Story by
With five players out, desperate New York Liberty reach out to former UConn women’s star
- Story by
- With five players out, desperate New York Liberty reach out to former UConn women’s star
Less than a week after she was cut by the Minnesota Lynx during training camp, former UConn women's basketball forward Aubrey Griffin is back on a WNBA roster.
Hours before the first game of the regular season, the New York Liberty signed Griffin and guard Julie Vanloo to hardship contracts. Both players will be available for the team's opener against the Connecticut Sun on Friday, which tips off at 7:30 p.m. at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Hardship contracts are seven-day agreements that allow a team to exceed the 12-man roster limit when it has fewer than 10 players available.
Advertisement
New York is down five players for Friday's opener: Superstar guard Sabrina Ionescu is out with a left foot injury she suffered last Sunday in a preseason game against the Sun, veteran guard Rebecca Allen has a left leg injury and All-Star foward Satou Sabally has a cyst. Rookie forward Raquel Carrera and 2024 WNBA champion Leonie Fiebich are also away from the team completing their commitments with clubs overseas.
Griffin showed flashes of a high ceiling at UConn, averaging 7.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals shooting 53.3% from the field across five seasons with the Huskies. But her career was heavily impacted by injuries: She redshirted the 2021-22 season after undergoing surgery to repair a disc injury in her back, then tore her left ACL midway through 2023-24. Griffin was never fully healthy during UConn's 2024-25 season averaging just 11.3 minutes on the court in 16 game appearances.
The Lynx took a chance on Griffin in the 2025 WNBA Draft, selecting the 6-foot-1 forward with the No. 36 pick in the third round, but she didn't report to training camp because of lingering issues with her left knee. She had arthroscopic knee surgery last April and spent most of the past year rehabbing.
Griffin had a strong showing in Minnesota's first 2026 preseason game logging six points, two rebounds, a block and a steal against the Washington Mystics on April 25, but she went scoreless in the second and was waived from the Lynx's camp on May 2.
Advertisement
Griffin, who grew up in Ossining, New York, has the chance to play close to home in her first career WNBA game Friday.
"Super grateful that I get to come back home, and I'm here around family. It feels nice," Griffin told The Associated Press on Friday.
Griffin's signing gives UConn a league-leading 17 former players on opening day rosters in the WNBA. She joins Huskies legend Breanna Stewart in New York and will compete against a pair of former UConn teammates with the Connecticut Sun on Friday in Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
