MINNEAPOLIS -- UConn women's basketball graduate forward Dorka Juhász underwent successful surgery Wednesday to repair a fracture of her left wrist that she suffered in Monday's Elite Eight game against NC State, the school announced Thursday.
Juhász will miss the remainder of the Huskies' Final Four run and faces an estimated recovery time of four months. The school also announced that she will return to UConn next season for her fifth and final year of collegiate eligibility.
"It's hard to find the words to describe how I feel right now," Juhász wrote on social media. "My heart feels loved and heartbroken at the same time. It's aching, because my season has come to an end, and I won't be able to compete for the national championship with my sisters this weekend. It feels loved, because this team has accepted me and loved me since the day I arrived to Connecticut last May. I never imagined that I could become a part of something so special in such a short period of time. This bond is real and strong."
The 6-5 forward went down with the injury less than four minutes after entering the regional final game Monday. After being taken into the locker room to be tended to, she later returned to UConn's bench wearing a sling and with her wrist wrapped, supporting the Huskies as they pulled out a 91-87 double-overtime victory to punch their ticket to a 14th consecutive Final Four.
"That moment with Dorka was super emotional because it was like, dang, another injury, especially at that timing," senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa said Thursday. "I think it not only motivated me, but my entire team just kind of gathered ourselves, grouped ourselves together, just like 'we have to fight this one out for her.' It was just kind of one of those moments where we realized we've just got to grind it out for her."
"I think one big reason that she came to UConn was to try to experience something like this, and it was taken away from her this year," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma added. "I think she's coming [back] to hopefully be in the same situation but actually playing instead of watching."
Juhász figures to play a larger role next season with Nelson-Ododa, a three-year starter, graduating this spring. In her 32 games this season (including 15 starts), Juhász averaged 7.3 points on 45.7% shooting (31.3% from 3), 5.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. Prior to transferring, she was a three-year starter and First Team All-Big Ten player at Ohio State, where she earned her degree in three years.
"It takes a little bit of time to get acclimated to our program. It's a little bit different," Auriemma said. "Dorka started to figure it out pretty well, and I thought that the four minutes she played the other night were some of the best four minutes that she's played all year long, so it's a shame. We can try to build on that, and obviously with Liv graduating and having a big hole there to fill, I think it's huge for us, Dorka coming back."
Auriemma said Juhász will try to get to Minneapolis Friday to be with the team for the Huskies' national semifinal game against Stanford.