Copyright Hartford Courant
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The UConn women’s basketball team will be without freshman forward Blanca Quinonez for its season opener against Louisville on Tuesday due to a left shoulder injury suffered in practice this week. Quinonez, a 6-foot-2 forward from Ecuador, was expected to be a significant contributor for the Huskies off the bench, but she did not participate in the team’s pregame warmups at the U.S. Naval Academy. Her status is day-to-day, and her next opportunity to make her collegiate debut will be Sunday when UConn hosts Florida State at Gampel Pavilion. Quinonez averaged five points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 steals, two rebounds and two blocks in 20 minutes on the court across the Huskies’ pair of preseason exhibition games. She signed with UConn after playing professionally since 2020 while attending high school in Italy. The Huskies will have 12 active players when they face the No. 20 Cardinals in the Armed Forces Classic with freshman center Gandy Malou-Mamel and sophomore guard Morgan Cheli also sidelined. Malou-Mamel missed the team’s final exhibition game against Southern Connecticut on Oct. 26 after “getting whacked” in practice. Auriemma said he was hopeful that she would be able to play in the opener, but Malou-Mamel did not go through the team’s pregame warmups Tuesday. Cheli underwent surgery for an ankle injury in February that ended her freshman season, and there is currently no timeline for her return. She did not travel with the team to Annapolis.
