The good news, seemingly an eternity in arriving for UConn's two injured players, came a day apart this week.

All-American Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was told on Monday that she has a chance to being cleared to practice next week and the following day sophomore forward Morgan Tuck was given almost the identical news.

"It feels like forever until I could play and the doctor said 'OK one more week and you are out there.' Finally," Mosqueda-Lewis said.

Mosqueda-Lewis has missed the last seven games after injuring her elbow in the second half on a Nov. 11 win over Stanford. She was able to shoot a little bit over the last week but today she was able to get out there and fire away from the perimeter,

"Today's probably the most that I shot and I shot maybe 30-45 minutes and that is good for me and obviously my elbow is going to be a little bit sore from shooting that much but that is normal," Mosqueda-Lewis said.

"The swelling is down, my movement is getting better. It is not going to be perfect right now due to the fact that it is still healing and the fact that I just haven't done anything, I am doing rehab but obviously it is not basketball. It is getting a lot better every single day."

Tuck underwent surgery on her right knee and has also missed the last seven games. Until recently, she was limited to some sessions of jumping rope but not much else at practice.

Now she is looking to returning to practice.

"I know my knee has been feeling good," Tuck said. "I was hoping that was what he would say (she could get back to practicing). Everybody wants to be out on the court."

Mosqueda-Lewis and Tuck made it clear that they will return to game action when the time is right. If it is on Dec. 17 when UConn plays at No. 2 Duke, so be it. However, if their recovery process means they have to sit out that game, that is what they will do.