UConn women’s game postponed due to lack of Huskies players

STORRS, Connecticut – The Big East game between No. 5 UConn and DePaul on Sunday at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut has been postponed because the Huskies do not have enough healthy players to match, a conference call on Friday was reported.

The conference requires schools to match seven scholarship players to any game, and injuries have left the Husky with just six active players, the school said.

UConn was also expected to be without head coach Geno Auriemma, who announced on Thursday that he was taking some time off to recover from an illness.

Junior Aaliyah Edwards and freshman Ayanna Patterson were injured in UConn’s win over Xavier on Thursday. They join sophomore Caroline Ducharme, sophomore Azzie Fudd, junior Paige Bueckers, and freshman Ice Brady on the inactive list.

Edwards injured his right foot or ankle in the first half of the Huskies’ 73–37 victory, jumping over certain spots on the field for a loose ball. It was not immediately clear when or how Patterson was injured.

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The school said it would not release any further details on Friday night.

“At UConn, the health and well-being of our student athletes will always be our top priority,” David Benedict, the school’s athletic director, said in a statement. “Our women’s basketball program has unfortunately been hit with an unprecedented number of injuries this season. While it is unfortunate that we have to postpone Sunday’s game, it is the right call to protect the safety of our student athletes. We will be working with Big East and DePaul on options to reschedule the game.

Bueckers and Brady are out of season with knee injuries.

Fudd, the Huskies’ leading scorer, is expected to return soon from a knee injury that has kept her on the bench since she was injured in a collision with Edwards during the December 4 loss to Notre Dame. She participated in warm-ups during the last three games as part of her rehabilitation.