Connecticut's quest for a sixth NCAA championship came to a stunning end Sunday night at the St. Pete Times Forum as Stanford shocked the Huskies, and probably the women's basketball world, with an 82-73 win.

UConn, the No. 1-ranked team in the country and the top-seeded team in the tournament, ended its season at 36-2.

Candice Wiggins, the newly crowned winner of the Wade Trophy as women's basketball player of the year, led the Cardinal (35-3) with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. But she wasn't the only one that the Huskies couldn't stop. Stanford's inside tandem of Jayne Appel and Kayla Pedersen scored 15 and 17 points, respectively.

Freshman Maya Moore, the Big East Player of the Year, scored 14 of her 20 points in the second half as UConn pulled within 47-46 with 14:10 to play, but Wiggins hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run to give Stanford a 57-46 lead.

UConn never got closer than five after that.

"This is a great win for our team and our program. I'm just so proud of everyone. They worked so hard," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Connecticut is a great team and Geno [Auriemma] is a great coach and we knew we'd have to play our absolute 'A' game. We boxed out pretty well on the boards, we took care of the ball well, our shot selection was good and we worked really well on defense. This is thrilling for me personally and for our team."

Renee Montgomery added 15 points for the Huskies, but shot just 4-of-18 from the floor, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Keita Swanier scored 13 points and Charde Houston had 10.