STORRS, Connecticut — The UConn Women’s Basketball team is favored to win the Big East conference this season, according to a Preseason Coaches’ Poll announced Tuesday.
Players also received individual honors as well. Forward Ayanna Patterson was selected as the Big East Preseason Freshman of the Year. Junior Aaliyah Edwards, sophomore Caroline Ducharme and sophomore Azzi Fudd were named to the Preseason All-Big East Team while graduate student Dorka Juhász was picked as Preseason Honorable Mention.
It's a familiar path for the Huskies, as UConn won both the regular season and tournament titles in 2021-22. The Huskies have won 21 Big East regular season titles and 20 Big East Tournament titles.
Patterson, a five-star recruit from Fort Wayne, Indiana, is ranked fourth in the class of 2022, as listed by ESPN, according to UConn Athletics. She averaged 25.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.1 blocks as a senior at Homestead High and was named a McDonald’s All American and Indiana Miss Basketball. She is the third straight UConn rookie to be named BIG EAST Preseason Freshman of the Year following Azzi Fudd in 2021 and Paige Bueckers in 2020.
Starting in 26 games last year, Edwards averaged 7.9 points and 5.1 rebounds. Her field goal percentage (.542) ranked fifth in the Big East.
Thrust into the starting lineup midseason, Ducharme upped her scoring average from 3.3 points per game to 17.6 during that 11-game stretch. Over 14 Big East contests she averaged 13.1 points.
After missing 11 games because of an injury, Fudd was impressive upon her return. She is UConn’s top returning scorer, finishing her freshman season averaging 12.1 points and shooting 43% from three.
Juhász is the Huskies’ top returning rebounder at 5.7 per game, including 6.4 in Big East play. She also scored 9.5 points per game against conference opponents.
The Huskies begin the 2022-23 season against Northeastern on Thursday, Nov. 10. UConn begins Big East play against Providence on Friday, Dec. 2.
Doug Stewart is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dstewart@fox61.com.
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