UConn grad student guard Aubrey Griffin will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season after suffering an ACL tear in her left knee, the team announced Wednesday. Griffin will have surgery at UConn Health at a later date.
The No. 12 UConn Huskies started 2024 with a dominant 94-50 win over No. 21 Creighton, but that performance was overshadowed by Griffin suffering an injury in the third quarter. Immediately after it happened, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said Creighton's team doctor told them her knee was "very, very unstable."
Just like many other injuries UConn's roster has experienced, this was an unlucky non-contact incident. Griffin was chasing a Creighton player and tried to jump, but on her way up she was already grabbing her leg and appeared to be in pain. She seemed to put her foot down the wrong way, which affected her left knee -- the same knee Griffin injured during high school. This was yet another setback for her, as she sat out the 2021 season after undergoing surgery to repair a disc injury.
"Aubrey's had to overcome a lot -- she had one of these [injuries] in high school. She missed a year at UConn when she needed back surgery," Auriemma said. "And you're just heartbroken for the kid when it's their last year and something like this happens. When this happens, the basketball part is actually really secondary."
Geno Auriemma reflects on the injury to Aubrey Griffin:
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) January 4, 2024
"You just are heartbroken for a kid when its their last year and something like this happens. When this happens, the basketball part is really secondary" pic.twitter.com/fVLlYnsASg
Griffin, listed as a guard and forward, was averaging 9.5 points and six rebounds per game this season while shooting 54.7% from the field. The previous year she averaged 11.3 points and 6.6 assists. She tied Rebecca Lobo's program record for most consecutive made field goals in a game (11-for-11) against Princeton on Dec. 8, 2022. She eventually earned a 2023 All-Big East honorable mention.
The Huskies haven't been able to shake the injury bug for the past few seasons. In January 2023, the team had to postpone a game against DePaul because they did not have the minimum seven healthy players available.
Paige Bueckers, who won 11 major awards during her freshman year, sat out all of last season after tearing her ACL. Her return in 2023-24 was a ray of hope for UConn. However, the team lost junior guard Azzi Fudd in November as she suffered a medial meniscal tear and an ACL tear in her right knee.
"Right now we are on a bad cycle, and I think the kids are -- I think they're just kind of gutted out by all of this," Auriemma said.
