Geno Auriemma says things coming along slowly as UConn women’s basketball kicks off 2022-23 with First Night
Geno Auriemma and the UConn women’s basketball team are slowly getting back into a routine as the 2022-23 season nears.The Huskies were introduced to a fervent crowd of students and season ticket holders during the program’s annual First Night on Friday at Gampel Pavilion.
“We’ve only had a couple days of practice so I guess everything’s new,” Auriemma said while speaking with reporters before the event. “We’re still waiting on everybody to be able to go full. So just try to manage the time that everybody’s on the court. So we have everybody on the court, it’s just not everybody’s out there all the time, so that might take a little bit of time to get caught up for some of them.”
Auriemma said the Huskies are waiting on Dorka Juhász (wrist), Caroline Ducharme (hip) and Aubrey Griffin (back) to be back “able to go full.” Freshman Ayanna Patterson recently tweaked her ankle as well.
“You can’t just go in there and all of a sudden not be cognizant of what happened, so they’re coming, you know, we’re bringing them along slowly,” Auriemma said. “They’re doing a lot, but they’re doing it in a short period of time.”
UConn is still in the early phases of adjusting to life without Paige Bueckers on the court after the star guard tore the ACL in her left knee in early August.
“We don’t bring it up, because I think the more you talk about it the more you put it on the front burner, and I don’t want it to be there,” Auriemma said. “So we don’t really discuss it. We did it in the beginning, we did it when it happened, we did the first day of school when we talked to the team for the first time, but other than that there hasn’t been any discussion whatsoever about it. We do talk to them about roles that have to be filled and who has to do what. … They’ve been great. They’ve been really receptive and they’re embracing it. So from from my standpoint, it’s been great to see.”
Friday night was all about a fun showing for the fans with player introductions, a student half-court shot for $10,000, a three-point contest and a dunk contest. Former UConn greats Renee Montgomery (2005-09) and Stefanie Dolson (2010-14) served as guest judges the dunk contest alongside Emeka Okafor (2001-04) and Khalid El-Amin (1997-2000) from the men’s side.
After an injury filled season last year, Auriemma could take a sigh of relief with no scrimmage on the schedule for the night.
“I hope they have a great time,” Auriemma said before the event. “I hope the students get a kick out of seeing them. The kids get a lot of satisfaction out of going out and showing off for the fans and for their team, if not for their classmates. In basketball terms, it’s pointless.”
Auriemma and his coaching staff will know more about what he can expect from his team on the court this season when the Huskies will participate in a closed scrimmage on Oct. 22.
“In about eight days, I’ll have a pretty good feel,” Auriemma said. “”Last year, we played a scrimmage against BC. Caroline had 23 or 25 (points) and Azzi had 20 something and you would think they were seniors. So right away, you knew these guys were gonna be pretty good, you know? So something will happen that day that will let us know who can do what, because some kids just when they’re young, they don’t know how to practice, but you put them in a game situation and they’re great.”
Fans will get their first glimpse at the team in live game action on n Nov. 6, when UConn plays a exhibition game against Kutztown at the XL Center. From there, The Huskies open the 2022-23 season against Northeastern on Nov. 10 at Gampel.
“Today, October 14, we have as good a chance to win a national championship as anybody else. And we’ll see where that takes us,” Auriemma said. “Not as good a chance as we had in June, but we still have a chance.”
