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UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Ice Brady bonded over knee injuries

Ice Brady and Paige Bueckers talk with UConn associate head coach Chris Dailey in November 2022. Brady and Bueckers both missed the entire 2022-23 season with knee injuries. (M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Ice Brady and Paige Bueckers both missed all of the 2022-23 season with knee injuries. But the UConn basketball stars used that time to create a bond that should help the team once they retake the court.

After dislocating her patella in the preseason, Brady spent her freshman year on the bench. But she had good company in 2021 national player of the year Bueckers, who tore her ACL ahead of the season. The seasoned veteran helped her younger teammate navigate the loneliness that came with their injuries.

For Brady, one of the toughest parts of the injury came when her teammates would make their way to the court for practice, while she remained in the treatment room to rehab her injury.

“That was very tough,” she told CT Insider. “And personally, me, I feel like I enjoy being around the team and, you know, just having people around. I didn’t like being alone.”

Bueckers provided much-needed connection for Brady, and the benefit went both ways.

“As unfortunate as it was, to be able to have each other to lean on through the toughest times of our life was extremely important,” Bueckers said.

The pair would motivate one another in the training room and through workouts, often waking up early to get in a lift before joining the team for practice. And Bueckers, who also missed time with an injury in the previous season, helped show Brady that the injury didn’t define her.

“She definitely like took me under her wing and mentored me,” Brady said.

As UConn prepares for the 2023-24 season, both players are getting back to full strength. Both Bueckers and Brady are waiting to be cleared for five-on-five drills but otherwise are back at practice with the Huskies.

Without Bueckers and Brady, and without sophomore Azzi Fudd for much of the season, UConn entered the 2023 NCAA tournament with a No. 2 seed, then bowed out in the Sweet 16. The loss snapped a streak of 14 consecutive Final Four appearances by the Huskies.

Yet even with the return of star players from injury, UConn is not looking for redemption, head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters Tuesday.

“Everybody’s got ‘redeem team’ and everybody’s got ‘reload team’ and everybody’s got ‘unfinished business team’… How about we just shut the f— up and win games?” he said. “How about we just do that?”

USC Legend Cheryl Miller Headlines AP Women’s College Basketball All-Time First Team

USC legend Cheryl Miller looks on during a 1983 NCAA basketball game.
USC legend Cheryl Miller headlines the AP All-Time First Team. (David Madison/Getty Images)

The AP Women's College Basketball Poll turns 50 next year, and the publication began celebrating its rankings run a few months early by asking 13 former players and AP sportswriters to fill an All-Time team roster with the NCAA's best.

First Team honors went to USC legend Cheryl Miller, UConn greats Breanna Stewart and Diana Taurasi, all-time leading NCAA scorer and Iowa alum Caitlin Clark, and position-defining Tennessee forward Candace Parker.

Standout Huskies Sue Bird and Maya Moore also snagged AP All-Time nods, earning Second Team spots alongside Virginia star guard Dawn Staley, Tennessee forward and three-time national champion Chamique Holdsclaw, and three-time AIAW champion and MVP Lusia Harris from Delta State.

Even the AP list's reserves are full of legends, with basketball pioneers like Kansas star Lynette Woodard and UCLA's Ann Meyers Drysdale joining Lisa Leslie (USC) and Sheryl Swoopes (Texas Tech) as well as current WNBA superstars A'ja Wilson (South Carolina) and Brittney Griner (Baylor) on the All-Time bench.

"Being named an AP All-American is one of the most storied honors in college sports," Clark said in response to her AP All-Time First Team nod. "It's fun to think about what it would have been like if we all played together."

"What an accomplishment and what an honor," said fellow First Team honoree Taurasi. "There's so many great women who paved the way."

Anonymous WNBA Insiders Reveal Leadership Concerns as CBA Deadline Looms

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks to media before Game 1 of the 2025 WNBA Finals.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert appears to be sticking around as CBA negotiations continue. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)

With the October 31st WNBA CBA deadline looming, ESPN recently conducted an anonymous survey of team owners, executives, players, and other insiders about the simmering tensions between athletes and league leadership in the wake of Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier's viral exit interview last month.

"Once you have that kind of fighting with your best players, it's a death spiral," a team executive told ESPN after fans booed commissioner Cathy Engelbert at this year's WNBA Finals.

"Change is a must," another exec said in the anonymous WNBA survey. "Either Cathy has to change how she relates to the players, or there has to be a change in that role."

