{"id":806011,"date":"2026-05-18T21:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/806011\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:58:13","slug":"former-uconn-stars-impress-in-first-week-of-wnba-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/806011\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UConn stars impress in first week of WNBA season"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Golden State Valkyries<\/a> call their home arena \u2018Ballhalla,\u2019 but this season it could also be nicknamed Storrs West.<\/p>\n

Golden State is the only team in the league with more than two UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> alumni on its roster, currently carrying four Huskies. Former UConn\u00a0standouts led the Valkyries in points, rebounds, steals and blocks in their matchup with the Chicago Sky last Wednesday, though the team suffered its first loss of the season 69-63.<\/p>\n

Forward Gabby Williams<\/a> looks on track for her second straight All-Star season, averaging career highs in points, rebounds and 3-point percentage through the first three games. She also leads the Valkyries in steals and is second only to star point guard Veronica Burton in assists. Williams dropped a team-high 18 points in the loss to Chicago, shooting 3-for-6 on 3-pointers. The former Huskies star added five boards, a steal and a block to her final stat line.<\/p>\n

Center Kiah Stokes<\/a>, who was teammates with Williams at UConn in 2014-15, had one of the most complete performances of her career for the Valkyries against Chicago. She grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds and added five blocks, tied for the third-most she has ever logged in a single game over 17 seasons in the league. It was also Stokes\u2019 first career game with at least 10 boards and five blocks, and she added seven points for her highest-scoring night since June 2025.<\/p>\n

Kaitlyn Chen<\/a> also continues to excel in her sophomore season with Golden State. The former UConn point guard has more than tripled her offensive production from her rookie year averaging 6.7 points per game, and she brought down a career-best six rebounds against the Sky.<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers settle in with Dallas Wings<\/p>\n

Azzi Fudd<\/a> had a quiet WNBA debut for a No. 1 overall draft pick, and the rookie guard gave fans a scare when she was ruled out of the Dallas Wings\u2019 second game<\/a> with a right knee injury. But Fudd looked more like herself when she returned to the court in Dallas\u2019s 90-86 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. She scored eight points in 20 minutes shooting 4-for-7, and she added a steal and a block on the defensive end. Though Fudd went 0-for-2 on 3-pointers, she put together a highlight reel in the mid-range going head to head with 2026 No. 2 pick Olivia Miles.<\/p>\n

Superstar Paige Bueckers<\/a>, Fudd\u2019s former UConn teammate, continued her impressive start to her second season with the Wings. She had an underwhelming night against the Atlanta Dream last Tuesday, putting up 15 points and three assists on a season-low 41.7% shooting from the field, but Bueckers bounced back with 27 points and eight assists against the Lynx. She shot 53.8% from the field including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n

\"DallasDallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) moves the ball up court against the Las Vegas Aces during the second half of a WNBA preseason basketball game in Austin, Texas, Sunday, May 3, 2026. (AP Photo\/Eric Gay)
\nBreanna Stewart dominating in year 10<\/p>\n

At the start of her 10th WNBA season, UConn legend Breanna Stewart<\/a> looks as dominant as ever for the New York Liberty. Stewart ranks top 10 in the league in both points and rebounds through the first four games of the season, averaging 23.3 points and nine rebounds plus 1.3 steals and two blocks. She is still struggling from 3-point range shooting 14.3% after hitting a career-low 24.1% in 2025, but her 47% shooting from the field is the best it\u2019s been since 2022.<\/p>\n

New York suffered its first loss of the season to the Portland Fire last Tuesday, though Stewart still finished with a double-double logging 16 points and 10 boards plus four assists, two steals and three blocks. She led the team with 22 points and seven rebounds when it beat the Fire 100-82\u00a0 in a rematch Thursday.<\/p>\n

Former Huskies standout Aubrey Griffin<\/a> is also still with the Liberty on a hardship contract and made her second game appearance Thursday against Portland. She played two minutes and brought down a rebound.<\/p>\n

