UConn women’s basketball’s injury woes continue, with redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy injuring her Achilles tendon, the Egyptian Basketball Federation announced Monday.
El Alfy was starring for Egypt’s youth national team at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Madrid. She led the tournament with 21.4 points per game before the injury, as well as leading Egypt with 11.0 rebounds and 50.5% field goal shooting.
In Sunday’s game against Italy, El Alfy went down halfway through the second quarter on a noncontact injury. She was later escorted off the court in a wheelchair.
“Jana (El Alfy) left the match stadium immediately and went to a hospital near the stadium to undergo immediate X-rays in the presence of Yasmine Al-Kilani, the team doctor,” the Egyptian Basketball Federation said in a news release translated from Arabic to English via Google Translate. “And Yasmine Al-Kilani confirmed that after conducting the necessary medical examinations for Jana (El Alfy), it was confirmed that she had a complete cut in the Achilles tendon.”
The national federation and its team doctors “coordinated” with UConn to discuss the injury and next steps, and El Alfy is set to have surgery in the United States, per the news release.
While UConn has yet to release details on El Alfy, her injury represents the latest in a string of injuries for the program.
Paige Bueckers and Ice Brady missed all of last season due to injuries suffered last offseason, and Azzi Fudd missed most of the season with knee injuries. While all three players should be back in action for the 2023-24 season, El Alfy’s injury still is a blow to the Huskies.