As luck would have it UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was walking through the halls at Gampel Pavilion as I was working on some football stories and blogs and I was able to sit down with him for about 15 minutes. I got caught up with a lot of news including updates of how the rehabilitation process is going for veteran forward Morgan Tuck and freshman guard Gabby Williams, who both underwent season-ending knee surgeries last year.

First up, here is what he had to say about Tuck.

"She is just starting to do that (basketball-related activities) now," Auriemma said. "She is going to do some individuals this week and try to add to it next week and by the third week of September, she could be cleared to go. Usually these guys, they don't look forward to preseason conditioning in September, all the workouts and all the individual stuff that they are doing but I talked to her today and she said I have never been so anxious and so excited to start individual (workouts) and preseason conditioning. I think she will be pretty happy when they get started."

Tuck will bring so many dimensions to the 2014-15 UConn team with her ability to play inside and outside. She is an outstanding defense, underrated passer and can score in so many different ways.

"We didn't see it last year except for a couple of times," Auriemma said. "I went back and watched the Stanford game and the Cal game at the Garden and you really get to see Morgan playing and you say 'it is a miracle that we were able to get through the season and win the whole thing while not having her.' Losing Stefanie, you lost a couple of players so bringing Morgan back into the mix is like adding a couple of players. The other players are kind of anxious too because they know how many areas she can help us in. She is not just a one-dimensional kid."

Here is what he had to say about Williams, who suffered serious knee injuries in each of her final two high school seasons. So how is she progressing?

"Good, same thing (as with Tuck). We are starting (individual workouts) a week from Tuesday, give them a week to acclimated to everything. they went home towards the last part of August so she is going to get with Rosemary (Ragle, UConn's athletic trainer) and I would expect that by the time practice starts that she is going to be ready to do (everything)."

He was also in favor of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis not being invited to the U.S. national team training camp next month so she can focus all her energies on getting ready for her senior season.

"I think more from way her injuries and the way her season went last year, I think that in my opinion, it was better for her to be here and get herself ready for us and for herself this season," Auriemma said. "That's a position where they are loaded with pros so I think it is best that she stays here and works out with our players."

With incoming freshman Kia Nurse spending the summer training with the Canadian national team and with Nurse set to play in the FIBA World Championships, I wanted Auriemma's take on how much this summer will benefit her.

"I think the maturity that Kia has is really what separates her from most incoming freshmen," Auriemma said. "Most incoming freshmen are used to playing high school basketball and it is a huge adjustment. I think Kia, by virtue of being on the Canadian national team, has made herself almost a sophomore coming in instead of a freshman and the style of play that Canada has is very similar to what we do in more ways than one so she is somebody that because she is not here right now that few people talk about but she is probably the one who is going to be the most intriguing of all the freshmen, I am looking forward to seeing her both in Bridgeport, in Istanbul and when we get back here in October."

I also asked Auriemma for his reaction to former UConn guard Brianna Banks landing at Penn State and whether that was a good landing spot for her.

"We will see," Auriemma . I think UConn was a good spot but unfortunately there are some things you have to do (to remain at UConn). I think having a year off, getting a chance to kind of gain some perspective by being away from it, hitting the books a little bit. It is a big place and they have a really good program. I am sure having a year to practice with the team is going to help a lot. I saw her this summer. I am rooting for her, let's hope she makes it."

Brianna Banks, a member of two national championship teams at UConn, announced via her Twitter account that she will be enrolling at Penn State.

Shortly after the conclusion of her junior season it was announced that Banks was transferring and the desire to be closer to home was given as one of the reasons. Turns out that playing for the Lady Lions turned out to be the perfect fit for her.

Last year Banks appeared in 37 of UConn's 40 games, starting eight times. Banks scored in double digits three times in a five-span stretch when she moved into the starting lineup after injuries sidelined Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck. However, by season's end she played infrequently.

She played in 90 games during her three seasons at UConn. She had 397 points, 112 assists and 84 steals during her time at UConn.

Banks will need to sit out the current season due to NCAA transfer regulations before playing her final season at Penn State.

I think a year off would help her with the mental part," said Kim Davis Powell, Banks's former AAU coach said shortly after Banks announced that she was transferring. "She is a cerebral kid even though she is stone faced, she is taking it all in and hopefully she can get past all of those injuries and get back to where she wants to be."

While a prior commitment kept UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma from making an appearance at the Travelers Championship, associate head coach Chris Dailey has made herself at home at TPC River Highlands.

On Monday Dailey took part in a Pro-Am. On Wednesday she was back in Cromwell to play in a charity mini-golf event along with UConn AD Warde Manuel and football coach Bob Diaco in the morning before playing in the Celebrity Pro-Am in the afternoon.

"Last year was easier," Dailey said after the mini-golf event. "They made the degree of difficulty harder but it was fun. I played on Monday so they let bad golfers play in a lot of events here. They give opportunities to everybody. The people are really nice and I have met a lot of great people."

Dailey said while the coaches are allowed to work with the players on a limited basis, the UConn staff doesn't plan on overworking the team during the summer.

"We have done some individuals but it is a hard balance between taking advantage of the rule and not killing them now in June," Dailey said. "It is a long season, if you are any good you play from September to April so we are trying to balance that. They are working really hard in the weight room and done some individuals which I think is really helpful for the freshmen because they don't know what to expect."

Only half of the freshman class has been taking advantage of spending most of June on campus as Kia Nurse is at Canada's training camp and Gabby Williams just arrived following graduation. It has given Sadie Edwards and Courtney Ekmark a chance to get comfortable on campus.

"I think that no matter how prepared you think you are, your head is spinning for the first two weeks trying to figure it all out," Dailey said. "I would say they have all adjusted to it pretty well."

There will be more on how the offseason work has been going when Auriemma and the players are made available at Auriemma's anual golf tournament on Monday. Dailey said that reigning national player of the year Breanna Stewart will have a conflict with her summer session schedule so she will not be there on Monday. Also, Nurse will be with the Canadian national team and won't be there either. Of course, Brianna Banks will also be absent as she made the decision to transfer to a school yet to be announced.

