves. Obviously, that’s something great. Especially for women’s basketball, to be able to achieve something like that given the lack of I guess attention that women’s sports get. I guess we just kind of saw that … That was a great accomplishment.

“Obviously, a lot of people want to beat UConn because they’re a great team. But I wouldn’t say that our focus is, `Oh, let’s stop the streak.’ I guess we’re more so focused on playing our best and getting better as a team.’’

Ogwumike is the best player on a team that is talented enough to win the national championship. With five players 6-foot-2 or taller in their primary rotation, UConn coach Geno Auriemma called the ninth-ranked Cardinal the biggest team in the country. They are certainly the biggest team the Huskies – and freshmen post players Stefanie Dolson and Samarie Walker – will face this season.

Ogwumike, who is averaging 14.7 points and 10.3 rebounds with two double-doubles in three career games against UConn, said this Stanford team is the most talented she has been a part of in her career. It is one that is playing with confidence and one she said that is looking to make a point against UConn.

“I think that would be safe to say, yes,’’ Ogwumike said. “Obviously, UConn is a great team. I do feel like we are forgotten. People underestimate us, which can also be really helpful in the sense that we can come out and just come out and play as hard as we do. But I must say that there are a lot of good teams out here on the West Coast that go unrecognized.’’

This will be the first meeting between the teams since UConn’s 53-47 win in the NCAA tournament final last April in San Antonio. Stanford led 20-12 at halftime before Maya Moore powered a 17-2 run to start the second half.

The game is not something that Ogwumike admits she and her teammates spend a lot of time thinking about.

“I’m not a muller,’’ Ogwumike said. “I don’t mull over things. That was the last time we played them so we look back and see what we can do better. But at the same time we’re also focusing on we’re doing at this moment to really get on top.’’

Here’s what Ogwumike had to say about the way Stanford regrouped after suffering back-to-back losses on the road to DePaul Dec. 16 and Tennessee Dec. 19 …

“We don’t usually lose,’’ Ogwumike said. “It was not fun, obviously. At the same time we just kind of focused on figuring out who we are and we knew that those two games weren’t like us. The second one (an 82-72 loss to Tennessee in OT) was better than the first (a 91-71 loss to DePaul). But, obviously, we didn’t win either. We just kind of sat back and relaxed and tried to just figure things out. We weren’t trying to pounce on it and just be real erratic with things. I think (Coach) Tara (VanDerveer) did a really good job of keeping us real relaxed and just figuring out who we are as a team. So I guess just kind of picking ourselves up from that was something that we needed to experience and I think we did a really good job of kind of helping each other out.’’

Moore is averaging 20.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 31 games against ranked opponents during The Streak. She is averaging 21.8 and 9.8, respectively, in five career games against Stanford.

“If Maya struggles a lot against a good team, we’re going to struggle,’’ Auriemma said. “If Maya struggles tomorrow night and can’t play to the level that we’re used to seeing her play we’re going to lose. Everybody knows that. But she’s been remarkably consistent. And I think there’s a confidence level that our players have because we’ve got someone like Maya who can take a lot of the pressure off of them offensively. I think they play with a little more confidence than if we didn’t have her.’’

Auriemma’s comment after watching tape of Stanford’s 89-52 rout of No. 4 Xavier Tuesday: “If they’re as good as they looked yesterday I don’t think anybody’s going to beat them the rest of the year.’’