No. 2 UCONN vs. No. 15 TOWSON

When: Friday, 6:30 p.m. Where: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs Records: UConn (31-2, 16-0 AAC); Towson (20-12, 11-7 CAA) TV: ESPN2

Radio: UConn/IMG Sports Network — 97.9 ESPN-Hartford, WINE 940 AM-Brookfield, WGCH 1490 AM-Greenwich, WICC 600 AM-Bridgeport, WAVZ 1300 AM-New Haven, WXLM 980 AM-New London, WATR 1320 AM-Waterbury, WILI 1400 AMWillimantic

KEEP AN EYE ON

The return of No. 33: Geno Auriemma said Katie Lou Samuelson won’t necessarily be on a pitch count, but he will be careful with how uses the All-American guard coming off a back injury.

“If you see athletes that have back issues, once they start playing, the worst thing you can do is take them out, sit, and then put them back in,” the UConn coach said Thursday. “So, if Lou feels good, she’s going to stay in there.

“If and when I do take Lou out, it’s probably she’s going to be out for the rest of the game. So, we’ll see how it goes.”

Samuelson, the team’s second-leading scorer at 18.9 points per game and their top perimeter shooter, hasn’t played since March 2 after hurting her back in a collision. She’s still gradually working her way back at practice.

“My knees feel good, but my lungs do not in practice,” Samuelson joked. “I have just been trying to get back into shape, game-ready shape.”

Block party: Diane Richardson isn’t lacking confidence. In fact, Richardson, on the eve of Towson’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, said her team matches up quite well with the 11-time national champions.

“Obviously, they’re very talented,” the Towson coach said of UConn. “They’ve got great guards and they’ve got great posts. I’ve got to tell you, I think we’ve got great guards and great posts as well. They’re a very talented team, and we’re a very talented team, too.”

Thanks in large part to 6-foot-3 Nukiya Mayo and 6-4 Maia Lee, the Tigers rank second in the country in both blocks per game (6.3) and total blocks (203).

“We’ve got long, and we’ve got athleticism,” Richardson continued. “I think that helps us match up well against them.”

First time, long time: UConn won its only previous meeting with Towson, a 92-31 rout in Hartford on Nov. 30, 2011. Guard Bria Hartley paced the Huskies that day with 24 points, while Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 21.

PROBABLE STARTERS