Geno Auriemma admitted that he has no sense of what he will see from his two-time defending national champions when UConn hosts Franklin Pierce, a team which has played in the last three Division II Elite Eights, on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.

He is pretty certain that Maya Moore, who Auriemma said "watching her practice these last three weeks, she's even better than she was the first three years."

Tiffany Hayes and Kelly Faris are still trying to grow into expanded roles, Lorin Dixon is listed as the starting point guard which would allow UConn to bring much heralded freshman Bria Hartley off the bench. Stefanie Dolson seems like a lock to be the starting center.

Here's his breakdown on the five freshmen

Stefanie Dolson: "I think if we were starting a game tomorrow, Stefanie would start and we would go from there and see how that worked out. The things she was good at she has gotten a little better at. I've always knew she was a pretty good passer, she is pretty good finishing around the basket. She has a pretty good feel for the game and those things, how many minutes she can play on any given night, I think that remains to be seen."

Lauren Engeln: "Probably has made some progress."

Bria Hartley: "Bria is still Bria, she's really, really, really good and then she is a typical freshman or high school senior that's kind of what we are getting right now. Hopefully she will get more and more consistent."

Michala Johnson: "I think she still has a ways to go to get her strength back. There's been days when she looks like she is able to really contribute a little bit and days when she is really struggling. She hasn't played in two years almost so I don't think you can expect somebody to come in here and be ready to go. You've got to play her a little bit so you get a feel of what it's like to play. That's something we are counting on for sure. She's not out, she is not injured, she's not on injured reserve. She is on the team, she is playing, she is practicing but how much she can be effective playing, I have no idea."

Samarie Walker: "Samarie's gotten better, she shows flashes of being a good rebounder, really a good finisher around the basket."

One noteworthy thing about UConn's practice on Tuesday is that it was the first time in the first three weeks that UConn brought in officials to give practice a game feel.

"You just want try to simulate something that looks like a game before you actually go on Thursday night," Auriemma said. "You try to get them here a couple of times before you play, get the kids used to understanding that it is a foul that they are going to call fouls. It is all part of getting ready for games, the whole game mode thing. That's all it is."