Bueckers has surgery
UConn’s Paige Bueckers undergoes surgery on her right ankle.
National player of the year winner Paige Bueckers has undergone a successful surgery on her right ankle to repair an osteochondral defect, UConn announced Saturday.
Bueckers is expected to be ready for preseason September.
According to Stanford Health Care, an osteochondral defect is a “focal area of damage that involves both the cartilage and a piece of underlying bone [that] can occur from an acute traumatic injury to the knee or an underlying disorder of the bone.” The surgery was performed at UConn Health.
Bueckers injured her right ankle in the fourth quarter of UConn’s late January game at Tennessee before returning to hit the winsealing 3-point shot. Though Bueckers missed the following game against Georgetown, she played the rest of the season for the Huskies, who fell to Arizona in the Final Four. A school spokesperson said the issue was preexisting but it’s possible it was aggravated versus Tennessee.
The Huskies will return to campus in June for summer school and workouts before going back home for the rest of the summer.
Baseball
UConn 9, Bucknell 1: At Storrs, Ben Casparius pitched seven innings, allowing a run on two hits while striking out 14 to lead the Huskies to the nonconference win on Saturday at Elliot Ballpark.
The game was part of a hastily planned two-game series with the Bison after a scheduled four-game Big East series with Butler was cancelled due to COVID-related travel issues. The two teams meet again on Sunday at 12:05 p.m.
The Huskies are 19-14 overall and in third place in the Big East with a 4-2 record. UConn has had its last 10 conference games postponed due to pandemic issues.
Pat Winkel led the Huskies with two solo home runs, while his brother, Chris, added a solo shot. Ben Maycock and Chris Brown each added two RBI.