- UConn has faced an unprecedented number of injuries and extenuating circumstances this season.
- Nine of 12 Huskies players have missed at least one contest, and UConn even had to postpone a game.
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma may very well have walked under a ladder, broken a mirror, or crossed paths with a black cat, given the ridiculous amount of bad luck his Huskies have faced this season.
The perennial Final Four team has dealt with an unprecedented number of injuries and extenuating circumstances during the 2022-23 season — even after losing superstar guard Paige Bueckers to an ACL tear sustained before the season even began.
At one point in January, UConn was even forced to postpone a Big East matchup because the team did not have seven healthy players — the conference minimum — available for the contest.
For Huskies great Sue Bird, UConn's seemingly endless misfortune has been painful to watch.
"I'm sure all of them just have to sit back, throw their hands up, and be like, 'Well, what can you do?'" the legendary college and WNBA guard told Insider. "I mean, once you start having to postpone games because you don't have enough players to suit up, obviously that is the official mark of a very difficult season."
Of the 12 players on the Huskies' roster, nine have missed at least one game — due to injuries, illnesses, or even weather-related issues. Only two players, Aaliyah Edwards and Lou Lopez Sénéchal, have seen the court for each of UConn's 34 games this season, though they, too, have dealt with injuries over the course of 2022-23.
Even Auriemma and his longtime associate head coach, Chris Dailey, missed time during the season. Before the Huskies tipped off against the NC State Wolfpack for a late November game in Connecticut, Dailey collapsed along the sideline and was ushered out of the arena on a stretcher. She made a full recovery but missed the game while receiving medical evaluations at a nearby hospital.
The following month, Auriemma took time away from the team to mourn his mother's death, then came down with "flu-like symptoms" and missed two more games. After a brief return to the head of the bench, he handed over the reins to Dailey for two more contests in early January.
"It's been an extremely difficult month for me, and I've been feeling under the weather and run down," Auriemma said in a statement. "I thought I was ready to return, but I need a little more time. I'm going to take a step back to focus on my health and will return when I feel ready."
Some of UConn's absences were less serious than others. Freshman Amari DeBerry missed a late-December contest after a Christmas snowstorm left her unable to fly out of her hometown in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York.
Edwards — the Huskies' dominant 6-foot-3 forward — took a bump from her much smaller point guard, Nika Muhl, at one point during a practice and wound up with a broken nose. Months later, Edwards went after a loose ball during a game at Xavier, tumbled over some chairs lining the court, and sat out for the remainder of the contest with an ailing leg.
"At some point you almost have to — it's kind of like a laugh-to-keep-from-crying kind of a vibe," Bird told Insider. "I mean, what can you do?!"
Fortunately for UConn, the dark clouds that have loomed over the team seem to be parting exactly when it matters most. For the first time all year, the Huskies had all 10 players on their roster (without a season-ending injury) available during the Big East Tournament.
They won it all, just as they've done every year since rejoining the conference in 2021.
But whether that luck — or, perhaps more accurately, lack of bad luck — will extend into March Madness still remains to be seen. Bird is keeping her "fingers crossed" that UConn will find its way to the Final Four for a mind-boggling 15th consecutive NCAA tournament.
"It'll go down as a unique season," she added. "And sometimes, when you look back, those can be some of your favorites."