The UConn women’s basketball team will look different without Azzi Fudd.

The star sophomore guard will miss the next three to six weeks with a knee injury, the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of hardships for the Huskies. The woes for the iconic program started ahead of the season, when Paige Bueckers tore her ACL in August, and reached their lowest point Sunday, when Fudd went down in a loss to Notre Dame.

Injuries have plagued not just UConn but Fudd herself, dating back to her high school career.

Her first major injury came following her sophomore season at St. John’s College High School (D.C.), in which she became the first sophomore to earn the Gatorade Player of the Year award for basketball. While participating in a USA Basketball under-18 3-on-3 tournament in Colorado Springs, she tore the ACL and MCL in her right knee, which kept her out for much of her junior year.

Big news in D.C. today as @SJCHSBBALL G Azzi Fudd was given the Gatorade National Girls' Player of the Year award.

Fudd had already won the state POY award for D.C. but this is an even bigger honor for the sophomore, who helped lead the No. 1 Cadets to two titles this season pic.twitter.com/6JSzAgkGsp

— Michael Errigo (@M_Errigo) March 12, 2019

The Arlington, Virginia, native came back from the injury to become a McDonald’s All-American during her senior season at St. John’s before heading to UConn as the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021.

Fudd got off to a fast — and expected — start with the Huskies, recording 18 points on 6-9 shooting from beyond the arc in her third game. She then sat out for two months due to a foot injury, one that coach Geno Auriemma said had been bothering her since the summer before her freshman year.

Still, the guard played her best basketball of the season when she came back from the foot injury. She recorded a breakout game against Tennessee on Feb. 6, in which she scored 25 points and went 7-9 from beyond the arc. Fudd followed that up with 29 points against Villanova and then 24 against Marquette.

She finished an impressive freshman campaign averaging 12.1 points per game and shooting 43% from beyond the arc. Her play earned Fudd a spot on the 2022 Big East All-Freshman Team.

Heading into her sophomore season, expectations were high for Fudd, given her talent, accolades, and the absence of junior guard Bueckers.

Fudd delivered, opening the season with 26 points, 6 steals and 4 assists against Northeastern. Fudd scored 32 points in her next two games, highly-anticipated contests against top-25 teams Texas and NC State.

Career-high 32 points
22 second-half points
17 fourth-quarter points

AZZI. FUDD. pic.twitter.com/0Jm3lSLCfv

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) November 15, 2022

With injuries ravaging the UConn roster – Ice Brady was ruled out for the year, Caroline Ducharme was limited due to neck stiffness, Dorka Juhasz broke her thumb, and of course, Bueckers remained out – Fudd was the guiding force that kept the Huskies on track, and undefeated, until they played Notre Dame on Dec. 4.

In the second quarter, Fudd was setting up a play behind Aaliyah Edwards. The forward fell back and made contact with Fudd’s knee. In visible pain, Fudd went to the bench and then to the locker room. UConn announced Tuesday that the sophomore guard would miss three to six weeks, putting her on pace for a mid-January return.

Fudd’s setback is the latest in a string of bad-luck injuries for UConn.

Without the sophomore, the Huskies have three healthy guards available to play in Nika Muhl, Lou Lopez Senechal and Ines Bettencourt. Muhl and Lopez Senechal have played significant minutes this season, but Bettencourt has not, averaging just 5.5 per game.

After those three, there is Ducharme, whose neck stiffness has been a constant issue, limiting her production.

While the team must contend with the lack of depth at guard, UConn should be getting one of their forwards back soon. Juhasz, who played just two games before breaking her thumb, is day-to-day and could play as soon as Thursday, when the Huskies take on Princeton. That will be a “game-time decision,” associate head coach Chris Dailey said.

Fudd is UConn’s leading scorer this season (20.6 points per game), but their next top three scores are still available – Lopez Senechal (17.4), Edwards (15.7) and Aubrey Griffin (11.7). Juhasz is fifth on the list, averaging 10 points and 10 rebounds in UConn’s opening two contests.

With a slew of injuries dominating all UConn-related headlines, it’s easy to think that the sky is falling for the program. But, with last season as evidence, that is not necessarily the case.

Winning games in the present does get more difficult, but the season is played for March. In 2021-22, Bueckers missed a significant chunk of the season, then Fudd was hurt, then Muhl. At one point, UConn had just seven players available.

The Huskies lost an unprecedented five games in the regular-season, including a 72-69 home loss to unranked Villanova. But in the end, all the questions about UConn didn’t matter. Bueckers and Fudd returned and the Huskies made a run to the national title game, where they fell to South Carolina.

The same could happen this year. Bueckers won’t return, but Fudd is expected back in mid-January at the latest, so the team will have more than a month to get her reacclimated before the postseason. With Fudd, the Huskies were No. 3 in the country, so when she returns, there is no reason they can’t reach the same heights.

In her absence, other players will get more opportunities to hone their skills for the postseason. And even if UConn has a losing skid without Fudd, they’ve already notched enough high-caliber wins that their résumé for March will remain strong.

If Fudd comes back when the timeline says she will, then all the concerns raised in her absence may not mean anything.

The WNBA is back in action on Tuesday night, as the Indiana Fever and Seattle Storm headline a series of games that could make or break the current trajectories of several 2025 title contenders.