"You are always disappointed when somebody leaves you program but we wish Bri the best," Dailey said. "Everybody deserves a second chance and hopefully with hers she will make the best of it. I think everybody has to make a personal decision and this was a personal decision by Bri and her family and I just hope it works out well."

I also asked Dailey whether Morgan Tuck was back to doing basketball-related drills as she is coming back from knee surgery which ended her sophomore season prematurely.

"She is doing some conditioning but I don't know if she if doing the whole (basketball) thing yet, running around," Dailey said..

In other basketball-related news I asked Manuel how close they were to finishing work on the basketball practice facility.

"Hopefully it will be finished this week or next week, we will get the keys and just like a new house we will have to do in there, move some things to fill it up and that is what we are working on," Manuel said. "It will be a great day."

With July being such a hectic month for recruiting we'll have to wait to see when a ceremony is held in honor of the completion of the practice facility.

Just call it UConn week at the White House.

This afternoon the UConn men's and women's national championship basketball teams will be honored in a ceremony with President Barack Obama a little after 4 p.m. and on Thursday former UConn star Maya Moore will join the rest of the WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx in a celebration ceremony at the White House.

My colleague David Borges, who is the beat writer of the UConn men's team, will be at today's ceremony.

It could be the final time the UConn women's team gets together as a group (although I have been told that Brianna Banks, who has announced her intentions to transfer, will not be at the ceremony).

"We have been through so much through all of these years and I think we are real excited to be all together again," All-American guard Bria Hartley said.

At last year's event, Stefanie Dolson and Kiah Stokes caused quite the commotion when they held up two fingers each behind the head of President Obama for a much-discussed "bunny ears" photo during a group shot. When Dolson and Hartley were back in Connecticut last week when the Washington Mystics played at Mohegan Sun Arena, Dolson claimed there is nothing special planned on this year's visit.

"I am going to go with the flow," Dolson said.. "I am not forcing anything."

Back on Nov. 11 it was all so simple for Saniya Chong.

The only scholarship freshman on the undefeated UConn squad, was summoned off the bench with UConn trailing Stanford by a point in an offensively-challenged opening several minutes.

Starting point guard Moriah Jefferson didn't respond well when the Stanford defenders were practically begging her to attempt shots from perimeter so she got an early seat on the bench. After missing her only shot and committing a turnover in a span of 2:46, Brianna Banks also returned to the bench and it was time to see what Chong could do. Just 65 seconds after coming in, Chong drained a 3-pointer and added an assist while playing nearly three minutes.

By game's end she had six points (on a pair of 3-pointers), three assists, two steals and no turnovers in 17 minutes. Two games later she would record the first of five double-digit scoring games.

Everything seemed to be clicking for Chong who played at least 15 minutes of 23 of the first 28 games of the season and even starting four games in a row while Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was out with mononucleosis. However, since Mosqueda-Lewis has returned, minutes have been hard to come by for Chong.

Chong has five field goals in the last nine games she has played in with three of them coming in the NCAA tournament opener against Prairie View A&M. She played one minute in each of the last two games and it was simply so UConn could run the clock out. The low point had to be late in the first half of the BYU game when Bria Hartley was brought back into the game with 1:54 left in the first half even though she had two fouls. It was a signal that Auriemma didn't trust either Chong or Brianna Banks to even play a minute during a key stretch against a team seeded 12th in the Lincoln Region.

Before heading to Nashville Auriemma met with the media and I asked him if he would be able to trust one of his reserve guards if the Huskies were in a similar situation at the Final Four.

"I think the biggest part of what we are going to do is to find out who we can trust. I asked them today (Thursday) 'why is it that we could trust you guys in November and December and don't have that same level of trust today?' A lot of that has to do with their approach to the game. They decided in November and December that mentally they were going to be involved with what is going on and somewhere along the line that went away. Can it come back? You never know what happens in the Final Four."

Chong, who is averaging 4.9 points per game with an impressive 60/27 assist to turnover ratio, is hoping that she gets a chance to play quality minutes against Stanford tonight.

"Definitely I am trying to go out there and give it my all and I am hoping coming off the bench that it is a positive thing," Chong said. "I hope that it not because they were doing bad, I hope I get a chance just to show what I can do.

"It is hard to deal with, it is hard to think about but once I get my chance I have to give it my all."

LIVE BLOG RUNNING TONIGHT
There will be a live blog up and running during tonight's national semifinals.

The more time that passes on the more it hits me how much Breanna Stewart is cut from the same cloth as the person she is most often compared to.

When Maya Moore played her final game at UConn most people are aware that she is the only player in program history to score 3,000 points. However, Moore also finished second all-time with 311 3-pointers, second with 1,276 rebounds, third with 310 steals, fourth with 204 blocked shots, sixth with 544 assists and most importantly to her, an NCAA Division I record 150 wins as  a player.

It is that all-around type of career that Stewart is in the midst of.
With 563 points she is one point shy of Svetlana Abrosimova and Diana Taurasi for the fifth best total as a sophomore as UConn, her 232 rebounds rank ninth and the 82 blocks as a sophomore is the third best total. She also has a chance to join Rebecca Lobo as the only Huskies with 100 assists and blocks in the same season.

Her consistency can be highlighted by the fact that she scored in double figures for the 20th straight time which is the longest streak for a Connecticut player since Moore’s impressive run of 53 straight double-digit scoring games.

“Not that the points aren't important but just showing that I am producing out there, helping my teammates out and just having that killer instinct that no matter who we play you want to go out and have a good scoring night, have a good rebounding night and have an overall good night,” Stewart said.

There have been people who said that Stewart would be taken with the first overall pick if she were eligible to be picked by the Connecticut Sun with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA draft. Still, her coach is asking more from his superstar.

“A kid like that she should be in double figures in every half, in double figures in rebounds,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She is a really good passer, she blocks shots. There aren't a whole lot of things that she can't do but like any other college player, you see stretches when you kind of shake your head and say 'what the hell is she doing?' It is not like she is the finished product, she and Bria (Hartley), I thought at the beginning of the season that Stefanie Dolson was the only one who understood exactly what we needed and how we needed it to be done and now we've got three players who understand everything we are trying to do all the time.”

