UConn women’s basketball’s Paige Bueckers returns to team practice Wednesday
UConn women’s basketball star and reigning national player of the year Paige Bueckers is inching closer to her return following December knee surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in her left knee.
Bueckers, a sophomore guard, was seen practicing with the team Wednesday with a brace on her knee, two days before the No. 10 Huskies take on Xavier in Cincinnati. In the open portion of practice she worked a bit on offensive sets with UConn’s starters, going up against the practice players on defense.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said it was “the first day that she was able to get out on the court where there was some semblance of defense and that she could run up and down the floor a couple of times, two trips at a time for a few minutes. Up to now, the last couple of days were just shooting and some mobility testing.”
“Oh my gosh, she’s finally back,” sophomore Nika Mühl said. “It’s just so good to see her and her confidence getting back. We’re all happy for her. As Azzi [Fudd] said, we’re going to be a nasty team when she comes back.”
Auriemma added Bueckers was set to meet that day with Dr. Robert Arciero, chief of the Sports Medicine Division of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UConn Health, to come up with a plan for next steps.
“We’ll see where we go from here,” Auriemma said. “Today was Day One and who knows. We’ll see how she feels tomorrow.”
Bueckers has missed the last 16 games after suffering the injury in the final seconds of the Notre Dame game Dec. 5. She underwent surgery on Dec. 13.
The program has been optimistic that Bueckers could return to finish out the season. Auriemma says Bueckers has been impatient to get back to the court.
“All she does is complain that she can’t go longer, she can’t stay out there more,” Auriemma said. “I’m trying to take it slower than she wants it to go.”
The Huskies have five regular season games remaining before the Big East and NCAA tournaments in March. Bueckers is one of UConn’s seven rotation players who have missed at least two games this season due to injury.
With so much personnel fluctuation, and Bueckers’ reinsertion into a team that looks quite different than it did in early December, it’s fair to expect an adjustment period once she gets back.
“I’ve got to believe that if she gets out and plays a little bit with us, that there’s going to be some things that she’s going to want to do that maybe she’s going to find ‘not yet.’ And then things that are just going to come natural for her like they always do,” Auriemma said. “So I guess we’ll see. I don’t think we’re going to see the national player of the year Paige in two days. But hopefully, that’s coming.”
After missing the last three games, senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa (groin) was also seen practicing Wednesday. Auriemma said she “did a little bit,” “looked rusty” and that they’ll see how she’s feeling over the next few days.
Freshman Caroline Ducharme (head) and Mühl (foot) did not participate in the open portion of practice. Auriemma said Ducharme, who has been out the last four games, “did a little bit” earlier in the day and that they’re “hoping she can do a little bit more [Thursday],” at which point they’ll determine whether she’s ok to play Friday.
Mühl is still dealing with the lingering foot issue that sidelined her for three games in December. Auriemma said she practiced about 45 minutes Wednesday.
“It’s still kind of bothering me, especially after this week full of games and practices and everything but it’s nothing crazy, just bothering me a little bit, trying to limit me as much as possible,” Mühl said.
Auriemma seems optimistic that the health of the whole group, Buckers included, is “trending in the right direction.”
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com
