UConn will play St. John's after postponing game against DePaul due to lack of healthy players
Big East rules require teams to have seven available scholarship athletes
Three days after the No. 4-ranked UConn women's basketball team had to postpone a game because it did not have the minimum number of healthy players, the program announced Monday it would play St. John's as scheduled Wednesday.
The Huskies had been below the minimum seven healthy players when they announced Friday their game against DePaul, previously scheduled for Sunday, was postponed indefinitely after a pair of recent injuries left the team with fewer than the seven available scholarship athletes mandated by the Big East.
Entering Thursday's game against Xavier, UConn was already without Paige Bueckers (torn ACL), Azzi Fudd (knee), Caroline Ducharme (concussion) and Ice Brady (patella), not to mention head coach Geno Auriemma (illness).
Then the Huskies lost Aaliyah Edwards, their stalwart this season, to a foot injury when she tripped over some chairs while landing in the crowd. Ayanna Patterson also reportedly went down with an injury, making her the sixth player inactive for Sunday.
Injuries have been the theme of the 13-2 Huskies' season, something the program's administration is well aware of in its statement:
"At UConn, the health and wellbeing of our student-athletes will always be our top priority," director of athletics David Benedict said. "Our women's basketball program has unfortunately been affected by an unprecedented number of injuries this season. While it's unfortunate that we need to postpone Sunday's game, it's the right call to protect the safety of our student-athletes. We will work with the BIG EAST and DePaul on options to reschedule the game."
"The wellbeing of our players is first and foremost," associate head coach Chris Dailey said. "We look forward to rescheduling the game with DePaul."
UConn said the Big East will attempt to reschedule the DePaul game, with fans being able to use their tickets for Sunday at the new game.
