UConn women’s basketball will be without their leading scorer for a good chunk of time.
Paige Bueckers will be out 6-8 weeks after an MRI showed a tibial plateau fracture in his left knee, the team announced on Tuesday.
“Obviously, we’re all extremely disappointed for Paige and that she suffered this injury,” said head coach Geno Auriemma. “It would be really hard to describe how much basketball means to Paige and how much her teammates mean to her. Not being able to do the thing that she loves to do, to be there for her teammates, is really difficult for her. We’ve had players get injured in the past and my philosophy here is, I’m not interested in how fast we can get someone back; I’m interested in what’s best for them long term. Every decision made will prioritize what’s best for Paige and her career. Everyone involved with this program will be there to support Paige through her healing process.”
Bueckers suffered the injury on a non-contact play during the team’s dominating win over Notre Dame, where she had a team-leading 22 points. She couldn’t put any pressure on her leg as teammates helped her off the court.
Moving forward, the Huskies will have to rely on other scorers to get the job done, Aaliyah Edwards, Carolina Ducharme and Olivia Nelson-Ododa among them.
However, the initial thought that Bueckers could’ve had an injury like a torn ACL, which would’ve had her miss the rest of the season, isn’t what occurred here.
If all goes well, it appears Bueckers could return later in the season for the Huskies when games get even more important.