No. 9 UConn is expecting back two starters from injury -- junior point guard Nika Mühl and graduate student forward Dorka Juhász -- when the Huskies take on Florida State Sunday at Mohegan Sun Arena, coach Geno Auriemma told reporters Friday.
Mühl is cleared to play Sunday after missing the previous game in concussion protocol, initially suffering the head injury in the second half of UConn's Dec. 8 win over Princeton.
According to Auriemma, Juhász is planning to take the floor against Florida State, though they should know for sure after Saturday's practice. The former Ohio State transfer broke her thumb in UConn's second game of the season versus Texas and has missed the last seven contests.
The Huskies are still without Player of the Year contender Azzi Fudd, who suffered a right knee injury Dec. 4 versus Notre Dame and has a three-to-six-week recovery timeline.
2020-21 national Player of the Year Paige Bueckers (ACL tear) and freshman Ice Brady (dislocated patella) were ruled out for the season prior to its tip. Without Fudd, Mühl and Juhász and just seven players available, UConn narrowly fell to then-No. 20 Maryland on Sunday in College Park.
The Huskies' only other loss on the year was to the then-No. 7 Fighting Irish, the game where Fudd was injured in the first quarter. They were 3-0 against top-10 teams heading into that showdown. Auriemma's program has not dropped consecutive contests since 1993.
After the Florida State game (ESPN, 1 p.m. ET), the Huskies close out 2022 with a string of Big East matchups against Seton Hall (Dec. 21), No. 16 Creighton (Dec. 28) and Marquette (Dec. 31).