STORRS, Conn. — It's a rough go for UConn women's basketball freshman Jana El Alfy after she was injured during a recent game in Spain.
UConn Athletics said that El Alfy suffered an Achilles tendon rupture in the 2023 RIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup in Alcala de Henares, Spain.
Due to the injury, she will miss the 2023-24 season.
The injury occurred during Egypt's game versus Italy last Sunday. El Alfy was leading the tournament with 21.4 points per game.
She later returned to Connecticut and was evaluated at UConn Health and will have surgery, according to UConn Athletics.
El Alfy had joined the UConn women's basketball team early at the beginning of the year. Head Coach Geno Auriemma announced in January that she enrolled at the university for the spring 2023 semester, joining the team immediately.
She has represented Egypt in FIBA competitions three times, including the 2021 FIBA U16 African Championship, the 2022 FIBA U17 World Cup, and the 2022 FIBA U18 African Women's Championship.
At the 2022 U18 African Championship, El Alfy led the tournament with 24.0 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, leading Egypt to silver.
El Alfy has participated in the NBA Academy Women's Program since 2019 – fellow alums include current UConn players Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Mühl.
El Alfy also competed for Al Ahly Sporting Club.
This is the second straight year that UConn has suffered a season-ending injury before school has begun.
Guard Paige Bueckers, the former national player of the year, and freshman forward Ice Brady missed the 2022-23 season with knee injuries.
Both have since returned to practice and are expected to play for UConn in November.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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