Paige Bueckers out 6-8 Weeks with knee fracture

The Uconn Women’s Basketball team got more terrible news on Monday, when the Huskies’ staff learned the reigning Player of the Year would miss at least six to eight weeks. An MRI and CT scan revealed a tibial plateau fracture in Buecker’s left knee, the result of an injury suffered in the fourth quarter of Uconn’s 73-54 win over Notre Dame.

“Obviously we’re all extremely disappointed for Paige, and that she suffered this injury,” Head Coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement. Bueckers, a sophomore and the Huskies leading scorer, collapsed with less than 40 seconds left in the victory and needed to be carried off the floor at Gampel Pavillion.

“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,” Auriemma added, “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.”

This is all obviously devestating news to a Uconn Huskies program that lost Freshman Guard Azzi Fudd earlier in the season, to a stress fracture in her right foot.

Auriemma was asked why Bueckers was even in the game so deep into the fourth quarter of a blow-out. Her injury occurred, not from contact, with 38,5 seconds left of a one sided home meeting. “She never wants to come out,” he answered. “All she does is complain about why she’s not playing” then he added that he “doesn’t like the way our team looks when she’s not on the floor.”

The Uconn head coach will have to find someone else to replace Paige’s team leading production, when they travel to Atlanta to play Georgia Tech on Thursday.