UConn's Edwards leaves win with nose injury

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — UConn center Aaliyah Edwards left the Huskies’ Big East quarterfinal win over Providence on Saturday after taking an elbow to her nose.

The injury occurred as she was fighting for a rebound on the offensive end with the Friars’ Sarah Bandoma with just over six minutes left in the third quarter and No. 9 UConn leading 41-35.

Edwards, who had 12 points in the game, lay on the floor crying in pain for several minutes before being helped to the locker room with a towel covering her face. The senior came into the game averaging 17.9 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Bandoma was hit with an intentional foul after a review. UConn’s Paige Bueckers missed both free throws on the intentional foul, but the Huskies responded to the injury by outscoring Providence 45-18 the rest of the way en route to the 86-53 victory over the Friars.

“Once Aaliyah went down, we kind of called a huddle and we were talking about just how locked in we were going to have to be, how extra focused we were going to have to be,” said Bueckers, who finished with 29 points, 9 rebounds and 6 assists in the win.

Edwards returned to UConn’s bench with a splint on her nose with just over five minutes left in the game. Her status for Sunday’s semifinal game remains unclear.

“Just to have her out there, just to see that she’s OK, was huge,” added Bueckers.

Top-seeded UConn (27-5, 18-0) has lost five players for the season with injuries and had just eight available players Saturday.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.