Jana El Alfy to miss entire 2023-24 season with Achilles tendon rupture

UConn women’s basketball’s awful injury luck has continued, even on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Amid a dominant tournament at the U19 World Cup in Madrid, redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy went down with an apparent non-contact injury in Egypt’s final game. On Tuesday, UConn announced that the redshirt freshman will miss the entire 2023-24 season with an Achilles tendon rupture. She’ll undergo surgery at UConn Health “later this week”, according to the school.

After missing a free throw, El Alfy took a step toward the ball and immediately went down. She needed to be helped off the court in a wheelchair. There are no updates on her status at the moment.

Up to that point, El Alfy’s time at the U19 World Cup had been a major success. She averaged a tournament-high 21.4 points per game — including 38 against Chinese Tapei — along with 11.0 rebounds per game. She also shot 50.5 percent from the floor, 27.3 percent from three, and 86.3 percent from the line.

El Alfy showed off an impressive offensive arsenal throughout the tournament. Not only did she score in the post, but she also beat defenders off the dribble from as far back as the 3-point line. El Alfy’s 6-foot-5 frame made it difficult for guards to guard her, but her ability to step outside proved to be lethal against taller defenders. She earned a spot on the all-tournament second team while Egypt finished 12th overall.

El Alfy wasn’t the only Husky in the tournament. 2024 commit Allie Ziebell won gold with Team USA, averaging 6.7 points in 15.7 minutes per game on a squad that mostly featured incoming college freshmen. Her best performance came in the round of 16 when she dropped 20 points against Argentina. Ziebell will join Azzi Fudd and Amari DeBerry as U19 gold medalists on the Huskies when she arrives in Storrs next fall.