Two more starters depart with injuries in UConn women’s basketball’s win over Princeton

Injuries continued to pile up for UConn women’s basketball in its win over Princeton on Thursday night. Both Nika Mühl and Lou Lopez Sénéchal departed and did not return. The Huskies were already without Dorka Juhász (broken thumb) and Azzi Fudd (right knee).

Mühl went down early in the third quarter when she collided with a Princeton player while chasing after a loose ball and hit the back of her head on Aaliyah Edwards’ knee. She needed to be helped to the sideline, sat on the bench for a moment but then went into the locker room under her own power and did not re-emerge.

“It was a pretty good shot obviously but she’s in the locker room and she says she feels fine,” Geno Auriemma relayed postgame. “So we’ll see. We’ll know more tomorrow. Hopefully it’s nothing.”

Meanwhile, Lopez Sénéchal began limping in the fourth period and after a timeout, she went to the bench and did not return to the game. Afterwards, Auriemma revealed the fifth-year guard has been dealing with a foot strain for “about two weeks”. Lopez Sénéchal explained that decision to sit was made with the rest of the season in mind.

“My foot is fine...I just tweaked it a little bit,” she said. “It was just hurting more. But just wanted to be safe and not hurt it anymore to be able to [play] in all the games.”

Prior to the injuries, Mühl had five points and seven assists while Lopez Sénéchal racked 18 points. Without those two, UConn had to finish the game with just six players and only two guards.

As for Juhász, her status remains uncertain despite being a game-time decision against Princeton. According to Auriemma, the forward still has to get over the mental hurdle of the injury before she returns.

“When someone gets an injury, there’s gotta be a mental part to it that has to be addressed. Meaning if someone tells you ‘Hey, it’s okay, you can probably go,’ mentally you have to be ready to go and if you’re not, it’s not gonna work,” the coach said. “My conversation with with Dorka is she’s not there yet — and maybe she will be by Sunday. She’s practiced a couple of days so that’s helped and then we have a long layoff after Sunday. So right now, I can’t tell you yes or no about Sunday.”

With how Thursday’s win over Princeton ended, UConn will need to hope it can get its walking wounded back before traveling to No. 20 Maryland on Sunday.