UConn's Paige Bueckers, Geno Auriemma Admire Caroline Ducharme Amid Injury Return

The UConn Huskies women's basketball team was stoked to see Caroline Ducharme return to the court on Saturday.

Feb 25, 2022; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks with guard Paige Bueckers (5) from the sideline as they take on the St. John's Red Storm in the second half at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The No. 5 ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team cruised to an 86-47 win over Butler on Saturday, which improved their 2024-25 regular season record to 26-3.

While most could have predicted that UConn would secure this conference win, Huskies fans received a heartwarming surprise when redshirt junior guard Caroline Ducharme appeared in her first game since November 19, 2023, with a few minutes remaining.

Caroline Ducharme checks into a game for UConn for the first time since November 19th, 2023 👏 pic.twitter.com/n5QoXZpoDg

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 22, 2025

Ducharme has dealt with injuries to her head and neck, which caused her to miss over a year of action.

Ducharme is clearly beloved among the Huskies program. And after the game, both star guard Paige Bueckers and Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma spoke about getting to see her return to the court.

"It's crazy. It brings you to tears because of everything she's been through and everything she has overcame and how much work she's put into it," Bueckers said about witnessing Ducharme's return, per an X post from SNY.

"I mean, she has dedicated her entire life to getting back [to] doing what she loves. And so just to have that moment, no matter how long or what the stakes are, just to see her back out there doing what she loves, knowing she's getting rewarded for a lot of hard work... so you just get really excited for her in those moments," Bueckers continued.

"It brings you to tears because of everything she's been through and everything's she's overcame and how much work she's put into it"

Paige Bueckers discusses Caroline Ducharme's return and more with @ChelseaSherrod after UConn's win over Butler: pic.twitter.com/oj7zjj35rs

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 22, 2025

When Auriemma was asked about Ducharme postgame, he said, "I know it has been a long time coming for her. She has been through a lot. Finally got cleared and was hoping that she'd get an opportunity. So I'm glad that we were able to give her that... We're pretty excited. She's worked awfully hard to get to this point," per SNY.

"We're pretty excited. She's worked awfully hard to get to this point."

Geno Auriemma talks about Caroline Ducharme's return to the floor: pic.twitter.com/0rzOPxhy4c

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) February 22, 2025

It will be interesting to see whether Ducharme can fit herself into UConn's rotation for the rest of this season.