PRODUCTIVE TRIP FOR ROLE PLAYERS
There’s no questioning that UConn has a dynamic starting five when Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis is on the court with the Huskies but there have been questions about how much productions the Huskies would be getting from the under the radar players when the postseason rolls around.

Saniya Chong wasn’t at her best in the wins over Houston and SMU but she still averaged 6 points and 4.5 assists per game and Kiah Stokes averaged 5.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per contest.
Brianna Banks had a bigger impact in the SMU game than her final stat line of six points, two rebounds, two assists, two steals and four turnovers would indicate.

When UConn ended the first half on a 15-0 run, Banks was in the middle of things as she proved to be a disruptive force on defense which enabled the Huskies to be out in transition.

“We are always encouraging her but Brianna Banks doesn't always do that, she plays a little cautious at times,” Auriemma said. “When you bring the quickness and the kind of speed she has up and down the floor, I wish she would take more chances because she would get involved more on the defensive end. She has been doing that and that is why she has been playing more. I think she knows that the more she does that, the more she is going to play.”

We should hear more about where Mosqueda-Lewis stands as she recovers from mononucleosis as UConn’s medical staff will take a look at her tomorrow. While it is a little ambitious to expect to see her taking part in regular practice drills at tomorrow’s practice, if she gets the thumbs’ up perhaps she can start doing some basketball-related activities this week.

With Morgan Tuck out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis currently sidelined due to a bout with mononucleosis, it's kind of surreal to be writing about UConn getting some good news in the health department but that is exactly what I am about to do.

One of the most surprising aspects of Sunday's win at South Florida was that Brianna Banks was healthy enough to play but yet she only got mop-up minutes late in the second half.

Due to the latest batch of snow to hit the area, we did a conference call rather than have media availability after watching the end of practice and UConn coach Geno Auriemma said "hopefully we will get more minutes out of her tomorrow night. It was just a decision that I made, I can't put my finger on any (reason)."

The good news is it sounds like Banks has put together back to back strong practices.

"She did a really good job of making sure she is communicating," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "A big thing when you get injured or you are out a little bit you feel like it is hard to really come back and feel like you are a part of (things) but she did a really good job today and yesterday of really talking being a part of the team out there, making good decisions on the court offensively and defensively, I saw a lot of aggressiveness that she had and I am definitely impressed with where she is."

With Banks playing just two minutes, freshman Saniya Chong played 37 minutes while making her first career start.

Nobody had to remind Chong, who averaged 34.4 points a game as a high school senior, that she has not scored since late in the first half against SMU. But the media on the call did just that, asking Chong, teammates Bria Hartley and Dolson and Auriemma about Chong's recent offensive struggles.

"It was the whole mindset and I have to make sure I come out aggressive and try to get to the basket as much as I can," Chong said. "It is all a mindset of me not trying to make mistakes. That is something I have to get out of my head, stop thinking that way, be aggressive and just give it my all."

Chong is not the first freshman to have struggles and certainly won't  be the last. The good news is that Chong's practice habits have remained rock solid all season long so it should be just a matter of time before that translates into more production during games.

"She looked real good for that whole week that we had off (between games)," Auriemma said. "She has to get over this mental block that she has developed a little bit about being tentative and little by little she is going to get over that. I know that she has confidence in herself. She knows she is a good player and I know she knows she is a good offensive player. I want her to trust her instincts and go play. We are going to try to get her back to that point sooner rather than later."

After missing the last two games due to continuing issues with her troublesome left ankle, Brianna Banks returned to the practice court with a new ankle brace and desire to put her ankle issues behind her.

After practicing on a limited basis on Wednesday when she was prohibited from taking part in defensive drills, Banks practiced with fewer restrictions on Friday and is set to go full speed ahead today before returning to the court when UConn plays at South Florida on Sunday.

"I'm taking all the precautions I can and we have a new ankle brace so I am not planning on spraining it anytime soon," Banks said.

One of those precautions is a different type of brace as the one she was wearing simply wasn't getting the job done.

"It is more of lace up one to give me more support around the whole ankle instead of just on the side of the
ankle," Banks said.

With Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis out indefinitely due to mononucleosis, Banks has a chance to start in her place as she did earlier in the season.

"Stuff does happen and we always seem to get hurt around the same time but I am just looking to get back on the court and get some minutes," Banks said.

With a week between games, Banks had a few extra days to get the treatment on her ankle she needed to return to practice.

"Everything felt good. I guess it came at the perfect time," Banks said. "I could afford to sit out instead of us having a lot of games. I am not even thinking about my ankle right now. I am trying to develop my game and get right so I can play for my teammates so I can help them win."

It a roll call was going to be taken on the players having the biggest impact at UConn recent weeks, the list would certainly start with Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley. It wouldn't take long to mention Moriah Jefferson's name and senior center Stefanie Dolson would also receive kudos. So where does this leave returning All-American Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis?

The Huskies' leading scorer in each of her first two seasons has scored 21 points on three different occasions but the truth is she has not been the night in, night off offensive dynamo she was earlier in her career. Some of it is that she is lacking confidence in her shot and there is also the factor of her working her way back into shape after sitting out five weeks due to an elbow injury.

At halftime of Tuesday's Temple game she was challenged to get more involved and she responded with 12 points in 13 second-half minutes. In the practices between that game and today's contest at Cincinnati, much of the time has been spent on keeping Mosqueda-Lewis moving, posting her up and making her more than just a stationary shooter.

"We are trying to move her to as many places as we can," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It is better for her, better for us. It is important for us that we get her playing the same all the time."

Mosqueda-Lewis, who came into the season owning the No. 1 and 4 seasons in UConn history for 3-pointers made, did hit three treys but she also got into the paint and made her presence felt. She also made it to the free-throw line for the first time in eight games.

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with 17 points as she scored in double figures in consecutive games for just the second time this season. What was the difference?

