When top-ranked UConn squares off against Temple at the XL Center on Sunday (2 p.m., CBS Sports Network), it will mark the 10th straight day that the Huskies have spent in Connecticut.

It's easily the longest stretch of the season with the exception of time leading into final exams in the fall semester.

With the various ailments that UConn's star players have been dealing with, a chance to not only play three straight home games but to also have almost a week between games might have been just what the doctor ordered.

"It is good to be in one place and not living out of a suitcase," UConn senior guard Kia Nurse said. "For us it has kind of been get better at things, clean up some things and then relax, get caught up on some school work.

"We had a couple of days when we were able to get off of our feet a little bit, come in here and get some treatment done so it is good."

The Huskies, coming off a win over No. 4 Louisville on Monday, didn't practice on either Tuesday or Wednesday. Although starting point guard Crystal Dangerfield is still limited to about 15 minutes of practice daily due to her shin splints, All-American forward Gabby Williams is back to practicing at least half of the time as her injured hip continues to become less painful.

Nurse and Katie Lou Samuelson also benefited from having a couple of days without practice.

"Those couple of days off that we have to ourselves, we've had some good practices and we are excited to play again," Samuelson said. "We've each had stuff we had to deal with and figure out how to limit ourselves to certain things so we'd be ready to go in a game."

While UConn has kept athletic trainer Janelle Francisco busy, it is nothing compared to what is happening at Temple.

The last time out, the Owls not only started four freshmen alongside of Tanaya Atkinson but two of the three reserves to see action were transfers. The hits began before the season when Alliya Butts was lost for the year with a knee injury and Donnaizha Fountain decided to play her final season at Seton Hall, although she left the program about a month ago. With Feyonda Fitzgerald graduating, that left the Owls without their top three scorers from an NCAA tournament team.

Shannen Atkinson, who played in 20 games as a freshman, is out the rest of the season with a hip injury while Khadijah Berger has missed three games. After three straight postseason appearances, Temple comes into the game with a 10-15 record.

"Being an NCAA team that should have won the Oregon game (in the NCAA tournament) to this, it just goes to show you how fragile it all is and how much it can change from one year to the next," Auriemma said. "I can feel for her (Temple coach and former UConn assistant Tonya Cardoza) because they play hard, they are tough, competitive, they are just trying to play a lot of players who don't have the experience that they need. They've had some really close games that they haven't been able to win. In our game down there you could see that they started out one way and we just wore them down. You appreciate when it is easy when she is going through what she is going through right now."