Ayanna Patterson likely to miss remainder of season

UConn women’s basketball sophomore forward Ayanna Patterson is unlikely to play this season due to a knee issue, Geno Auriemma revealed on Friday.

“I don't anticipate Yanna being back. We've tried everything with her and it’s a long-standing issue since high school, and everything that we've tried, she’s not responded to it very well,” he said.

“I think if she's gotta get more work done on her knee, that would be the end of [the season] for her,” he added later. “They're trying to exhaust all possibilities.”

Patterson has dealt with knee issues since high school. They affected her as a freshman, too — she started the year by averaging 12.1 minutes through the first 15 games but just 8.1 over the final 15 games after she sat out three contests with a concussion.

Patterson underwent a procedure on the knee during the offseason, which Auriemma compared to a knee operation that Morgan Tuck went through during her UConn career. At the time, Patterson’s timetable for recovery had her back by the start of the regular season.

While she missed the opener, she started individual workouts and appeared to be trending in the right direction in mid-November. Before the Maryland game, Auriemma said that Patterson was “pretty close” to a return and that “she looks healthy.”

Then she got shut back down around the time of the Huskies’ trip to the Cayman Islands and will now likely miss the entire campaign.

As for Caroline Ducharme, it doesn’t seem like UConn expects to have her back anytime soon, either. She’s missed the last four games due to neck spasms.

“Carol, I just don't know what her situation is,” Auriemma said. “But I mean, there's a chance that [Ducharme and Patterson] could be out for quite some time.”

Ducharme has been plagued by issues stemming from head and concussion injuries ever since her freshman year.

The Huskies are already without Azzi Fudd (torn ACL and meniscus) and Jana El Alfy (ruptured achilles) for the season.