{"id":823621,"date":"2026-05-26T16:36:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/823621\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T16:36:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:36:22","slug":"uconn-in-wnba-which-huskies-are-thriving-so-far-in-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/823621\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn in WNBA: Which Huskies are thriving so far in ’26?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For UConn<\/a> fans, watching the WNBA<\/a> is like keeping in touch with old friends.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re following them on Instagram, getting excited over their recent engagement or their 25-point, 10-rebound game on the road, fawning over new baby photos or another trip to the All-Star Game, their latest promotion (into the starting lineup) or that cool trip to L.A. they took when they drained six threes to beat the Sparks.<\/p>\n

The W is, in effect, a legends tour for former Huskies, 17 of which are balling in the league as we speak, and some of whom have spent the early part of this season announcing to the basketball world that they\u2019re not going anywhere for a while.<\/p>\n

So instead of hopping on your socials and risking accidentally liking a post from their sophomore year at UConn, we\u2019ll break down how former Huskies have been faring lately. Here\u2019s a look.<\/p>\n

Paige & Azzi Show Takes Over Broadway<\/p>\n

UConn fans are used to watching show-stopping performances from Paige Bueckers<\/a> and Azzi Fudd<\/a>, but the duo took their act to arguably the brightest lights in The W on Sunday in an upset win over the Liberty. The two top picks each scored 24 points, with Fudd going off for 17 in a red-hot third quarter as the upstart wings beat Breanna Stewart and New York 91-76 in Brooklyn<\/a>. The Wings are now 4-3 on the season, with wins over Indiana and New York, two of the most talented teams in the league, and their three losses coming at the hands of league-leading Atlanta (4-1) and Minnesota (4-2).<\/p>\n

Fudd\u2019s red-hot quarter included a Steph Curry or Klay Thompson-like five 3s, including one she banked in as the Liberty looked around in disbelief. She said she told herself to slow down and read the game, and that made the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal was to just play a little bit slower,\u201d Fudd said. \u201cI felt like I was rushing a little bit every time I caught the ball, not reading. \u2026 I\u2019m just putting the ball down and going too fast. So my goal was just to slow down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24 points doubled her previous career high. Through six games, Fudd is now averaging 11 points on a blistering 56.3 percent shooting from the field, 43.5 from 3-point range. Now in her second season, Bueckers is playing like a first-team All-WNBA candidate, averaging 19.3 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds per.<\/p>\n

The Wings have another marquee matchup in their next game on Thursday, at home against the defending champ Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n

Stewie Dominant, But Liberty Wobbling<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart<\/a> is off to another tremendous start to the season, averaging 21 points and 9 rebounds, but her Liberty have lost three straight\u2013 to the Valkyries, Wings and Fire\u2013 all teams New York would expect to beat. The Liberty have stumbled to a 3-4 record to start the season.<\/p>\n

Defense has been the problem<\/a>, as the Liberty have allowed opponents to score 90-plus points three times, and the team now tanks sixth-worst in the league in points allowed (87.7 per).<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams (1) controls the ball against Connecticut Sun guard Hailey van Lith (2) in the third quarter of a WNBA game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Monday, May 25, 2026. (Santiago Mejia\/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
\nGolden Gabby<\/p>\n

Gabby Williams<\/a> returned to the WNBA full-time last season, and reminded stateside hoopheads exactly who she was. She averaged 11.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 2.1 steals per, was named an All-Star, and to the All-Defensive First Team while finishing third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.<\/p>\n

She left Seattle for Golden State in free agency, and she\u2019s picked up right where she left off, posting 13.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals so far this season. She had 15 on 6-10 shooting to down the Connecticut Sun on Monday night. The two-time former national champ with UConn is also set to hit the big screen, as she\u2019ll appear in a romantic comedy called \u2018Courtside,\u2019<\/a> about a basketball player who falls for a teammate.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden State Valkyries guard Kaitlyn Chen, left, goes up for a host against Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga during a WNBA basketball game in Seattle, Friday, May 8, 2026. (AP Photo\/Stephen Brashear)
\nChen Coming Into Her Own<\/p>\n

When Kaitlyn Chen<\/a> was chosen by Golden State with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, most expected she\u2019d compete for a roster spot but maybe not end up making the team. Chen herself was surprised to have even been drafted<\/a>\u2014 she attended the draft to watch her UConn teammate Paige Bueckers go No. 1, and didn\u2019t even expect to hear her name called.<\/p>\n

But more than a year later, she\u2019s fared better than almost anyone would have thought\u2013 and just put up a near-point-a-minute performance for the Valkyries off the bench against Indiana on Friday. Chen scored 18 points in 19 minutes, shooting 7-for-11 from the floor in a 90-82 loss. She then scored 10 and dished out 2 assists in the 97-70 wipeout of the Sun on Monday.<\/p>\n

Chen, who spent three years at Princeton before transferring to UConn and helping the Huskies win the \u201925 NCAA title, is now averaging 8.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists as her role has grown in Golden State. She\u2019s averaging 16.5 minutes per game.<\/p>\n

How Other Huskies Have Fared
\nTiffany Hayes, Golden State Valkyries:<\/p>\n

The two-time champ at UConn (\u201909 and \u201910) is still doing her thing in her 15th season in The W, averaging 9.5 points in 15.5 minutes per game. She went off for a season-high 19 in 26 minutes in a loss to Indiana on Friday. With Williams, Chen and Hayes all getting serious minutes for Golden State, the Valkyries might be Huskies\u2019 fans WNBA League Pass team of choice this summer.<\/p>\n

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

The rookie forward has seen her playing time increase in recent games, getting double-digit minutes of run each of the last four times out. She scored 8 points and grabbed 3 rebounds in 14 minutes against Toronto on Saturday, and is now averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11 minutes per game on the season.<\/p>\n

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

The former Husky has been one of the few bright spots for the Sun (metaphorically speaking as the sun is by definition a bright spot), averaging 9.6 points and 4.2 rebounds in five games so far this season. Connecticut has started off 1-7.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For UConn fans, watching the WNBA is like keeping in touch with old friends. You\u2019re following them on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":823622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[49],"tags":[246282,9778,68016,5336,2738,2472,7000,2470,9769,2473,7001,9770,728,1520,2471,62,9771,316216,338449,9766,67,132,68,232,3357],"class_list":["post-823621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-2026-wnba-season","tag-aaliyah-edwards","tag-azzi-fudd","tag-breanna-stewart","tag-connecticut","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-ct-news","tag-dallas-wings","tag-gabby-williams","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-hartford-courant","tag-kaitlyn-chen","tag-local-news","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-sports","tag-tiffany-hayes","tag-uconn-in-wnba","tag-uconn-players-in-wnba","tag-uconn-womens-basketball","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wnba","tag-womens-basketball"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823621","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=823621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}