By JOHN ALTAVILLA, jaltavilla@courant.com The Hartford Courant

December 1, 2012, 4:55 p.m.

Let's face it: UConn has had better weeks. The ACC made the athletic department feel like it was the chubby kid on the playground picked last for kickball; depressed, humiliated, totally conspicuous.

The Big 12 picks … West Virginia. The Big Ten picks … Rutgers. The ACC picks … Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville.

If you raid the Big East, or what remains of it, and you don't you pick UConn, with its combined 10 national championships in basketball, that doesn't go over very well here, where basketball is king.

But things are still pretty cool with the women's basketball program, as they usually are at this time of year. The Huskies extended their November winning streak to 46, dating to a loss to North Carolina on Nov. 21, 2004.

UConn is 6-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation heading to Monday's "Jimmy V" game against Maryland at the XL Center.

These Huskies don't represent a conference as much as a lifestyle for the talented and aspiring.

Some other things have also become clear:

Numbers

UConn is averaging 92.0 points and has allowed 43.3. Both are on track to become program records. The Huskies have hit 100 points twice already, while three opponents haven't made it to 40.

UConn is shooting 57.9 percent from the field while holding opponents to 28.3. Both are on track to become program records.

The Huskies have made 44.1 percent of their three-pointers and won games by an average margin of 48.7 points. Both are on track to be mighty impressive.

In their first six games, they have had 27 players score in double-figures. Only nine opponents have done the same.

Surprises

There is no way to understate how improved sophomore guard Brianna Banks appears to be. She scored a career-high 20 points Wednesday against Colgate, shooting 6 of 10 from the field, 4 of 5 from three.

She is shooting 64.5 percent from the floor, 53.8 percent from three and speeding around the floor with the confidence the coaching staff knew was there.

As a freshman, she was 3 of 24 from three (12.5 percent) and shot 46 of 91 from the floor (50.5 percent).

She looks more and more like Kalana Greene every day, with a better perimeter game than Greene had as a younger player.

Superlatives

It is hard to list all the ways freshman Breanna Stewart has affected UConn. But let's start with these: depth, perimeter play, shot-blocking, rebounding and intimidation.

Stewart leads the team in scoring (16.8) even though she is averaging just 21.2 minutes. She has proved to be all that was promised in just about every facet but defense, which always seems to be a problem with the freshman.