One of UConn women’s basketball’s biggest weaknesses in recent seasons has been its lack of a true, dominant center. Someone who can control the paint, dominate the boards and convert physicality into easy baskets.
That may change this season.
Freshman center Olivia Vukosa already comes to Storrs in the footsteps of some of the Huskies’ greatest as a fellow Christ the King alumna. However, she proved this weekend that she also has the skills to back it up.
Vukosa led Croatia nearly singlehandedly in the group phase of this week’s U18 EuroBasket tournament in Stockholm, Sweden. While Croatia went 0-3, Vukosa led her country with 27.6 points, 16.3 rebounds, 2.3 steals, 1.6 blocks and 1 assist per game. Croatia begins the bracket stage of the tournament on Wednesday in the Round of 16 against Spain.
While Vukosa was born and raised in New York, attending the same high school as UConn greats Sue Bird and Tina Charles, she also holds Croatian citizenship, as her grandparents immigrated to the United States. Vukosa made her debut with Croatia’s senior national team this March in the 2027 FIBA EuroBasket qualifiers.
The 6-foot-4 Husky’s rebounding, aggression and scoring abilities were on full display in this weekend’s U18 EuroBasket group phase. Vukosa recorded a double-double in all three games, including a game-high 22 rebounds in her tournament debut on Saturday and a game-high 34 points in Croatia’s second game on Sunday.
Vukosa, who turns 18 on Sept. 7, was also just shy of finishing perfect from the free throw line as she ended the group phase 31-of-33 from the stripe.
In Croatia’s first game of group phase, Vukosa led all players with 24 points, 22 rebounds, four blocks, four steals and two assists in 35 minutes. Despite Croatia’s ultimate 72-64 loss to Latvia, it was Vukosa who led Croatia’s second-half surge. Vukosa scored a combined 12 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the final 20 minutes to get Croatia as close as five to Latvia.
The freshman’s 22 total rebounds not only made up nearly half of her team’s 52 total, tying Slovenia’s Tjasa Gortnar (2009) for the seventh-most rebounds in a single game in tournament history.
On Sunday, Vukosa had 34 points, 13 rebounds and one steal in 35 and a half minutes in Croatia’s 85-76 loss to Poland. The center finished the game 10-of-19 from the floor on top of making 13 of her 14 attempted free throws. Poland led Croatia by as much as 26 before Vukosa again stood out in the second half.
The incoming Husky scored 24 points in the second half, including 10 straight points within a two-and-a-half-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter. Five of those 10 points came from the foul line as Vukosa didn’t miss a free throw until the 7:50 mark in the final quarter.
Monday’s 93-51 loss to Serbia was Croatia’s worst game of the group phase, even though Vukosa again led all players with 25 points, 14 rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block in 34 minutes. Vukosa again found success at the stripe, finishing the game 15-of-16 from the line.