Albany, N.Y. — It is a blessing and curse that Morgan Tuck’s birthplace is Bolingbrook, Ill. Blessing: Tuck’s name is mentioned among the region’s lore and legend of women’s basketball players, including Candace Parker, Yolanda Griffith and Tamika Catchings. Curse: Tuck’s name is mentioned among the region’s lore and legend of women’s basketball players, including Candace Parker, Yolanda Griffith and Tamika Catchings.

Tuck, an emerging forward for the rampaging UConn women, has enjoyed and endured a life of comparisons.

“It always feels good to be compared to them, but I’ve never really tried to be who I’m being compared to,” Tuck said Friday at the Times Union Center. “I’m not them. My goal is hopefully one day people can say ‘she’s the next Morgan Tuck.’ That would be really cool.”

Tuck and the top-seeded Huskies continue their path through the NCAA tournament today in the regional semifinals against No. 5 Texas (noon, ESPN).

Tuck, averaging 14 points and 5.4 rebounds, has been magnificent in the tournament to date, with a combined 42 points in two games on 19-for-24 shooting. Her ability to play inside and out, with athleticism and intelligence, is more evident every game.

“We have three players that get a lot of attention, rightly so,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said.”Stewie (Breanna Stewart) and K (Kaleena Mosqueda Lewis) and Moriah (Jefferson) are really, really good. They might be the three best players in the country at their positions. And then, ‘Oh, yeah, they’ve got Morgan Tuck, too.’ So sometimes that’s just the way perception is of what our team is. But within our team, we know. We know what Morgan does for us and we wouldn’t be where we are today without her. And we couldn’t win it … If we hope to win this thing it’s really not going to happen without Morgan Tuck. It’s not going to happen.’’

Tuck knew that attending UConn, where the name on the front of the jersey means more than the name on the back, wouldn’t necessarily benefit her own personal statistics. But then, maybe that’s why Auriemma and his coaching staff liked her so much. It’s never changed with her.

“She understands that her actions affect the whole team. That’s what makes her so good,” her high school coach, Tony Smith, once said to a local newspaper. “If the game needs her to score 40 or 50, she’s going to score 40 or 50. If the game needs her to score 10, she’s going to score 10. I told her, she is a winner and she should do whatever it takes to win and not worry about points or other stuff. Just win games.”

Which is what he’s done here. And while she’s probably not considered at the Griffith/Parker/Catchings level yet, she has years to grow.

“I would definitely say I wanted to be Candace Parker,” Tuck said. “She grew up in Naperville, which is 10 minutes from where I live. I went to lot of her high school games. Got her autograph 10 times. And pictures, too.”

• Carl Adamec of the Manchester Journal Inquirer reported Friday that Texas and UConn are likely headed to Mohegan Sun Arena for the 2016-17 Hall of Fame Challenge. UConn is expected to return the trip to Austin the following year.

m.dimauro@theday.com

Twitter: Mike DiMauro