SAN ANTONIO — Every basket built their streak, every romp enriched their legacy.

From the first shot of the season, it seemed inevitable that Maya Moore, Tina Charles and the Connecticut Huskies would win the NCAA championship.

And so they did Tuesday night, rallying from a horrible first half to beat Stanford 53-47 for their 78th straight victory and stamp themselves as one of the most dominant teams ever — in their sport or any other, men or women.

Held to only five points through the first 12 minutes and trailing 20-12 at the break, coach Geno Auriemma’s team bounced back and played like champs.

“We knew a run was coming,” said Maya Moore, the tournament’s outstanding player. “We settled down and hit some big shots.”

Did they ever. UConn surged to start the second half, bolting to an 11-point lead.

Moore scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to help Auriemma win his seventh national championship, moving within one title of Pat Summitt and Tennessee. He’s never lost in the title game.

“This one was by the far the hardest and most difficult,” Auriemma said. “Not because of what we went through, but we played a great team and they had a great game plan. It took everything we had to beat that team.”

The Huskies (39-0) are the first team ever to have consecutive unbeaten seasons.