Updating the injury report<\/p>\n

Connecticut Sun center Olivia Nelson-Ododa<\/a> was a new addition to the injury report this week after suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter of the team\u2019s 98-69 loss to Las Vegas on Wednesday. She returned to play 15 minutes in the second half, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, but she was ruled out for the rematch Friday. Nelson-Ododa is also out for the Sun\u2019s game in Portland on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Veteran guard Tiffany Hayes started in the first game of the season for the Valkyries, but she injured her pinky finger in the first and has not appeared since. Hayes reportedly jammed her finger during practice<\/a> Sunday, but coach Natalie Nakase seemed unconcerned<\/a> and expects Hayes will travel with the team for its next game Thursday in New York.<\/p>\n

Azura Stevens<\/a> has yet to make her season debut with the Chicago Sky due to a knee injury, and there is no clear timeline for her return. Sky coach Tyler Marsh said last week<\/a> the team doesn\u2019t want to rush Stevens\u2019 recovery with hopes of having the former UConn center as healthy as possible in the latter part of the season.<\/p>\n

There are no new updates on former Huskies Napheesa Collier<\/a> and Dorka Juhasz<\/a> from the Minnesota Lynx, or on Katie Lou Samuelson<\/a> from the Seattle Storm, all of whom remain out indefinitely. Collier is projected to return sometime in June after undergoing surgery on both ankles in March, and Juhasz is recovering from a foot injury sustained overseas during EuroLeague playoffs. Samuelson is completing the rehab process from an ACL tear suffered just over a year ago during 2025 training camp.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer UConn players and WNBA players Napheesa Collier, left, and Katie Lou Samuelson watch a video screen during a pregame ceremony honoring the UConn 2015 and 2016 championship basketball teams before an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)
\nHow other former Huskies fared
\nStefanie Dolson, Seattle Storm:<\/p>\n

Dolson had her highest-scoring performance since 2024 last Wednesday, putting up 16 points, three rebounds and two blocks in Seattle\u2019s 86-73 loss to the Toronto Tempo. She added six points, five boards and a season-high two steals in an 89-78 loss to the Indiana Fever on Sunday<\/p>\n

Aaliyah Edwards, Connecticut Sun:<\/p>\n

Edwards missed the first three games of the season with a thigh injury, but she immediately stepped into the Sun\u2019s starting lineup in her debut against the Aces on Friday. Though she was on a minutes restriction, Edwards finished with six points on 60% shooting plus three rebounds and a steal in Connecticut\u2019s 101-94 loss.<\/p>\n

Kia Nurse, Toronto Tempo:<\/p>\n

Nurse played just 12 minutes but put up a season-high 10 points shooting 50% from the field in Toronto\u2019s 106-96 win over the Los Angeles Sparks on Sunday. She scored four in the team\u2019s four-point loss to L.A. on Friday.<\/p>\n

Serah Williams, Portland Fire:<\/p>\n

Williams made her second game appearance for the Fire in Thursday\u2019s loss to the Liberty, logging two rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block in four minutes. The rookie center also scored her first point as a professional on a free throw.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Valkyries call their home arena \u2018Ballhalla,\u2019 but this season it could also be nicknamed Storrs…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":806012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[307256,68016,5336,2076,2738,7000,2470,9769,2473,7001,9776,728,201814,2336,1520,2471,62,9767,9766,67,132,68,232,3357],"class_list":["post-806011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aubrey-griffin","tag-azzi-fudd","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-college-basketball","tag-connecticut","tag-ct-news","tag-dallas-wings","tag-gabby-williams","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-hartford-courant","tag-kiah-stokes","tag-local-news","tag-max-image-preview","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-sports","tag-uconn-huskies","tag-uconn-womens-basketball","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba","tag-womens-basketball"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116597824554468107","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=806011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/806011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/806012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=806011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=806011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=806011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}