Over the past two years of UConn women’s basketball perfection, much has been made of the ease of victory and the wide margin of points the Huskies have scored during back-to-back championship seasons, an average of 25.4 points per game. This season’s opening game on Sunday against Holy Cross was no different, a 117-37 victory.

Tuesday night at the XL Center in Hartford, a crowd of 12,628 and a national television audience found out that watching the 2010-2011 edition of Geno Auriemma’s team could be a different experience.

Facing No. 2 Baylor and 6-8 center Brittney Griner, with a 79-game winning streak on the line, the No. 1 Huskies squandered a 15-point second half lead before being rescued by freshman point guard Bria Hartley. She hit a three-point shot to tie the game at 58 with just under four minutes remaining, and then put the Huskies ahead for good two minutes later with another three-pointer. Senior All-American Maya Moore’s 15-foot jump shot ended the Huskies’ scoring, but they held on to win 65-64 for UConn’s 80th consecutive win.

Auriemma said he was not sure his young group, which includes five freshmen, would be able to come back. “I don’t think they knew either, and that’s why it’s such a great scenario the way it played out,” he said.

Moore, who led all scorers with 30 points, was gratified to see her team tested so early in the season. “I thought we responded well. We did just enough to get it done,” she said. “At the end of the day, a W is a W. We’ll learn a lot from it. We made a lot of mistakes that are fixable. We’ll be able to see what we need to work on.”

Baylor coach Kim Mulkey said her team’s 24 turnovers, including 17 in the first half, caused self-inflicted problems for the Lady Bears.

“We turned the ball over way too many times and you can’t do that and beat teams like Connecticut,” Mulkey said. “We had them on the ropes in the second half, and we kept turning the ball over and just couldn’t make a basket. Towards the end of the game we went with the experienced players on the court. We missed some shots, but it’s early in the season and we know we have things to work on.

“UConn doesn’t have the same depth as they used to have in the past. They are younger this season and Geno finally needs to find the right players to put in and I compliment him because we couldn’t shut them down tonight and that just shows what kind of team Connecticut is.”

Entering the game, Auriemma had to solve the question of how to contain the intimidating presence of Griner, whose stellar shot blocking ability causes concern to every team. The Huskies started freshman center Stefanie Dolson, but after she picked up her second foul early in the first half, Auriemma substituted with freshman forward Samarie Walker, who began to push Griner out of position.

“Once we got out there, I totally forgot about the height difference and tried to play her like normal,” Walker said. “I was just thinking the whole time – don’t let her score. I know in our scouting report it says she wants to shoot over her right shoulder – so that’s where I was every time. I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous. But once I got out there and started playing defense, it all went away.”

Griner finished the game with 19 points, seven rebounds, and nine blocked shots.

Auriemma was pleased with Walker’s effort and encouraged by what is yet to come from her. “She’s a competitor. She’s big enough and strong enough physically that she can keep people from going where they want to go,” he said. “She’s quick to the ball and she’s a pretty good passer. Everything that Samarie isn’t good at, she hasn’t learned yet. There are things about her that you want her on the court.”

Dolson, who pulled down eight rebounds, and Walker, who had seven rebounds and four points, both fouled out of the game, which brought red-shirt sophomore Heather Buck in to hold off Griner for the last seven and a half minutes. Auriemma said he has been pushing Buck to improve her play this year, noting her tentative demeanor on the court.

“When she went in today, she had a little bit of spunk to her. Maybe that was an important seven minutes for her, because if those guys hadn’t fouled out, I might not have put her in,” he said.

He noted that Hartley, who finished with nine points, took more time than he had hoped she would to affect the game.

“Bria reacted exactly like I thought she would react, it just took a little longer,” he said. “That’s why I started her. She’s going to make some plays that are going to win the game, I just don’t know when … I don’t know if there’s been a bigger shot made in her life than the 3 that she made on the wing to tie the game. That had to be the greatest feeling in the world for her.”