"I'm just do different things, keep moving in general whether it is in the post or at the guard position. I like it (posting up). I have been doing it a lot in practice and I feel like I am getting better and better every day. I feel like it is getting better. I have to keep working at it, staying positive."

Mosqueda-Lewis admits that it has been a struggle mentally not being able to score with the same amount of ease as she has earlier in her career.

"It has been difficult," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "I had stretches when I was not shooting the 3 very well but not really having scoring issues. It is just a matter of doing different things, keep moving, try to get tips on defense. It is a challenge but it is also exciting. I am trying to learn how to (play) post defense, how to post up properly and all the different moves that you can do so it is kind of cool doing stuff like that."
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Her teammates have noticed a difference in the last game and a half and this week in practice as well.

"Kaleena has a different mindset," junior guard Brianna Banks said. "The whole team, I feel like we came out with a whole different mindset today and hopefully we keep that mindset in the future."

After several days of soul searching, sophomore forward Morgan Tuck reluctantly pulled the plug of the remainder of her sophomore season as she is planning to undergo a season-ending surgery on her right knee.

Tuck missed eight games after undergoing surgery on her right knee on Nov. 12 but was able to return when UConn played at Duke on Dec. 17. She had five straight games playing double-digit minutes highlighted by scoring a career-high 19 points in 13 minutes in a Jan. 7 win over Houston.

However, Tuck felt some discomfort in her knee while going in for a layup in that game and has not played or taken part in a full practice since.

"That surgery didn't fix the problem, it just kind of cleaned it up so this surgery is supposed to fix the problem of the cartilage missing," said Tuck, who is averaging 7.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in eight games. "It is really difficult. I missed a lot of the season so far but I am going to be missing the most important part of the season so that (stinks) ."

Tuck said the issue is that she has part of her knee without cartilage and that was the area where she got the painful bone bruise. She will undergo a procedure where a piece of cartilage from a non-weight bearing part of her knee will be inserted into the area where she doesn't have cartilage. She said that doctors considered doing this surgery back in November but with a six to nine month recovery period, she chose to roll the dice that a scope would make it so she could play this season.

"I felt like if I did the real surgery, the scope could have worked and I missed the season for no reason," Tuck said. "I talked to my parents a lot, coaches, doctors and tried to get the pros and cons and feel like I need to fix the problem instead of trying to delay it.

"There is no guarantee with any surgery but I am pretty confident that after this I will be good to go.

"I never planned  on redshirting and I don't want to redshirt just because I want to be able to leave with my class that I came in with but things happen for a reason and I am going to try to make the most of it."

Now UConn has to wait until the season is over to apply for a medical hardship waiver.

With UConn playing 31 regular-season games, one more than the Huskies normally play, and one game in the conference tournament, she would meet the criteria for a fifth season of eligibility for not playing in the second half of the season and by playing in fewer than 30 percent of the Huskies’ games.

Still, it is up to the NCAA to grant her the additional season which UConn coach Geno Auriemma admits is not a 100 percent proposition.

"Those decisions are made at the end of the season, there is no rhyme or reason to it," Auriemma said. "I have seen kids denied it that you would think it is an automatic so I don't know. Once you play, it is kind of our of your hands. If you never play, that is different, that is easy but once you play and you play the number of games that Morgan has played so we will go through the process and see what happens."

Junior guard Brianna Banks will also miss tomorrow's game against South Florida putting UConn back to seven healthy full scholarship players.

Banks rolled her left ankle during a shooting drill last week and tried to practice and play through it. But after playing three minutes in Wednesday's win over Memphis, she decided to shut it down.

"I still played on i it but the swelling never went down so now it is about 10 days later and it still hasn't gone down and it still kind of hurts," Banks said. "I was struggling during shootaround (on Wednesday) a little bit and I said 'I am going to try to play.' I tried and Rosie (UConn athletic trainer Rosemary Ragle) said 'just sit it out.' The swelling is going down a little bit but they are still concerned about this one area of my ankle that continues to swell. If the swelling doesn't go down by this weekend we are going to take some other precautions.

"I just try to keep a positive attitude, that is what I learned from my ACL; you can't have a negative attitude and then expect to do something positive. If I keep a positive attitude and do everything Rosie asks me to do every day, I will get back on the court and do what I have to do."

So UConn is back to playing with seven scholarship players.

"We went five weeks in a similar situation and we are going to have to do it again for however many weeks are left in the season," Auriemma said. "The fact that we have been already been able to do it, there is a confidence level that we can pick up for her going forward. Obviously it is not going to be as easy when the games start to really matter."

There are plenty of things that Geno Auriemma concerns himself with when it comes to the quest to make his top-ranked UConn women’s basketball team better during each practice session. The ability to make shots is not particularly high on the pecking order of things.

So even with his team in a bit of a shooting funk over the last three games, Auriemma is not about to sound the alarm bells.

“Running our stuff wasn't the issue. getting shots has not been an issue at all but that last two games I think Bria(Hartley) and Stewie (Breanna Stewart) combined have been like 14 for 50 (actually 14 for 49) so getting shots isn't a problem but right now we are not making very many,” Auriemma said after Wednesday’s win over Central Florida. “I think we missed more layups - make able, easy layups - than we have in a year it seems like. The first half we got shots all different kinds of ways, we got them in half court, we got them in transition, we pretty much got anything we wanted. We played OK, we didn't play great then in the second half and things kind of slowed down a bit.”

With Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis still working her way back into the flow of things after missing five weeks of game action and practice time due to the right elbow injury, she has not been consistently hitting from the perimeter which has resulted in less room to operate for the other players. The 3-point numbers of the last three games are exhibit No. 1.

Freshman Saniya Chong, who is 4 for 9 from 3-point range, is the only player shooting better than 40 percent on 3-pointers in the games versus California, Cincinnati and Central Florida.

