The biggest news to come out of UConn's open practice on Tuesday is that Caroline Doty sprained her ankle last week and will not play in the Huskies' exhibition opener against Assumption (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.).

Unlike her knee injuries which have kept her sidelined quite often, the ankle injury is relatively minor.

"She landed on somebody's foot," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It just takes a long time to come back form the ACL thing and you get a little gingery. You are taking it one step at a time and you aren't sure. She was just starting to really go hard and she stepped on the kid's foot but she was out there today dribbling and moving around so hopefully it won't be too much longer.
"With those things, you keep icing it, keep doing the rehab and do what you do and when it is good it is good. You just don't know exactly how many days it is going to be. I am thinking a week or so."

In Doty's place, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is expected to start. Auriemma said that Mosqueda-Lewis has been the most consistent of the three freshmen. Mosqueda-Lewis, the top-rated recruit in the country, is excited for the opportunity.'

"Coach doesn't just give the starting spot away," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "There is pressure to be that person. I am excited to be able to start. If I didn't start, I wouldn't be upset about it but if I get a chance, I am going to try to do my best."

While Auriemma was quite complimentary of Mosqueda-Lewis, he was downright glowing in his praise of senior Tiffany Hayes.

"I think the best player in practice since practice started has been Tiffany Hayes, no question about it," Auriemma said. "Tiffany Hayes right now as a basketball player is 50 percent better than she was at any point in her career. No question about it. It's not one thing, it's everything. She just has complete command in what she is doing and what we are doing.
"We were just saying this the other day, how would you describe Tiffany Hayes. She has become a
way better basketball player, way better, a real complete basketball player. It has been really good to see."

Hayes has taken motivation from her mediocre performance in a season-ending loss to Notre Dame in the Final Four.
"The last game last year definitely was motivation," Hayes said. "That game, sometimes looking back on it, you don't dwell on it but at the same time I look back on it an you want to get better from that point on.
"After I got over it, in a couple of weeks, I thought  about it that I want to be the one helping my team, not hurting it so that was why whatever aspect of the game they wanted me to work on, I tried to work on this summer."

Among those in attendance at Gampel Pavilion were former Huskies Sue Bird and Kalana Greene.