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UConn’s Katie Lou Samuelson uncertain for Monday with back injury

By Steve Bittenbender

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Katie Lou Samuelson #33 of the Connecticut Huskies drives to the basket against Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the semifinal game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. Notre Dame defeated Connecticut 91-89 to advance to the National Championship. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 30: Katie Lou Samuelson #33 of the Connecticut Huskies drives to the basket against Arike Ogunbowale #24 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the semifinal game of the 2018 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Final Four at Nationwide Arena on March 30, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio. Notre Dame defeated Connecticut 91-89 to advance to the National Championship. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /
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Samuelson leaves game injuring back during a collision

UConn breezed to an easy victory Saturday over Houston, but the second-ranked Huskies still got a scare when one of their star players left early with a back injury.

Katie Lou Samuelson scored 11 points in the 83-61 victory, but she left the game in the first minute of the second half when she began suffering from back spasms. She and the Cougars Julia Blackshell-Fair collided while pursuing a loose ball and hit the floor in the second quarter.

"“I just wanted to try and get back out there,” she said. “Once I started running down the court I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea but, it was Senior Day so I at least wanted to give it a chance to loosen up, but it didn’t.”"

Her status for Connecticut’s regular-season finale at South Florida Monday night remains uncertain.

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“We’ll see how she feels and then we will go from there,” coach Geno Auriemma said after the Saturday’s win.

The 6’3 guard, a potential top-five pick in month’s WNBA Draft, finds herself among the league leaders in several American Athletic Conference categories. Her 18.9 scoring average ranks only behind teammate Napheesa Collier’s AAC-best 20.3 points per game average. She leads the AAC in free throw shooting (88.1 percent) and 3-pointers made (2.6 per game). She ranks in the top 15 in seven other categories.

In January, Samuelson became the 10th Huskies player to reach the 2,000-point career mark, and she currently ranks fourth on UConn’s all-time scoring list. She’s among the candidates for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which honors the top shooting guard in Division I women’s hoops.

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