Here are the 3-point numbers of UConn’s top perimeter threats
Player          Games 1-11 Games 12-14
Brianna Banks    11-25  1-4
Saniya Chong  14-39  4-9
Stefanie Dolson   5-13  0-2
Bria Hartley  17-57  2-10
Moriah Jefferson        7-24  1-8
Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis 10-17  3-9
Breanna Stewart  13-33  2-10
Morgan Tuck   2-5   2-8

Stewart, who is just 7 of 27 from the field in the last two games, believes along as she and her teammates are aggressive that the shots will begin to fall.

“Missing (shots) irritates me the most,” Stewart said. “I see myself making shots so it is not like I've lost everything, I am just trying to see the ball go through the basket and keep being aggressive because that is how you want to attack something when it is not going well. I feel like I have been aggressive for the most part.  I want to get more shots up in practice, see the ball go through the basket and make free throws.”

Beginning with the 114-68 win over Oregon on Nov. 20, UConn has pretty much scored at will even though the Huskies are down to seven healthy full scholarship players. However, it didn't take long to realize it wasn't going to be quite that easy against Ohio State.

UConn was 7 of 19 from the field at one point before pulling away for a 70-49 victory.

"The way we started the game, we are definitely not satisfied with that," UConn guard Bria Hartley said.

Hartley and Brianna Banks were the players who made the shots late in the first half and early in the second half to give UConn plenty of breathing room.

"Basketball is a funny game, we have five guys, three of them are doing one thing and two of them are doing something different and it looks lousy," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "We really did a poor job today of playing 5 on 5. Usually when we move without the ball it is real intelligent and today it wasn't real intelligent. We usually cut and we cut pretty hard, that opens up a lot of things and in that first half we didn't do that. Today was a struggle and this wasn't exactly Oregon that we were playing. Ohio State is going to hold the ball for 30 seconds every possession so they are going to make it that kind of game, it wasn't going to be a 100-85 kind of game for sure so part of it is the style of opponent. There were just enough times during the game when we got out and did what we wanted to do."

The win means that UConn continues it streak of dominance in regular-season tournaments. It was the 53rd straight win for UConn in an in-season tournament and 18th straight tournament title. The last time UConn lost in such an event came in the Hilton Head Super Shootout with a 57-37 loss to Vanderbilt.

"I got thrown out of that game, that is why we lost it. We were losing by a lot and that is why I got thrown out," Auriemma said.

"The thing that we talked about it you have to learn to play in games that mean something other than just a 'W'. Thursday night when we play UC-Davis, it is a game where you are playing for a W on your record and there are other times when it isn't a national championship, ACC or AAC, Big 12, whatever league you are in you are going to have a chance to win a championship, you have to recognize that and treat it a little bit differently. When there are trophies, you want to be there standing in line getting them."

Next year UConn is planning to play in an event in Naples, Fla. over Thanksgiving. UConn has been given assurances that the level of competition will be better than when the Huskies rolled by Boston University, St. Bonaventure and Monmouth at home. At least one top-10 caliber team is expected to be in the tournament along with UConn.

UConn has the contract and once the legal stuff it taken care of, UConn will sign the contract.

It's highly unusual to see sophomore sensation Breanna Stewart be the first of the UConn starters summoned to the bench. But after watching Stewart take and miss three more challenging than necessary shots, UConn coach Geno Auriemma had the quick hook.

The 3 minutes, 7 seconds she spent on the bench seemed to work wonders for Stewart.

“I don’t know what I was thinking," Stewart said. "I kept wanting to do a turnaround jump shot in the post. It is not something that I do a lot. I honestly don’t have a reason for it. I did it, then I did it again and I did it again. Then I came out. Usually when we are around the basket like that we do hook shots.”

Nobody was more surprised to see Stewart's bizarre shot selection than Auriemma.

"It is not easy to clear your head when there is nothing in there, that would be a very difficult thing to do," Auriemma said. "I asked her during the first timeout 'Stewie do we practice those shots you are taking?' She said 'no. I said 'why are you taking them?' She said 'I don't know.' So when people start talking to you like that, you just shake your head. She did it three times in a row so they are kids and you don't know what goes through their heads. It is unlike her, usually she takes the kind of shots that we know she is going to take and we know she is going to make, those first three were just bizarre. She is shooting 90 percent on those jump hooks over the front of the rim  and decided she didn't want to shoot them, they were too easy of something.

"I talk to Stewie all the time about that stuff, all great teams have great players on it so it makes them great teams. I don;'t know if last year we were a great team, we won a national championship but I don't know if we were a great team based on some of teams we've had here in the past. If you have great players on your team, you have a chance to have a great team because every night like when Maya (Moore) was here, Maya played great every night so every night you stepped on the floor you had a chance to play great. Same when Diana (Taurasii) was here, some players they just define what the team is going to do and I talked to Stewie about that. When Stefanie, Stewie, Bria, we don't have Kaleena, but guys who have already done it in the past but have great seasons and great moments and we know they are going to bring that every night we have a great chance to be a great team every night regardless of who we are playing, that is irrelevant who we are playing."

CAR FOR POLLY?

Auriemma is not know to mince words with his players, even the ones he didn't recruit.

So when he watched sophomore walk-on Briana Pulido fire up shot after shot at Thursday's practice, he let her have it.

"Polly (ticked) me off so much yesterday I told her I would buy her a car if she ever gets an assist, that kid refuses to pass the ball to anybody even in practice. This kid high jumped all of last year and comes out here and thinks she is Kobe Bryant so what did she do today? She got an assist and now she wants a car..'"

LIMITED MINUTES FOR BANKS

Although junior guard Brianna Banks started for the second consecutive game, she played the fewest minutes of the full scholarship players and that was by design.

Banks had her foot stepped on in Wednesday's win over Oregon and although it wasn't enough to sideline her, with three games in three days Auriemma said he wanted to limit her minutes.

"Brianna Banks would have played more tonight but somebody stepped on her foot in the Oregon game and it has been bothering her the last couple of days, we had three games in three days otherwise she would have played more minutes," Auriemma said.

NURSE GOES FOR TITLE ON SATURDAY

UConn signee Kia Nurse led her St. Thomas More team to two more victories and now they are one win away from a third consective Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association Class AAAA title.

