The 2022-23 women’s college basketball season has yet to complete its first full month of play and the sport has already received its first tough break of the year.
For the second season in a row, one of the nation’s top players will be sidelined for quite a bit of time. And for the second straight season, that player is a UConn Husky.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Huskies women’s basketball program announced that standout sophomore guard Azzi Fudd is expected to miss three-to-six weeks after sustaining a right knee injury in a game against Notre Dame over the past weekend.
BREAKING: UConn sophomore guard Azzi Fudd is expected to miss 3-6 weeks with a right knee injury, the team announced Tuesday. Fudd suffered the injury in Sunday's loss to Notre Dame.
— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) December 6, 2022
Unfortunately for Fudd, who was averaging 24.0 points per game before Sunday’s showdown with the Fighting Irish (which she exited in the first half), the recent injury is just the latest of her early career. Last season as a freshman, she missed around two months with a foot injury sustained just before Thanksgiving, which kept her out until the thick of conference play.
As Fudd recovers and rehabilitates the right knee, she’ll join another injured star Husky on the sidelines. Junior guard Paige Bueckers also missed a chunk of her sophomore season before suffering a torn left ACL this past offseason to put her 2022-23 season completely out of the question.
UConn, now 6-1 and out of the Top 5, will have to stem the tide while Fudd is out of the lineup. Head coach Geno Auriemma’s squad did just that a season ago while Bueckers rehabilitated, and then went on to march to the 2022 national championship game, where they finished as the runner-up.
Can they draw from prior experiences?
The Huskies have +7000 national championship odds at DraftKings Sportsbook.
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