UConn women’s basketball announced Tuesday that sophomore star Paige Bueckers underwent a successful surgery on her left knee Monday afternoon at UConn Health.
The operation repaired the anterior tibial plateau fracture and a previously undisclosed lateral meniscus tear that Bueckers sustained during UConn’s win last Sunday against Notre Dame.
The school said Bueckers’ estimated recovery time will be eight weeks. That would place her potential return around the week of Feb. 7, if all goes to plan.
With that timeline, the Huskies must complete the remainder of their nonconference schedule without their reigning national player of the year. Should she aim for a Feb. 9 return when the Huskies take on Villanova, she’d ultimately miss 18 games in all.
The school initially provided a six to eight week recovery timeline from Dec. 5, the date of her injury, which would’ve been mid- to late-January. But coach Geno Auriemma first brought up the possibility of Bueckers undergoing surgery this weekend after the Huskies beat UCLA in the Never Forget Tribute Classic.
“She needed to solicit a couple other opinions,” Auriemma said Saturday. “And then the next step is, there’s either going to be surgery or there’s not going to be surgery. And that’s got to happen relatively soon. Yes or no.
“I think anytime there’s a fracture, that means there’s something that has to be fixed, and you let it be fixed by time or you need to go in there and fix it. So I think by the next couple of days, hopefully we’re gonna have a definitive answer.”
The Huskies are 1-1 without Bueckers this season, losing to then-unranked Georgia Tech but beating UCLA. It’ll help once they’re able to bring back backup point guard Nika Mühl and shooting guard Azzi Fudd, which seems most likely to happen after the holidays. Junior Aubrey Griffin also seems closer to making her season debut sometime soon.
Prior to her injury, Bueckers led UConn in scoring (21.2 points per game), minutes (36.3), assists (6.2) and steals (2.7), and was second in rebounding (5.5). Between her scoring and assists, she was responsible for over 50 percent of UConn’s field goals this season.
But since Bueckers was initially injured, Auriemma has made it clear that they won’t rush Bueckers back.
“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. 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.”
