The first time Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis checked into the game, she looked very much like a player who had missed the last eight games.

She took one shot, which she missed, in a span of 5:34. But once her first 3-pointer dropped through the net, it was game on.

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with 21, coming on seven 3-pointers. She made five of those in a stretch of 11 1/2 minutes in the second half to help the Huskies stave off a spirited comeback attempt by Duke.

"I set my expectation low so anything above that would be great for me," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "The only thing I have been doing is shooting basically so I was hoping I was going to make a couple tonight."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma didn't even know how much she would play and with the way she practiced over the week, he certainly was not anticipating her being out there for 27 minutes.

"Doctor (Michael) Joyce said if she doesn't respond in practice there is a pretty good chance she is not making progress so Friday at practice she was not very good, physically she didn't handle it well," Auriemma said, "Saturday we had a day off and Sunday when we came back, it didn't feel very good. She didn't improve so she didn't progress so yesterday. I said to Rosemary (Ragle, UConn's athletic trainer), if  I play this kid one minute or 31 minutes it doesn't matter to me and she said it doesn't matter to me either. None of us had an idea, it could be one minute, it could be 31 minutes but if you asked me going into the game, I would have bet closer to one minute than 31."

Her teammates fully expected Mosqueda-Lewis to make a major impact.

"I knew she'd come out and play great, that is just the type of person and player she is," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "Like she said, she has been practicing her shot a lot in practice and on the sidelines and I don't think we expected anything less from her."