The 2022-23 women’s basketball season is over a month in, and while some things are a given like South Carolina and Stanford sticking as the two best teams, there’s been just as many unexpected moments.
Here are the five biggest surprises so far:
UConn’s nagging injury bug
“Paige Bueckers out for the season” was the seismic storyline surrounding UConn before the season when the 2020 National Player of the Year tore her ACL. That news followed a season where Bueckers rehabbed a different knee injury that forced her to miss a chunk of the 2021-22 season.
With one superstar guard out, Azzi Fudd stepped up and stepped into that role for the Huskies. The sophomore guard had an impressive start to the season recording a career-high in points (32 points) against then-No. 3 Texas and then did it again against another top-10 team NC State.
RANKINGS: See the latest women’s basketball AP poll
That came to a grinding halt when Fudd injured her knee in the Huskies’ first loss at Notre Dame. Fudd was given a 3-6 week timetable which means a Dec. 28 return at the earliest.
Nika Mühl, the nation’s leader in assists, went down the next game and entered into concussion protocol. Another starter Dorka Juhasz broke her thumb in that win over the Longhorns and missed…
