Normally the day before a game the UConn women's basketball team would be working up quite to sweat running through a practice. However, with an estimated 20 inches of snow falling to the ground on Monday night and Tuesday, there would be no basketball drills for the Huskies to go through.

"The only time we went outside was to shovel our cars out and that wasn't fun but we kind of hung out as a team, we were able to hang out in the apartments, watching movies," sophomore forward Morgan Tuck said. "There is only so much that you can do so we tried to do a little bit of (home)work."

Big snow storms are nothing new to people like Tuck and teammate Breanna Stewart but for Moriah Jefferson, it was a big deal.

"It is a new thing for me because I am from Texas," Jefferson said. "It was crazy, I walked outside one time to go across campus, the wind is blowing and it was too much for me."

With the 24 girls players taking part in the McDonald's All-American Game being announced on Wednesday night, I asked Jefferson and Stewart about how invaluable taking part in the McDonald's game was in developing chemistry with their soon to be collegiate teammates.

"I think it is the bonding experience," Jefferson said. "I think it is more than the game, you get to travel to different places, they are taking you to these restaurants and things you don't get to do on a regular basis. It is getting to know each other before you get here and it helps you a lot."

Stewart, who created quite the buzz with a couple of dunks in the practices leading up to the 2012 game, was thrilled to take part in the prestigious event.

"I think the McDonald's All-American Game was one of the best experiences I had in high school and you are able to come together with the top players in the country both men and women and kind of create a relationship," Stewart said. "A lot of them I know prior through USA Basketball and AAU type of thing. It is a fun experience."

All three UConn signees played in the 2012 game and fast forward three years and once again all three UConn incoming freshmen (De'Janae Boykin, Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson) were selected to play in the game, set for April 1 at the United Center in Chicago.

Speaking of the UConn recruits, the news on the injury front sounds promising for Boykin and Samuelson. Boykin missed the last five games for Flowers High School due to a hand injury but her father said De'Janae is doing fine so she could return soon for Flowers, which is 2-3 since Boykin has been sidelined. Samuelson missed her second straight game as a result of a knee injury which has been reported as being minor so she has a chance to return to action in the near future.