UConn women's basketball has temporarily suspended team activities after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19, the school announced Monday night.
All team activities will be on hold for at least 14 days, the school said, meaning that the Huskies will not compete in their first four previously scheduled games. Those games included two matchups in the Hall of Fame Women's Challenge this weekend at Mohegan Sun Arena, a Dec. 4 contest in Uncasville against No. 5 Louisville and the their conference opener Dec. 6 at Seton Hall.
The program said any schedule adjustments will be announced at a later date, but the team's online schedule listed the Quinnipiac, Mississippi State/Maine and Louisville games as canceled and the Seton Hall game as postponed. Seton Hall is currently undergoing its own temporary pause of basketball activities due to COVID-19 cases and is set to open its season Dec. 4.
Depending on when the team returns to the court and what happens to the Seton Hall game, UConn's season opener could end up being Dec. 15 at home against Butler, its next scheduled matchup.
The school instructs anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 to self-isolate for a minimum of 10 days and receive medical clearance before ending isolation. Individuals within "close contact" of the infected individual (defined by the CDC as within six feet for longer than 15 minutes) must quarantine for 14 days.
The news comes less than a week after the UConn men's basketball team resumed team activities after a player tested positive for COVID-19. During a portion of the time regular team activities were paused, the practice facility and weight room were available for players under strict protocols, including limitations on how many people were allowed in the room at one time and how far apart they had to be. It remains to be seen whether the women's team could adopt such an approach.
UConn announced Monday there were five new on-campus COVID-19 cases among residential students, as well as seven new employee cases, over the last three days. Students left campus last week for Thanksgiving break and won't be returning to Storrs until mid-January.
