UConn senior forward Aubrey Griffin will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL tear in her left knee, the team announced Wednesday.

Griffin is set to have surgery “at a later date,” per the team’s statement.

The fifth-year senior suffered the injury on Jan. 3 in the team’s win over Creighton. Prior to the injury, Griffin was averaging 9.5 points and 6.0 rebounds through 14 games. She’s the fourth player to suffer a season-ending injury for UConn this season. She joins Azzi Fudd (ACL/meniscus), Ayanna Patterson (knee) and forward Jana El Alfy (Achilles) on the list. Junior guard Caroline Ducharme is currently out indefinitely with head and neck spasms.

The outlook for the injury had not been good, with a Creighton team doctor telling UConn head coach Geno Auriemma that the knee was “very unstable.”

There had been no contact on the injury.

“Aubrey’s had to overcome a lot. She had one of these [injuries in high school],” Auriemma said after the game against Creighton. “She missed a year at UConn when she needed back surgery. You’re just heartbroken for the kid when it’s their last year and something like this happens.

“The basketball part is actually really secondary, you try to say, ‘Wow, how are we going to replace her on the basketball court?’ I don’t think anybody thinks like that. It’s more the rest of your teammates knowing that you’re going to have to fight your way through this, and it’s not an easy one.”

UConn beat Creighton on Wednesday night, but not without losing another player to injury in the process.

Aubrey Griffin, a member of the Huskies’ starting lineup, went down with a non-contact injury in the third quarter after attempting to block a shot. She had to be helped off the court, and was putting no weight on her left leg.

Postgame, head coach Geno Auriemma said that the team will know more after testing.

“Apparently, she went to put her foot down and her foot turned in,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “And it kicked her knee in. There wasn’t anybody around her. There wasn’t any contact. … The team doctor from Creighton came out and he pretty much said the knee is very unstable. I guess we’ll know more when we get a test.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Griffin missed time with an injury at UConn. She did not play as a junior due to a back injury that required surgery. She also suffered a knee injury in high school.

“Aubrey’s had to overcome a lot,” Auriemma said. “You just are heartbroken for a kid when it’s their last year and something like this happens. … The basketball part is actually really secondary, you try to say, ‘Wow, how are we going to replace her on the basketball court?’ I don’t think anybody thinks like that. It’s more the rest of your teammates knowing that you’re going to have to fight your way through this, and it’s not an easy one.”

Aaliyah Edwards told SNY’s Chelsea Sherrod postgame that it was “really tough” seeing a “core” member of the team go down.

“Just hoping and praying that everything’s okay,” Edwards added.

Griffin’s injury is just the latest in what has been another injury-ridden season for the Huskies. Azzi Fudd (knee), Jana El Alfy (Achilles) and Ayanna Patterson (knee) are out for the season, while Caroline Ducharme, who has been dealing with head and neck problems, is still not close to a return.

The loss of Griffin would leave UConn with just nine scholarship players and 18 games to go.

UConn basketball has had no shortage of injuries over the last three seasons.

Azzi Fudd’s season-ending knee injury represents just the latest blow to the Huskies’ lineup. The junior guard tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee during practice on Nov. 14. And she’s not the only one sidelined for UConn, with Jana El Alfy having torn her Achilles tendon in July and Ayanna Patterson still out after an offseason knee surgery.

WNBA star Diamond DeShields asked on social media after Fudd’s injury: “Who the strength coach there …? Cuz WTF.” But Fudd’s father came to the defense of the program, noting that the injuries have “nothing to do with the strength coach” and are instead “the flukiest things I’ve ever seen.”

Just Women’s Sports lays out a timeline of the most significant injuries to UConn women’s basketball over the last three seasons.

2021-22 season:

Aubrey Griffin missed the entire season with a back injury, for which she underwent surgery in January 2022.

On Dec. 1, Fudd suffered a foot injury forced her out of the lineup for 11 games. It was the first major injury of Fudd’s career at UConn, though she had torn the ACL and MCL in her right knee in high school. And just four days later, UConn star Paige Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture that kept her out of 19 games for the Huskies.

