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CHAPEL HILL -- Top-ranked UConn blistered second-ranked North Carolina 88-58 Monday night in the kind of game that goes a long way in women's basketball. Coming out of this one, there were several indications of what's to come.

If there's a better women's team in America than Connecticut, it's certainly not UNC. If there's a chance Carolina wins the national title this year, it won't be against UConn. The perceived gap between the top-ranked Huskies and the rest of the schools in the NCAA has become a chasm.

With winter weather threatening to blanket the area and providing an air of urgency for the season's first clash between No. 1 and No. 2, the visiting Huskies made short work of Carolina, bolting to a 15-4 lead before the first television timeout and leading by as many as 20 in the early minutes of the second half.

By then, the festive atmosphere had faded. A national audience and the governor and 12,772 people watching inside the spacious Dean E. Smith Center had arrived assuming the nation's second-best team would give the Huskies a game. Within minutes, it was apparent that wouldn't be the case.

"They came into our house and showed us how to play basketball," Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell said.

UConn was faster, stronger and better equipped to handle the hot lights of the nation's first big game. The 18-0 Huskies were quicker than the UNC guards, and the inside players were bigger and better than Carolina's.

This one was over as soon as UConn scored.

Geno Auriemma said he was not all that impressed with the final score. The UConn coach said he was more impressed that his team overcame the loss of its star freshman, point guard Caroline Doty on Saturday, and still played hard.

Senior Renee Montgomery said she had a feeling sophomore Lorin Dixon would play well in Doty's place.

"This was going to be speed vs. speed," Montgomery said. "She's one of the fastest players in the country."

That was the key to everything.

"I think it took them by surprise that we're that fast," Auriemma said.

UConn hadn't played in a 1 vs. 2 game since 2003 when the Huskies defeated top-ranked Duke 77-65 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. This was the 11th time they'd played in such a game, and the Huskies are now 9-2 in those games, six of them coming against Tennessee.

Carolina is now 2-25 against teams ranked No. 1 in the AP poll but is one of the few teams in the country with an all-time edge over the Huskies. UNC has won five games against UConn and lost four. Three of the meetings, all losses, have come when the Huskies were ranked No. 1.

The coaches had downplayed the significance of the event in their own fashion, Auriemma insisting it was just another game on the schedule and Hatchell grudgingly admitting it was good for women's basketball. But outside the conference games, this showdown was huge for both programs and both coaches.

The current UConn-UNC series started with Carolina winning four of the six meetings with a program that seemed on the rise and headed for another UNC national title.

This season no longer has that feel.

"They're a great, great team," Hatchell said. "I wish we could've given them a better game. They compete hard, and they are very, very physical. This is the way a game is going to be if you get into the NCAA tournament and play for a national championship."

UConn is seasoned and built for a championship run. The young Tar Heels, who sent four players off last year's team to the WNBA, are rebuilding around recruits brought in for UNC's unique style. The flashy Heels will almost certainly be better by tournament time, possibly even good enough for a Final Four run.

"They were just a notch higher than we were in how intense and hard they played," Hatchell said. "They played harder than we did."

Auriemma said not many teams will beat the Tar Heels this season.

"This doesn't mean Carolina can't win the national championship," he said.

Hatchell said right now, UConn is playing at a level no other team can play.

"I don't know how much better they can get," she said. "We can get a lot better. And so can a lot of other teams."

But the Huskies, who have five national titles, haven't won one since 2004.

It's only January, and a lot can happen between now and the first week in April, but the second week in January left no false impressions.

The rankings are right.

UConn is No. 1.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com