STORRS, Conn. — The UConn women’s basketball team will have enough healthy players to take the court against St. John’s University on Wednesday.
The Huskies announced they will have at least seven players available when they tip off against St. John’s at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y. The Big East conference requires that all teams have a minimum of seven scholarship student-athletes available for a game.
The No. 4-ranked Huskies were forced to postpone their Sunday game against DePaul due to the lack of available players. The team only had six active players.
UConn has been plagued by illness and injury this season.
Junior Paige Bueckers and freshman Ice Brady are out for the season with knee injuries. Sophomore rising star Azzi Fudd – and this season’s leading scorer – has been on the bench since she was injured in a collision with Aaliyah Edwards during a Dec. 4 loss to Notre Dame. She is expected to return shortly and participated in warmups during the last three games as part of her rehab.
Sophomore Caroline Ducharme has missed two games while in concussion protocol after suffering an injury in practice.
Edwards and freshman Ayanna Patterson were injured in UConn's win at Xavier earlier this month.
Edwards sustained what was described alternately as a right foot or ankle injury in the first half of the Huskies 73-37 victory, diving over some courtside seats for a loose ball. It was not immediately clear when or how Patterson was hurt.
Even head coach Geno Auriemma has missed four games this season due to illness. It is not clear when he might return.
“It’s been an extremely difficult month for me, and I’ve been feeling under the weather and run down,” Auriemma said in a statement Thursday. “I thought I was ready to return, but I need a little more time. I’m going to take a step back to focus on my health and will return when I feel ready.”
Ahead of the game against DePaul, the Huskies available to play included guard Nika Mühl, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, Inês Bettencourt and forwards Aubrey Griffin, Dorka Juhász and Amari DeBerry. It was not immediately clear which injured player is healthy enough to play on Wednesday.
Despite the injuries, the Huskies have won six straight games.
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