Seeking an especially strong Tuesday performance is the Fever, as Indiana tries to snap a two-game losing streak against the increasingly confident Storm.

"There are going to be stretches that are really good and there's going to be stretches that aren't as good," Fever guard Caitlin Clark said on Sunday, addressing her recent shooting slump.

While the Indiana and Seattle clash will lead the Tuesday charge, the night will also see young squads sizing up WNBA juggernauts as bottom-table teams look for a leg up:

• No. 8 Indiana Fever vs. No. 5 Seattle Storm, 10 PM ET (NBA TV): The Fever need a win against a Storm side that can't seem to lose, as both teams eye the postseason.

• No. 1 Minnesota Lynx vs. No. 9 Washington Mystics, 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The up-and-coming Mystics will attempt to hand the Lynx a second season loss, as Minnesota star Napheesa Collier remains day-to-day with lower back stiffness.

• No. 4 Atlanta Dream vs. No. 12 Dallas Wings, 8 PM ET (WNBA League Pass): The Dream are on a tear, surging up the standings as the struggling Wings attempt to take flight.

• No. 10 LA Sparks vs. No. 11 Chicago Sky, 8 PM ET (NBA TV): The Sparks have cooled after a hot start while the Sky has yet to rev up, with both teams aiming to end a three-game losing streak on Tuesday night.

Teams across the league are hoping to make the most of every minute while also managing injury concerns and absences as the WNBA All-Star break looms.

The WNBA Class of 2025 is already making its mark on the league, with first-year players stepping up and showing out while the Rookie of the Year race — and betting odds — heat up.

No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers has been just as good as advertised, with the Dallas Wings guard leading her class in both minutes played and points per game while also charting league-wide in assists per game, steals per game, and mid-range shots made.

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DraftKings currently has Bueckers as the clear WNBA Rookie of the Year race frontrunner at -1,000, though the dynamic DC duo of guard Sonia Citron (+1,500) and forward Kiki Iriafen (+1,000) are quickly gaining traction.

Iriafen won May's WNBA Rookie of the Month award after a series of career-opening double-doubles, while her Washington Mystics teammate Citron has continued to execute in the clutch — most recently posting a career-high double-double performance of 27 points and 11 rebounds in last Sunday's 91-88 overtime win over Dallas.

"Not only is [Iriafen] holding her own, she's excelling," Citron told JWS earlier this month. "And seeing that is just incredible."

"Soni just does all the little things," Iriafen added. "She doesn't shortcut anything, she's doing the fundamentals, she doesn't cheat the game at all."

Though the NWSL hit the pause button this week, players worldwide are still on the move, as both European and US soccer teams use the midseason break to sharpen their lineups with international signings.

The NWSL has already seen one major departure, with the San Diego Wave announcing Monday that forward María Sánchez will return to her former Liga MX club UANL Tigres after nearly five years in the NWSL, with the Wave set to receive an undisclosed transfer fee in return.

"When the opportunity came to return to Tigres, I had to do a lot of inner searching, and I ultimately decided that returning to Liga MX Femenil and Tigres specifically was the best course of action for my career," the 29-year-old dual citizen and Mexico international player said in the Wave's release.

NWSL clubs are also setting their sights on European free agents, with the Washington Spirit bringing in Juventus forward Sofia Cantore last week — the first Italian signing in league history.

Also hopping aboard the player transaction carousel is new WSL side London City, with the top-flight debutantes inking OL Lyonnes midfielder and Dutch international Daniëlle van de Donk on Friday.

Meanwhile, van de Donk's wife and club teammate Ellie Carpenter is also potentially WSL-bound, with the defender reportedly nearing a deal that would see the Australian join Chelsea FC in return for the Blues sending Canadian international Ashley Lawrence to OL Lyonnes.

For their part, OL Lyonnes picked up defender Ingrid Engen from Barcelona as a free agent last week, adding the Norwegian international after snagging French forward and PSG's all-time leading scorer Marie-Antoinette Katoto earlier this month.

With the most recent NWSL CBA abolishing traditional trade windows, expect even more international signings and roster reshufflings before the league resumes play on August 1st.

San Diego is paying tribute to one of their own, with the Wave announcing plans to retire the No. 13 jersey of NWSL and USWNT legend Alex Morgan on September 7th.

Still topping the team's all-time scoring leaderboard with 23 goals in just over two seasons with San Diego, the retired club captain will be the first-ever Wave player to receive the prestigious honor.

Morgan also led San Diego to the 2023 NWSL Shield as well as postseason appearances in the 2022 expansion club's first two seasons.

"Alex's legacy goes far beyond goals and accolades. She helped lay the foundation for this club and elevated the standard for what women's soccer is today," said Wave FC governor Lauren Leichtman in the team's Tuesday announcement.

"She made this city her home, inspired our fans and community, and helped define who we are," Leichtman continued. "Her impact will be felt for generations, and it's only fitting that her number becomes a permanent part of Wave FC history." 

Morgan joined the Southern California squad's ownership group just last month, saying "San Diego is where I've built my home, where I am raising my children, and found a purpose beyond my playing career."

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How to attend the San Diego jersey retirement of Alex Morgan

San Diego will officially retire Morgan's No. 13 jersey during their home match against the Houston Dash at 8 PM ET on September 7th.

Tickets to the game will go on sale to the general public online at 6 PM ET on Tuesday.