That said, not everyone agreed, with one owner saying, "If you fire her now, it's admitting weakness. It's a terrible look for the league. I can't stand what [Collier] did. That was a private conversation. It makes me not want to fire [Engelbert] — even though I think she should be."

CBA negotiations have also remained frosty this month, with Las Vegas Aces star guard Chelsea Gray telling ESPN that the talks are "not where we thought and wanted to be at this point in time. It's market share, it's salaries, it's player safety, it's everything."

With the parties still reportedly far from a deal, the threat of a work stoppage next season hangs over the stalled proceedings.

"I don't think it's going to be done by Halloween," a league source told ESPN. "[But] in the end, a work stoppage doesn't benefit anybody."

Four Clubs Clinch 2025 NWSL Playoffs in High-Stakes Weekend

Goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan raises her arm in triumph in a San Diego Wave huddle after a 2025 NWSL match.
The No. 5 San Diego Wave clinched a spot in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs with Saturday's 6-1 win over the No. 14 Chicago Stars. (Orlando Ramirez/NWSL via Getty Images)

Just one ticket to the 2025 NWSL Playoffs remains unpunched after four different clubs clinched postseason berths over the weekend.

The No. 4 Seattle Reign clinched with a 2-1 win over the No. 12 Utah Royals on Friday before the No. 5 San Diego Wave emphatically slammed the door with a 6-1 Saturday drubbing of the No. 14 Chicago Stars, while the No. 6 Portland Thorns joined the postseason party with a 2-0 Sunday win over No. 11 Angel City.

As for No. 7 Gotham FC, a tense 2-2 draw with No. 8 Louisville propelled the Bats to their third consecutive postseason appearance on Sunday, leaving Racing still poised to earn a club-first playoff spot with a post-international break win.

The newly clinched quartet will join the previously postseason-bound No. 1 Kansas City Current, No. 2 Washington Spirit, and No. 3 Orlando Pride in the 2025 NWSL Playoffs.

Only one team — No. 9 North Carolina — can challenge Louisville for the eighth and final berth, as weekend results saw both the No. 10 Houston Dash and No. 11 Angel City eliminated while the Courage took down No. 13 Bay FC 4-1 on Friday to remain in contention.

In order to snag that eighth spot, however, North Carolina will need a 2025 Decision Day win over Gotham — plus a Louisville loss or draw against Bay FC.

"The reality is, we are still in control of our destiny with one game to go," Racing captain Janine Sonis said on Sunday. "[It's] not like us to not to keep things interesting."

With one postseason spot and the majority of the 2025 Playoffs seeding still up for grabs, the NWSL is gearing up for yet another game-changing Decision Day on November 2nd.

Houston Ends Kansas City Unbeaten Streak as Temwa Chawinga Exits with Injury

Kansas City Current defender Ellie Wheeler rests her hands on the shoulders of striker Temwa Chawinga after a 2025 NWSL match.
Kansas City Current star Temwa Chawinga exited Saturday's 1-0 loss in the 29th minute. (Kyle Rivas/NWSL via Getty Images)

The No. 1 Kansas City Current hit an unexpected skid on Saturday, when the 2025 NWSL Shield-winners suffered a 1-0 upset loss to the No. 10 Houston Dash — and lost their star striker, Temwa Chawinga, to injury along the way.

Despite leading the match in shots, shots on goal, and possession, the defeat snapped the Current's 17-game unbeaten streak, leaving the club one result short of setting a new franchise record.

"Sometimes things like this will happen," Kansas City head coach Vlatko Andonovski said postgame. "You're going to dominate, you're going to do everything well, but you're not going to score a goal…. I'm glad it happened now and not two games from now."

The loss stings, but with the top postseason berth already secured, Kansas City's concern turns to their 2024 MVP after Chawinga exited the match with a non-contact injury.

A knock to the upper right leg saw the Malawi international wheeled off the pitch in the 29th minute, with Andonovski later clarifying that it was not a knee injury.

Considered a frontrunner to repeat as both NWSL MVP and Golden Boot winner, the 27-year-old leads the league in scoring this season with 15 goals over 23 appearances.

While Kansas City is still awaiting a specific diagnosis for their star striker, time could be on the Current's side, as this week's international break gives Chawinga a moment to rest before her club closes out their 2025 NWSL regular season — and, more importantly, takes aim at a championship run.

How to watch the next Kansas City Current match

The league-leading Current will be back in action on NWSL Decision Day, with Kansas City closing out their 2025 regular-season campaign by hosting the No. 5 San Diego Wave on Sunday, November 2nd.

The time and broadcast details for the 2025 season's Decision Day will drop at a later date at NWSLSoccer.com.

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