PROVIDENCE — The UConn women’s basketball team has just 10 players available for Wednesday’s game at Providence with starting point guard KK Arnold and reserve forward Ayanna Patterson both ruled out due to injuries.
Arnold will miss a game for the first time in her UConn career after suffering a broken nose in practice Tuesday. The junior guard has started all 13 games so far this season averaging 6.9 points, a career-high 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals in 24.7 minutes. She is also shooting a career-best 54.8% from the field and 36.8% on 3-pointers. Patterson, who is averaging 5.5 minutes over 11 game appearances, is out with a concussion also sustained Tuesday.
Sophomore guard Allie Ziebell made her first collegiate start replacing Arnold, marking the first change to the starting lineup for the Huskies this season. Ziebell entered the game against Providence averaging six points shooting 50% from the field and 42.1% from 3-point range in 15.4 minutes per game.
UConn will also be without redshirt senior guard Caroline Ducharme, redshirt junior forward Ice Brady and sophomore guard Morgan Cheli on Wednesday. Ducharme missed the previous two games with a shoulder injury, and Brady has not played since Nov. 9 due to knee soreness. Cheli has yet to appear this season after undergoing surgery for an ankle injury in February, but coach Geno Auriemma said Saturday that she is making positive progress towards a return in the latter half of the season.
Patterson has dealt with multiple injuries throughout her UConn career and entered 2025-26 healthy for the first time since she was a freshman in 2022-23. Patterson missed the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing surgery to correct chronic patellar tendonitis, and she was sidelined last year by a shoulder injury that also required surgery.
Arnold and Ducharme were both at Providence on Wednesday, as was Cheli. Ducharme had a bag of ice wrapped around her right shoulder during the Huskies’ warmups, and Arnold appeared to have some bruising and swelling underneath her right eye. Brady and Patterson did not travel with the team.
UConn women’s basketball looks to keep developing depth at Providence: How to watch
