For 17 straight games the starting five was pretty much a foregone conclusion. However, in a matter of seconds that may have changed as starting shooting guard Caroline Doty reinjured her surgically-repaired left knee late in the first half.

Until we get the results from the MRI on Doty's knee, we will not know her status. It was called a knee sprain initially but that is standard operating procedure until the results of the MRI come in.

At first glance, Doty's injury bore little resemblance to some of the previous ACL injuries I have seen. There seemed to be little doubt when Kalana Greene and Mel Thomas went down last year. They had the hard pivots which led to the severe injuries. Doty was trying to control the ball when she suddenly grabbed her knee. There were no quick movements, no hard plants putting pressure on her knee ligaments. However, since she tore the anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee in September of 2007, the likelihood of it being another ACL tear can not be ignored no matter how innocent it looked. I still remember Shea Ralph walking with no difficulty after injuring her knee as a senior. I remember saying at the time that she probably would be fine. Well, she never played another game for the Huskies. That won't be the case for Doty, who has a bright future for the Huskies.

If she can't go, there seem to be three feasible options for UConn. UConn coach Geno Auriemma started Kaili McLaren in the second half and indicated that would be the direction he would go on Monday against North Carolina. Certainly it will make UConn tougher to handle inside but will force Maya Moore to move out of the power forward position she was playing so well and will leave the Huskies with no post players to bring off the bench.

Auriemma could go the same route he went in last year's UConn/North Carolina game. Thomas, the starting shooting guard for Connecticut, saw her UConn career end with a knee injury against Syracuse. Auriemma plugged Lorin Dixon in at point guard in the next two games against Cincinnati and North Carolina and moved Renee Montgomery over to shooting guard. Considering the pressure UConn will face against North Carolina, Dixon could play a key ballhandling role. In last year's game against Carolina, Dixon had just one turnover in 23 minutes in one of the 10 games she started as a freshman. Just a fact to keep in mind.

Or the option that seems to make the most sense is to use Tiffany Hayes in Doty's spot. She offers some of the 3-point threat that Doty brought although she is currently in the funk with her long-range shooting. That would allow Moore to remain at the power forward while McLaren and Dixon could be the top post player and guard off the bench. In this scenario, UConn would need another player (likely either Meghan Gardler or Tahirah Williams) to step up and provide some minutes off the bench. Hayes played arguably her worst game of her brief UConn career so asking her to start against North Carolina could be a daunting task.

Stay tuned.