{"id":127375,"date":"2025-06-26T22:53:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T22:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/127375\/"},"modified":"2025-06-26T22:53:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T22:53:13","slug":"uconns-patterson-ducharme-set-for-comeback-seasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/127375\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn’s Patterson, Ducharme set for comeback seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

After spending nearly two full years on the sidelines, UConn women\u2019s basketball<\/a> forward Ayanna Patterson<\/a> had almost forgotten what it felt like to play with a defender guarding her.<\/p>\n

The redshirt sophomore hasn\u2019t appeared in an official game for the Huskies since playing a single minute in the team\u2019s 2023 Sweet 16 loss to Ohio State. She saw the court in 30 games her freshman season, averaging 2.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10 minutes, but the former No. 4 recruit in the Class of 2022 had to sit out the entirety of the next two years thanks to a series of injuries that required season-ending surgeries.<\/p>\n

With three years of eligibility still remaining, Patterson hopes that she\u2019ll finally get to have her long-awaited comeback season in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest adjustment is just having somebody in front of you,\u201d Patterson said with a laugh. \u201cWhen you go two years of just like no contact, it\u2019s a hard adjustment \u2026 But I\u2019m here now, and I feel like everything that led up to this led up to me getting to play with contact and feeling confident in my knee and in my shoulder going forward. The game of basketball is all about confidence, and if I have 100% confidence in my body, everybody else will too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patterson underwent surgery in December 2023 to repair patellar tendonitis that had lingered since her high school career, but soon after she was cleared to return from the knee injury, she dislocated her shoulder during a practice in October 2024. She spent several weeks in a sling before resuming full-contact workouts during the team\u2019s trip to the Bahamas in November, but then suffered yet another setback when she reinjured the shoulder in practice. She decided to have surgery, shutting down a second straight season before it began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just have faith in God that, at the end of the day, what\u2019s meant to be will be,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cGod just presented this, presented himself to say that I need that extra break and to just go ahead and shut it down and take the time to listen to your body. I\u2019ve been in that position before where I get back and I think I\u2019m good right away, so just knowing that (it takes) patience and it takes time to do what\u2019s best for you and your body.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UConn'sUConn’s Ayanna Patterson, left, looks to shoot as DePaul’s Maeve McErlane defends in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023, in Storrs, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)<\/p>\n

Patterson was cleared to return to full-contact practice just over a month ago ahead of the Huskies\u2019 summer session training. Though she\u2019s lost some of the elite athleticism she had before the injuries \u2014 she can\u2019t dunk with ease like she was able to in high school \u2014 Patterson said she\u2019s slowly but surely feeling more like herself on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019m gaining confidence back to where I was,\u201d she said. \u201cOf course physicality is going to be a big thing for me, so just getting back to guarding bigger forwards, being able to guard one through five and just getting that speed and agility back. It doesn\u2019t come back that quickly, but I feel like I\u2019m moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, redshirt senior Caroline Ducharme<\/a> spent most of the last two years on the bench right beside Patterson while grappling with a series of head and neck injuries, and Patterson said Ducharme became her best friend during their shared hours in the training room. Ducharme missed 14 games in 2022-23 and all but four in 2023-24, and there were times when she seriously doubted whether she would ever play basketball again.<\/p>\n

But grueling years of rehab came to fruition for Ducharme late last season<\/a> when she checked into a game for the first time since Nov. 19, 2023 against Butler on Feb. 22. She went on to appear in nine games for the Huskies on the way to the 2025 national title, and though she never played more than 11 minutes, she scored her first points March 8 against St. John\u2019s and ha a season-high six points plus four rebounds in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Arkansas State.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing everything she\u2019s been through and how she\u2019s persevered also made me strong and gave me motivation, because watching her return to the floor was a big moment,\u201d Patterson said. \u201cI cried for her because I knew that was a big moment. Just having her beside me to keep motivating me and knowing the type of player that I am, she keeps providing that confidence that I need even now that I\u2019m back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"UConnUConn guard Caroline Ducharme, left, is guarded by Creighton center Elizabeth Gentry in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo\/Jessica Hill)<\/p>\n

Ducharme is still working her way back to playing extended minutes, but she said she can consistently participate in the majority of practice and is getting more comfortable with handling contact. The first time she took a hard hit was terrifying as she waited for concussion symptoms to flare up, but Ducharme said she\u2019s now reached the point where she hardly worries when she\u2019s on the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so used to getting bumped and immediately having a headache, so it was kind of like, is it going to come? Am I okay?\u201d Ducharme said. \u201cBut then I was able to keep going, so obviously I don\u2019t like to get hit, but I think I\u2019ve gotten more comfortable with it and I\u2019m able to adjust faster \u2026 This is summer is just kind of about seeing how far I can push it, because I didn\u2019t think I would even get cleared, so who\u2019s to say I can\u2019t continue to get better and continue to get back to who I used to be?\u201d<\/p>\n

With Ducharme and Patterson back in action, UConn has nearly its entire roster healthy for summer training for the first time since at least 2020. The team also has the maximum-allowed 15 scholarship players on the roster this season, creating a whole new level of competition in practice. The Huskies can play five-on-five pickup games against each other rather than relying exclusively on their male practice players, and Ducharme said the energy in the gym is palpably different than it\u2019s\u00a0been the last several years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past people have come in in the summer and already kind of known what their role was going to be and everything was kind of carved out,\u201d Ducharme said. \u201cBut I think this year it\u2019s a lot more competitive because there\u2019s so much give and take, and people don\u2019t really know. Everybody\u2019s fighting for their minutes, fighting for their spot and trying to prove themselves. We have a ton of new people, a ton of people playing different roles next year, so I think it\u2019s really helped the competitiveness, and everybody\u2019s ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018This isn\u2019t the end of my story\u2019: How UConn\u2019s Caroline Ducharme made it back on the court<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Originally Published: June 26, 2025 at 4:34 PM EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After spending nearly two full years on the sidelines, UConn women\u2019s basketball forward Ayanna Patterson had almost forgotten…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[21918,7,7430,217,2340,925,6108,2680,2679,231,772,6111,1400,1544,66,923,6107,6112],"class_list":{"0":"post-127375","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-ayanna-patterson","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-caroline-ducharme","11":"tag-college-basketball","12":"tag-connecticut","13":"tag-ct-news","14":"tag-geno-auriemma","15":"tag-hartford-courant","16":"tag-local-news","17":"tag-ncaa","18":"tag-ncaa-basketball","19":"tag-ncaa-championship","20":"tag-ncaa-tournament","21":"tag-ncaab","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-uconn-huskies","24":"tag-uconn-womens-basketball","25":"tag-womens-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114752127704770205","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}