While the team remained relatively healthy through January and February. But come the postseason, Dorka Juhász fractured her wrist in the Elite Eight, which kept her out of the Final Four. UConn made the national championship game but lost to South Carolina.

2022-23 season:

UConn’s injury problems during the 2022-23 season can be summed up with one incident: The Huskies had to postpone their game against DePaul in early January due to a lack of healthy players.

It all started in August, when Bueckers tore her ACL, which caused her to miss the entirety of the season. Then, in October, freshman Ice Brady dislocated her patella tendon, which ended her season before it started.

Mere months after fracturing her wrist, Juhász suffered a broken thumb on Nov. 19, which kept her out of seven games. Then, on Dec. 4, Fudd suffered a knee injury that initially kept her out of nine games. She made her return in January, only to reinjure the same knee on Jan. 15 and miss an additional 13 games.

Meanwhile, Caroline Ducharme missed 14 games due to a concussion suffered on Jan. 3. Given that the team struggled with injuries all season, UConn never could find a groove and bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16 – the Huskies’ first time not making the Elite Eight since 2005.

2023-24 season:

To start the new season, UConn is still without Patterson, who had surgery on her knee in the offseason. And both El Alfy and Fudd are out for year. Plus Caroline Ducharme has missed the team’s last two games with neck and back spasms, with no timeline for her return as of Dec. 1.

The No. 11 Huskies are 4-2 to start the season, with a top-25 battle against No. 10 Texas up next at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC.

No. 2 UCLA beat No. 6 UConn basketball for the first time in the history of the program on Friday night, 78-67 — not for Paige Bueckers’ lack of trying. 

Despite the Huskies receiving their second loss of the season at the Cayman Islands Classic, Bueckers performed exceedingly well. But even with her multiple team-leading outings, UConn has earned its second double-digit loss this season, its most in its first five games since the 1991-92 slate. 

The Huskies’ struggles are best summed up by their head coach Geno Auriemma: “You can’t beat a really good team with one player.”

Bueckers’ 31 points against the Bruins came in at just under half of her squad’s total on the night. The senior guard is a consistent high-scorer, but without Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme in the lineup, UConn is going to need more. 

“It was disappointing that we didn’t get more contributions from more people. Our combinations are all screwed up right now, so that’s got to get sorted out. We struggled, we had our runs, we just didn’t have enough,” Auriemma said. 

Aubrey Griffin went off on a few runs to register a good performance for the Huskies. She clocked 11 points, seven rebounds, four steals and a block. 

“The way Aubrey played for long stretches in that game, that’s how she’s got to start the game,” Auriemma said. “Aubrey needs to do it before we get down 15 points. That’s the issue with some of our players, they just take a long time to get going.”

No other UConn players had notable performances against the Bruins. Even Aaliyah Edwards, the Huskies highest scorer last season, struggled in the Cayman Islands. She went 2-12 before fouling out late in the game. 

“Basically, UCLA defended one player and was content to let anyone else have any shot they wanted and they didn’t make any,” Auriemma said. “… Other people are going to have to step up and have to make shots. We have to find a way to get some sort of cohesiveness on offense, we look disjointed a lot of times. I’ve got to fix that.”

UConn junior Aubrey Griffin will miss the remainder of the season after undergoing a back surgery to repair a disc injury, the Huskies announced Wednesday.

Her expected recovery is four months.

The forward had yet to play this season. An ankle sprain sidelined her during preseason before her back injury resurfaced, keeping her out. A veteran presence on the team, Griffin averaged 6.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 29 games last season.

The Huskies have been injury depleted so far this season. Star sophomore Paige Bueckers is currently recovering from surgery and is expected to return in February. Freshman Azzi Fudd has been out with a foot injury and as of Jan. 7 had yet to start running. Sophomore guard Nika Muhl recently returned from a foot injury.

Last Sunday saw UConn return to the court for the first time since Dec. 19, taking down Creighton 63-55.