Aaliyah Edwards to return, Azzi Fudd a game-time decision against St. John’s

UConn women’s basketball will have enough players to face St. John’s on Wednesday night, but it’ll remain shorthanded.

Aaliyah Edwards is set to return after hurting her right foot in the win over Xavier last Thursday, which will give the Huskies the seven players needed to play under Big East guidelines. UConn did not meet that requirement for Sunday’s game vs. DePaul, which was postponed.

Edwards has been limited in practice over the last few days, though the team hopes that by restricting her practice load, she’ll be ready for more minutes in the game.

Meanwhile, Azzi Fudd is also a game-time decision according to acting head coach Chris Dailey.

“Azzi would be a game-time decision as it’s been the whole time,” she said. “Nothing’s changed with her situation. It’s just a matter of where she is and how she feels.”

Fudd has warmed up with the team pregame and has been in uniform for the last two contests but did not play in either. This past Sunday marked the five-week mark since her right knee injury at Notre Dame. At the time, the school estimated Fudd’s recovery would take three to six weeks.

As for the players who remain out, Caroline Ducharme remains in concussion protocol while Ayanna Patterson joined her after the Xavier game. Neither will make the trip to UBS Arena with the rest of the team.

In addition to Edwards, UConn will have Nike Mühl, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, Aubrey Griffin, Dorka Juhász, Amari DeBerry and Inês Bettencourt available to play, with Fudd being the only question mark.

Dailey also provided an update on head coach Geno Auriemma, who stepped away from the team to focus on his health.

“He’s not been at practice. He’s not been around,” she said. “He’s been really good about allowing us to do what that what we need to do, but we’ve talked to him and he’ll ask how practice goes and things like that.”

“He’s more of a texter. So you know when he’s bored when you get a text that says ‘Hey.’ you don’t really know what’s coming next,” she added.

Tip-off between UConn and St. John’s is set for 8 p.m. ET from UBS Arena — home of the NHL’s New York Islanders — on SNY.