Looking back Gabby Williams finds it somewhat comical.

Just 15 years old, Williams decided to join her older sister in getting a tattoo. Her mom has a few of them on her body so she wasn't nearly as worried about what she would think but her dad was a different story. So what better time to ask him about getting inked up than when he was a little loopy preparing for surgery, right?

"I was pretty young," Williams said. "I knew my sister was going to get one and my dad was going to get surgery so it was the perfect time to ask him while he was all drugged up (eye surgery). "

So did he understand what they were asking him?

"I don't think so but the next day (he saw it)," Williams said.

Those who want to see the tattoo when Williams plays will be out of luck. UConn has a long-standing rule of covering up visible tattoos during games. Kennitra Johnson used to wear a Band-Aid for that purpose but that wasn't going to do the trick for Williams so he wears Kinesio tape on her left shoulder.

The tattoo has special meaning for Williams as it says "nothing will break our bond in French, my mom is French, and the rose, she has roses tattooed on her body. With her (sister Kayla) being pregnant, we have gotten even closer and even in the future I can look at it and know nothing can break our bond."

Speaking of strong sisterly bonds, Williams spent Christmas with teammate Morgan Tuck in Illinois. The two did some sightseeing in Chicago but also took in the Illinois/Murray State women's basketball game so Tuck could see her older sister Taylor in action. The older Tuck had two assists and two steals in Illinois' 64-44 victory.

"It was fun," Tuck said. "We went downtown, we saw the sights. It was kind of later at night. It was on Michigan Avenue and I was kind of pointing at some things, just kind of the typical touristy Chicago stuff.

"We actually went down to her game on the 22nd so we got to catch a game so it was nice to kind of see her. She played pretty good. She definitely got better since the last time."

It was the first time Tuck saw her sister play live since she was in high school.

"It has been a while since I have been able to go to one of her games," Tuck said. "It was nice. We are used to seeing each other every day and now we see each other a couple of times a year."

EKMARK CLOSING IN ON A RETURN
After his most recent radio show UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that January 1 has been the tentative date for injured freshman Courtney Ekmark to return to the court without restriction. Well, Ekmark, out with a stress reaction in her right foot, was doing some shooting drills at Friday's practice.

She is out of the walking boot and with each practice she is closer to getting back. It seems unlikely that she would get into any of the three remaining December games but an early January return seems more realistic.