UConn women's basketball redshirt freshman Jana El Alfy suffers season-ending Achilles injury

The injury bug bit UConn women's basketball again.

Redshirt freshman center Jana El Alfy will miss the entire 2023-24 season after she ruptured her left Achilles tendon during the FIBA U19 World Cup in Spain over the weekend, UConn announced in a statement Tuesday.

El Alfy, who was playing for her home country of Egypt, had to be helped off the court midway through the second quarter in a game against Italy after she fell and grabbed her left ankle. The Egyptian Federation announced the injury as an Achilles issue in a statement Monday. She had led the tournament with 21.4 points per game prior to the injury.

El Alfy will have surgery at UConn Health later this week, the school announced. She enrolled early in January but didn't play this past season for the Huskies.

UConn's continued injury woes

The loss of El Alfy is just another major injury the Huskies have had to deal with over the past 12 months.

Both Paige Bueckers and Isuneh “Ice” Brady already missed all of this past season with knee injuries. Bueckers suffered a torn ACL, while Brady dislocated the patella in her right knee. Azzi Fudd also missed time this past season with knee issues.

Despite the injuries, UConn went on to finish 31-6 and won the Big East regular season and tournament titles. The Huskies were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Ohio State in the Sweet 16.

Bueckers, Brady and Fudd should all be back for this season, but UConn won't have El Alfy until the 2024-25 season at the earliest.