Only 40 minutes stand between Stanford and their third national championship.

By downing the top-ranked Connecticut Huskies, 82-73, in the semifinals in Tampa on Sunday, the Cardinal secured its first finals berth since 1992 and extended its nation-best winning streak to 23 games.

It was a performance for the ages.

The Cardinal never trailed, and extinguished Connecticut runs almost as soon as they started. Stanford players hit their shots, their defense was impeccable and the team was able to control the boards, one of the most crucial aspects of the game, especially against a stellar rebounding team like the Huskies.

Remarkably, it was guard Candice Wiggins who led the Cardinal on the glass, pulling down 13 rebounds en route to her second double-double of the tournament. She also contributed 25 points, a game high, including two crucial three-pointers from the corner in the second half.

Connecticut had cut Stanford’s seven-point halftime lead to just one, and momentum seemed to be swinging in the Huskies’ favor. But Wiggins’s two baskets on consecutive possessions pushed the Cardinal lead back to seven, and Connecticut couldn’t close the gap for the rest of the game.

“I just caught it and just made a few threes. I think that really helped our team’s confidence, where the pressure wasn’t on us,” said Wiggins. “And I think just our drive and our will not to let them come up — we stuck together.”

“They’re going to make their runs and it’s a lot easier to run when you have a lot of momentum,” said sophomore center Jayne Appel, who had a double-double of her own with 15 points and ten rebounds. “When they went on a run we kind of picked it up on our end and countered that back.”

While Stanford’s two stars shined once again, it was freshman forward Kayla Pedersen who provided the most consistent offensive force for the Cardinal. In addition to her post game, she showed off her range, taking (and hitting) multiple shots from over 15 feet out, including one three-pointer.

“I think it gives us so much confidence as teammates to look at Kayla and know that every single game she’s going to go her hardest and she’s got this focus and this will to win,” said Wiggins.

The Cardinal dominated throughout the first half, setting the tone for the rest of the game. They were economic with the ball, only turning it over once, and held the Husky offense in check — Connecticut’s star freshman guard Maya Moore didn’t score until nearly 13 minutes had gone by. She would go on to lead the Huskies with 20 points, but she was hardly the dominant presence that she had been throughout the season. Connecticut leaned on guard Renee Montgomery, but she shot a woeful 4-18 from the field, including 1-9 from beyond the arc.

Stanford was able to control the pace of the game to their advantage — they ran when needed, but for the most part, slowed the game down and took their time on offense, routinely running the shot clock down into single-digits. This worked against Connecticut, a team that likes to keep the game moving fairly quickly. And when Connecticut was able to manage the game to their strengths, they were unable to finish.

“They played better. They executed their offense better and we didn’t make our shots,” said Moore.

“They were perfect out there. I have never seen a team run so smoothly on the offensive and defensive end,” said freshman forward Kalli McClaren.

It was a sharp contrast from Stanford and Connecticut’s early season matchup, when the Huskies ran the Cardinal out of the arena as they rolled to a 66-54 victory.

But Wiggins noticed a silver lining in that loss.

“They changed the whole dynamic of our team. And so we grouped together before this game and we said: ‘Let’s see how much better we’ve gotten,’ “ she said. “We’re not the same team we were in November.”

Indeed, Stanford has transformed over the course of the year — instead of relying on their big three (Wiggins, Appel and Pedersen) to contribute the brunt of the work, they are able to find contributions from all players on the floor, such as Rosalyn Gold-Onwude, JJ Hones and Jillian Harmon.

Harmon in particular had a nice game off the bench, scoring nine points and pulling down four boards, including three on the offensive end.

“Jill has been due for a really good game,” said Appel. “I think she really came off the bench and had some really key plays for us and rebounds.”

“We knew we would have to play our absolute A game,” coach Tara VanDerveer said.

And that they did, much to the chagrin of Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma, whose emotional press conference summed up the Huskies’ feelings.

“There’s no words to describe what it means to put everything, your heart and soul into something and come up short.”

Connecticut’s season ends, but Stanford still has 40 minutes to make history.