St. Thomas Moore defeated Northern S.S. 60-41 in the quarterfinals and then topped Pickering 60-41 behind 25 points from Nurse to advance to Saturday's gold-medal game.

If she had her way, Stefanie Dolson would have preferred that assistant coach Marisa Moseley didn't tell her that she was an assist shy of become the second player in UConn women's basketball history to record a triple-double.

Dolson has never played basketball with the intention of posting gaudy individual statistics and she did not want to start in the final minutes of Wednesday night's 114-68 win over Oregon.

Dolson did everything she could to play just as she would have if she was not within range of joining Laura Lishness in this select club. Still, Dolson couldn't help but quietly chuckle when the XL Center crowd of 7,961 groaned when Moriah Jefferson passed up an open layup on what would have been Dolson's 10th assist with 4:02 to play. The magical assist came on a jumper by Kiah Stokes with 1:20 to play.

"If you try too hard to get something people get frantic and things get crazy and I really wanted to finish the game off well," Dolson said. "Even though 'Ris told us, we did a good a job of executing at the end I figured it was going to happen, I pass the ball a lot."

Dolson finished with career highs of 26 points and 11 assists to go with 14 rebounds.

"It's amazing, I am honored," Dolson said.

Oregon is coached by the Guru of Go Paul Westhead who used his system to put up incredible offensive numbers in the NBA, WNBA and in college with the Loyola Marymount men's program.

With Oregon pushing the pace and attempting to pressure UConn's guards, there was plenty of opportunities for UConn's frontcourt to spread the wealth.

Dolson and Breanna Stewart combined for 15 assists and just one turnover as UConn posted the seventh most points in school history.

"We want our big guys handling the ball a lot," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Oregon's strategy was to pressure our guards and make them handle it and not a bad way to go bu our big guys are pretty good passers and we felt like once we got the top to the top of the key, I thought we had a chance to score and we did. Stewie and certainly Stefanie are terrific passers and Kiah is becoming a better passer every day and all three of them are prety good ifinishjes too so they help each other.

"I think when you play against a team that is going at attempt as many 3's, the tendency is to get caught up in that game. Thee are times in that first half when we did. We shot more air balls tonight than we did all year long because your heart is going 100 miles an hour because you are playing that way and it is not easy to make shots at that pace so for us the game plan going in, let's make sure we make two or three passes and unless we have a layup. let's make them play some defense then we can catch our breath and we will still get whatever shot we want I hope and that is."

Dolson spread out her assists to six different players. She set up Breanna Stewart and Kiah Stokes three times each, assisted on both of Saniya Chong's baskets and had one assist each to Moriah Jefferson, Bria Hartley and Briana Pulido.

Stewart had 28 points, eight rebounds, four assists (two each to Dolson and Brianna Banks), two steals and two blocked shots.

"It makes it us a lot better," Dolson said. "I pride myself with my passing and I know Stewie does too so for us to be able to pass the ball makes us harder to guard because not a lot of teams have bigs that can do that. Most of them  look to rebound and post up but we are a big part of the offense to get it moving, get it flowing and find open shots."

Dolson joins Laura Lishness as the only Huskies to record triple doubles. While Auriemma was the UConn coach when Lishness had 14 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the 1989 Big East championship game against Providence, Auriemma wasn't there to see it.

During the 1988-89 season Auriemma set up a scrimmage against Eastern Connecticut however, the game ended up being counted as an official game by the NCAA. Syracuse agreed to cancel its game against the Huskies so UConn would not go over the allotted number of the games. As a result of the situation Auriemma was suspended for the entire Big East tournament.

"I know for that time Laura is unique, there wasn't anything on the basketball court that she couldn't do," Auriemma said. "She is probably still one of the best athletes to ever play here, I just wish I had been here to see it."

AURIEMMA ON KIA NURSE
Although Kia Nurse signed and faxed her letter of intent on Tuesday, Auriemma hadn't been given the thumbs' up from the compliance department at the time we spoke to him after practice. Following the Oregon game he spoke about the Canadian national team guard who committed to UConn on Monday.

"Every time I watch her play, she plays the same," Auriemma said. "She does remind me of Svetlana in terms of her demeanor, she knows how to run a team, she knows how to play defense, she enjoys playing defense, she makes open shots, she is a willing passer. Some people are good passers but they don't want to be passers, she is one of these kids that a young age is a complete basketball player and is only going to get better.

"She is a tremendous athlete, she probably got it from mom and her brother got it from her mom. Her dad Rich, he takes all the credit and he always tells me how great he is but I know exactly where it came from."

With no brace on her surgically-repaired knee and the aggressive mentality she displayed during the two exhibition games, there would be no way that the casual observer would know she was the same player who saw her sophomore season ended with a torn ACL.

Banks had 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes in wins over Division II programs Gannon and Philadelphia. But the numbers didn't tell the complete story. She dove on the floor with reckless abandon, never hesitated when she had an opportunity to shoot.

However, a more tentative Banks was on display in the first two regular-season games.

Watching Stanford play well off of Banks and not liking her response, UConn coach Geno Auriemma only played Banks eight minutes in a win over No. 3 Stanford.

Perhaps it was the confidence that freshman Saniya Chong played with against the Cardinal or the fact that the Huskies were down the seven full scholarship players after the injuries suffered by Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck, but a much more confident Banks took to the court when the Huskies faced Maryland in the road opener.

Banks had nine points, three rebounds and an assist in 25 minutes and played another 18 minutes against Penn State as the Huskies posted a pair of double-digit victories on the road against ranked teams.

"I was trying to redeem myself, I was thinking a little bit too much," Banks said.

"It is like a different flow now, I have figured out my role on the team which is to work hard, be good on defense and my offense will come so I am just trying to do it in practice and it will transfer to the game."

Banks shot 48 percent from the field including 35 percent from 3-point range in the 21 games she played last season. Her shooting eye has not fully returned just yet as she is 6 of 17 on field goals and 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first four games this season.

