The top-ranked Huskies may not have needed Morgan Tuck in Wednesday's blowout win over Memphis, but the sophomore forward it not only an integral cog on Geno Auriemma's squad. Not only does she bring a commanding presence to the front court, she also adds much-needed depth. Without her, there's only Stefanie Dolson, Breanna Stewart and Kiah Stokes.
But Tuck has been battling a knee injury and for the 12th time this season, she watched from the bench Wednesday in street clothes. After the game, Auriemma admitted to being concerned.
"Morgan Tuck is very frustrated,” he said, via the Hartford Courant. “She is very disappointed that we are in this situation again. We hoped by [Wednesday] we’d be closer to what we wanted her to be able to do. But unfortunately it’s not there and now I am concerned that the season [her season] is starting to get away from us.”
Tuck's last game was Jan. 9, when she score a career-high 19 points against Houston. She was later diagnosed with a bone bruise.
“You could see it on the MRI [the bruise],” Auriemma said. “It’s like a big piece of hale lands on you hood and creates a crater. That’s what she has on her knee. ...Sometimes it feels great, sometimes it doesn’t,” Auriemma said.
A UConn spokesman tells the Courant that Tuck is still eligible for a medical redshirt because she has played in less than 30 percent of the team's 31 scheduled games. If Tuck appeared in two more games, the medical-redshirt status would no longer apply.
