Shortly after 3:42 p.m. Heather Buck and Caroline Doty will make the emotional walk onto the court at Gampel Pavilion with their parents by the side. As the fans inside Gampel Pavilion roar their approval, a flood of images figure to be bouncing around inside the heads of the two fifth-year seniors.

They have been members of undefeated national championship teams but individually their basketball careers have not lacked for either ebb or flow.

“It's definitely been a roller coaster, that is for sure,” Doty said. “If we were at an amusement park, I would think our five years have been the most insane roller coaster there can be. You can't regret it, you have to learn from everything, from the ups and downs and have it fulfill you not only as a player but as a person.”

Most of the downs for Doty are a result of her surgically-repaired knee. She suffered her first torn ACL when she was playing soccer as a senior at Germantown (Pa.) Academy. A couple more followed. One ended her freshman season after 17 games another resulted in her sitting out the entire 2010-11 season.

This won’t be Doty’s final game in Connecticut as the home regular-season finale is Tuesday at the XL Center versus Pittsburgh and there could be three Big East tournament games at the XL Center and if the Huskies advance to the Elite Eight, their first four NCAA tournament contests will be played in the Nutmeg State. Still, this day is going to be one Doty doesn’t figure to forget.

“You know you never want to go through an injury or anything like that but everything happens for a reason and the coaches make decisions for a reason and you kind of have to trust (them),” Doty said. “It is hard kind of thing to trust but looking back on it, the best you can do is have fun, play smart and just trust everybody around you.

“(It is special) just to have your parents and take one quick kind of view of the fans, the atmosphere and just know that nothing really ever lasts. We are lucky to be here and have five years to be able to play and be on the court and contribute. You can contribute even when you are not on the court and that is an important thing that we have learned that if you are on the team, no matter what your role is you are important to it and you are on the team for a reason and I am just happy to be a part of this team.”

Buck sat out the 2008-09 season as a non-medical redshirt with the hope that she could be a go-to post player by the time she was an upperclassman.

However, Buck’s minutes have been limited over the last four seasons. Still, while some players in a similar situation have opted to transfer out of UConn, Buck is glad she stuck around for the long haul.

“My whole career took a different track than I think anybody expected so it has been about adjusting and finding new ways to contribute,” Buck said. “It really is all about the love of the game. You still want to have that opportunity to come out and compete every day in practice and hopefully you get that opportunity in a game too but if you don't you find another way to contribute, another thing you can do that can help your team so that is what it has all been about.”

In a perfect world every senior would be like Kelly Faris, who has started every game in the last three seasons or former teammates of Buck’s and Doty’s like Maya Moore and Tiffany Hayes who earned quality minutes pretty much from the time they first slipped on a Connecticut jersey. However, life is not always a fairy tale. Nobody is more appreciative that they both stuck it out than their head coach.

“What it does is it tests how much you love this game,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “If somebody loves the game, they love coming to practice and they love being on the team and love everything that goes along with that than it is not a grind at all, it is a labor of love. In our situation we are lucky, we have two fifth year seniors who love the game, they love coming to practice, and they love being a part of a team.

“In Caroline's case she has had a chance to experience the absolute best, being a starter on a team that is 39-0, sitting on the bench and watching an entire season of basketball and then being somewhere where she is hoping she can rekindle some of the things she used to be able to do. You've got that and then you have Heather who has had a completely different experience that really tests your love of the game and wanting to be a part of the team.”