"My shooting right now is the biggest thing and looking more in the post for my teammates," Banks said,

With the graduation of defensive stalwart Kelly Faris, Banks is also being asked to chip in defensive on the opposing team's best perimeter player to give Bria Hartley a break.

"I have to work on not fouling with the different rules, it is a lot harder to play somebody and keep them in your sight when the fouls are so touchy now," Banks said. "We work on that in practice every day and I will get better at ."

In a perfect world the UConn women's basketball team would not have gone into the season with nine full scholarship players and certainly wouldn't be facing a pair of bruising ranked teams on the road with seven healthy full scholarship players.

However, the combination of having three of the five-member senior class transfer out and some swings and misses on the recruiting trail leaves UConn with a perilously thin roster at the current time.

With Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis out indefinitely with an elbow injury and Morgan Tuck expected to miss 4-6 weeks following knee surgery, the Huskies are pressing forward. They did not request a postponement of either Friday's game against Maryland or Sunday's contest vs. Penn State.

"(With) 13-14-15 (players) not one kid gets hurt ever," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It all part of the game, it is all part of sports. You have to be able to deal with things like this that happen. Sometimes these things happen in March after you've had a whole year and all of sudden the most important time of the year you are scrambling to try to put it together. The fact that it is November, we have some time to get our bearings with this group. I don't think there will be any fundraisers for us around the country, there won't be any telethons or 'Race for the Huskies' to raise scholarship money or people loaning us players. I think people think we will be OK."

UConn does still have three players on the major preseason award watch lists in seniors Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley and sophomore Breanna Stewart. Add in Moriah Jefferson, Kiah Stokes, Brianna Banks and Saniya Chong and that is a seven-player rotation that most programs would be delighted to go into a game with.

This is probably the worst time to have a shorthanded team considering the increase emphasis on calling fouls for the away from the ball contact that restricts freedom of movement. If a couple of Huskies get into foul trouble this weekend things could get pretty interesting.

"I think it is really important, we can't have Stewie (Stewart) in foul trouble like she was against Stanford and it just about being smart," Hartley said. "I think Coach (Auriemma)  put an extra emphasis on defense, if a guy beats you, get out of the way so somebody can help you and just work on recovery because with the new foul rules, you don't want to get those ticky-tack fouls. We want to have our good players on the floor for as long as we can, we are not at as full strength as we would have like but as full strength as we can be.

"I think we will stick to our original game plan because we still have really versatile players. I think it changes how many people we can keep fresh but I think we are a team that works really hard, we are going to be in good shape and we are not going to complain about being tired."

NEW GIG FOR FORMER HUSKY
Former UConn guard Maria Conlon is one of the directors for the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven Youth Basketball League which begins next month for players in grades 2-7.

Conlon played for three national championship teams at UConn in the early 2000s and also had a stint as an assistant coach at Southern Connecticut State under Joe Frager, who coached Conlon at Seymour High School.

For additional information, please contact Allan Greenberg at (203) 387-2522 x252 or Debra Kirschner at (203) 387-2522 x253.  Register online at jccnh.org.

It was hard to gauge just how good of a defensive team UConn is at the current time off the two exhibition game since the Huskies demolished a pair of overmatched Division II teams. However, seeing how happy Geno Auriemma was during yesterday's practice as he worked on trapping and other defensive concepts gave me a sense that this could be a pretty impressive defensive team.

"I think we have a chance to be a pretty good defensive team," Auriemma said. "I think every year our defense is going to be one of the if not our biggest strength. There are a lot of factors, a lot of components that makes teams good defensive teams and I think we have the right components in terms of people and now we just have to make sure we do all the things that make teams really good defensive teams. We are better than we were the first week of practice, that is for sure."

With shot blockers like Breanna Stewart, Stefanie Dolson and Kiah Stokes to protect the basket and aggressive athletic guards like Bria Hartley, Moriah Jefferson, Brianna Banks and Saniya Chong to apply ball pressure the pieces are in place for the Huskies to wreak havoc on teams this season.

"It is a fine line of how much can we extend our pressure given that the next two guards, one didn't play (the final 18 games) last year and the other one is a freshman," Auriemma said. "It is a fine line. We have to find that right balance for us, how much pressure can we put for it and how much do we need to be careful. With the new rules and the way people are going (to call fouls).

"I am replacing a fifth-year senior (Caroline Doty) and Kelly Faris. Kelly was a great defender and now we have to try to get whoever is in that spot, K (Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis) for sure, can she potentially be as good a defender as Kelly? I don't know, she is athletic enough, she is big enough, she is strong enough. Can Moriah be a better defender than Caroline, you would think. She doesn't have the experience that Caroline, we are pretty long in the back and we have quickness in the front. The other components, ball pressure, contain the guys who are driving, those two things are hard to do."

Although replacing Faris, one of the best defensive players ever to play at UConn, will be no easy task Auriemma is not alone in his optimism.

"We have done a tremendous job on defense in practice and at our exhibition games," UConn senior center Stefanie Dolson said. "I know we have a great team as long as we are talking constantly, always being alert of where we are defensively.

"Having the bigs in the back gives the guards the ability to pressure the ball, if they get beat it is not going to be an automatic layup. We have trust in them and they have trust in us that they are not going to foul and they can keep guys in front of them and they trust us that we are going to block the shot. It is all about trust and communication and that is what we have."

Two encouraging signs have been how fluid and aggressive Banks looks following her long road of recovery from a torn ACL and the way Stokes seems to be producing on a more regular basis.

Stokes was outstanding in the second half of the final preseason game and did some good things in practice.

"She's been doing that every day, blocking shots, getting rebounds, talking so it is what we need from her right now," Dolson said.

The biggest sign of growth in Stokes is that Auriemma is really getting after her in practice. There were times when Auriemma got so frustrated with Stokes during her first two seasons that he wouldn't even bother criticizing her in practice but that is clearly not the case any longer.

There were times during an up and down freshman season that Moriah Jefferson didn't even recognize herself on the court and really couldn't figure out why she was playing more tentatively than at any other point in her basketball career.

