Allie Ziebell enjoying the hard work at UConn

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• Phoenix Mercury to name practice courts after Diana Taurasi

• Sue Bird getting her own Barbie doll

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• Photo gallery: Phoenix Mercury @ Connecticut Sun

Last week’s Weekly

• How Paige Bueckers is taking advantage of her first normal offseason at UConn

Allie Ziebell enjoying the hard work at UConn

As Allie Ziebell prepared to arrive at UConn for her first summer workouts, she expected it to be hard. She knew that was part of the deal when she committed to the Huskies back in December 2022, after all.

Yet Ziebell was still taken aback once she stepped on the court.

“It's even harder than you think it would be,” she admitted.

So what makes it so difficult?

“Everything really, like pace of play, the style, the movement, all the little details they expect you to notice right away,” Ziebell explained. “You just have to get used to it.”

While all freshmen go through an adjustment period coming from high school, Ziebell is unique because of how she’s responded to the challenge. She’s not just embracing the hard work that comes with playing at UConn — she’s enjoying it.

“It's been awesome. It's been a lot of learning, adjusting, going through the process,” she said. “It's been so much fun. I love it here.”

It helps that one of the main purposes of summer workouts is to get newcomers, especially freshmen, acclimated to the program. There aren’t any games on the horizon or playing time up for grabs — it’s all about learning and development, so it’s a low-pressure environment.

That means for now, Ziebell can just focus on the details.

“Whether it's the right movement on a cut or setting a screen properly, you just have to pay attention to everything,” she said.

It’ll be a different story when the team returns to campus for the start of the fall semester in August. At that point, the preseason will begin in earnest and the stakes will be higher.

While Ziebell needs to earn her place, the Huskies could certainly use her skillset. Though they have no shortage of guards between Paige Bueckers, Kaitlyn Chen, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme and the returning sophomores, they don’t have many lights-out shooters. That’s where the freshman comes in.

“I do a fairly good job of spacing the floor and everything like that,” Ziebell said.

As for off the court, she’s settled in nicely. Of course it helps that she lives with KK Arnold, though all the upperclassmen have made her feel welcome.

“They plan a lot of stuff off the court so we're always hanging out as a team, even in the apartments and everything like that,” Ziebell said.

All in all, it’s been a good first month at UConn for Ziebell.

“I love it here,” she said. “All the challenges and everything, that's what you come here for.”

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