When she returned to school for her sophomore season Jefferson was playing for a swagger that was rarely seen a season ago. Some of that was on display in Friday's exhibition win over Gannon especially early on.

Jefferson had two assists and a pair of free throws in the first 100 seconds and finished with 13 points, three rebounds, six assists and four steals in a 101-35 victory.

"There is no me being confused, looking at the coaches and say 'what should I do?'" Jefferson said. "It was just go out play and have fun with my teammates. It doesn't matter where I go, if I get caught I know Stewie (Breanna Stewart) is running to the rim, Bria (Hartley) is on the backside with a 3, Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) and Stef (Dolson), it is just like you have unlimited options."

Jefferson's improved play has not been lost on her teammates and coaches.

"She is a lot better, she is more calm, she can see the floor a lot more and she pretty much runs the team on the court," UConn junior guard Brianna Banks said. "She is pretty much the energy of the team on any given day. Once you are a freshman you are a scared and you can't be like that to play here. That is what (assistant coach) Shea (Ralph)  tells us all the time, you can't be scared to play here."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has said that Jefferson looks like a completely different player through the first couple weeks of practice.

"She's been pretty good for most of the days of practice, taking advantage of the things that she does well and that was evident tonight," Auriemma said. "She didn't shoot the ball from the perimeter which she has been shooting the ball well in practice but you can just see the confidence level she has been playing with. That is not something that she was able to do as this point last year."

BANKS THRILLED TO BE BACK ON COURT
If Jefferson's performance was a headliner the return of Brianna Banks was also worthy of star billing.

Banks had six points, six rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes. Her energy level was hard to miss as she was eager to make up for lost time after being sidelined since early February after suffering a season-ending knee injury.

"I am excited to finally  it the court again," Banks said, "I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what was going to happen. I just knew I was going to play my heart out and be there for my teammates. It didn't come too quickly, I do take pride in the hard work I put in to get on the court and I am happy to see people notice."

MOSQUEDA-LEWIS PAYING THE PRICE

The game's outcome was no longer in question but with the chance to try to get her team another possession, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis went flying over the press row table, taking out veteran sportswriter Ken Davis and obliterating the chair Davis was sitting in.

"I thought I could get the ball and save it in time," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "I thought I had tipped it and that is why I was trying to get it. By the time my momentum was there, I just kind of had to go into the table and lucky I fell on someone, lucky for me. It (the chair) is very broken."

Maybe Mosqueda-Lewis was extra motivated after receiving a good luck text from former teammate Kelly Faris but her teammates were not surprised to see Mosqueda-Lewis' hustle.

"That is how she has been playing in practice, a lot more hustle plays," Jefferson said. "Did you all see the chair, though? I couldn't help it, I laughed."

When Stefanie Dolson was asked if she and her teammates would be interested in cutting a video as part of the Br{ache the Silence campaign to combat homophobia, the UConn senior center was quick to not only agree to take part in the project but also got teammates Bria Hartley, Brianna Banks and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis to take part in the video used as part of BTS Tour of Champions campaign.

"I think it was really important," Dolson said after Thursday's practice. "I have a lot of gay and lesbian friends and to be able to put our face on that and show that there are a lot of stigmas and stereotypes women's basketball players have 'oh, they play and they are gay or they are lesbian.' For us to say that it doesn't matter what your sexual orientation is and to kind of get that word out, it meant a lot to me because I feel very strongly about that and I think it is wrong when people have those opinions and stereotypes about people so I am really happy we go that chance to do it. They contacted Pat (McKenna, UConn's women's basketball sports information director) he told me and I picked a few people do it."

Since the video has been posted, there has been plenty of support for the Huskies' involvement in the project via social media. Dolson has also received some positive feedback after the video was posted.

"Here and there," Dolson said, "I think it is a topic that people don't really contact others about it but it has been a lot of positive feedback and no negative feedback which is good."

Brianna Banks has made that short walk from Gampel Pavilion to the Burton Family Complex more times than she cares to remember over the last several months but none were quite like the one she made yesterday.

Banks has been working vigorously so she could return to the court for UConn's exhibition games. Right on schedule Banks was given the OK to practice without restriction on Wednesday and is expected to play in the Huskies' preseason opener on Friday.

"All I could do was smile and the doctor (Robert Arciero) said 'it was the first time I have seen you smile,'" Banks said.  "I said 'you told me something I wanted to hear.'

"I went and saw the doctor and he saw the (range of motion) test that I took and it looked great and in the past two weeks it was great and then he and Rosie (Ragle, UConn's athletic trainer) did a little talking and he said 'you can go for it.'"

UConn coach Geno Auriemma doesn't have a set allotment of playing time he is planning to give Banks in tomorrow night's preseason game.

"I don't think we got into any game saying we are going to play her 'x' amount of minutes and that's it," Auriemma said. "I think we just go by 'what does it look like?' I am sure she is going to be winded a little bit. She did everything she was supposed to do but she probably had to work a little harder than she ever did but she looks good."

Banks has drawn raves from teammates and coaches alike for her positive attitude throughout the process as she worked her way back from a torn ACL.

"The only thing you can do through the process is keep a positive attitude and do what everybody is telling you to do in terms of the doctors, trainers and be as much of a part of the team as you can and it is really the only thing you can bring so when you don't do that, it makes everything exponentially harder so I think she has done a good job with that," UConn assistant coach Shea Ralph said. "Her transition back has been good in terms of it can be easy to get down on yourself, harder to do initially, you feel like you are stuck in mud, you forget how to play a little bit so she is probably making more mistakes than she normally makes but she is being aggressive and mentally that is one of the harder things to do when you come back from an injury because it is easy to be tentative when you come back. Brianna has been great in terms of understanding that she has worked to this point and she is going to work hard, be aggressive and keep moving forward.

"I think it has been one of her big goals (returning by the first preseason game). It is hard because people will tell you that but part of the rehab is getting back. It is one thing to say 'I am going to be cleared' and it is another thing to be able to play well and do the things you want to do well so she has done a great job of getting herself back into practice and doing everything the trainers have told her to do and now it is that she needs to keep improving."