It is widely expected that redshirt senior Paige Bueckers will go first overall in next month’s Women’s National Basketball Association draft. When that happens, Bueckers will be the sixth UConn Women’s Basketball team player to be selected with the first overall pick.
But the three-time Big East Player of the Year will not be UConn’s only draft selection. Graduate guard Azzi Fudd, the team’s leading three-point shooter, is also eligible for this year’s draft. Head coach Geno Auriemma gave Fudd until the day after the Big East Tournament to decide on her future. The public should know what the Virginia native decided sometime this week, if not early next week.
Even if Fudd returns next season, 2025 should still be the fourth straight year the Huskies have more than one WNBA draft pick. If that happens, it will be because of graduate guard Kaitlyn Chen.
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The former Princeton Tiger is averaging 6.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 3.2 assists in her final collegiate campaign. Chen has posted those numbers while attempting just 5.2 shots a night, less than half as many as each of Connecticut’s big three. The San Marino, California, native has only had two games where she took 10+ field goal tries. It is a vast difference from the 11.91 shots per contest Chen took at Princeton, but it is a role change Auriemma admires.
“Kaitlyn Chen is the kind of player that every really, really good team has. Somebody that does not have to score every time she touches. Somebody that is not going to take bad shots just to get her shots,” the 2006 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee said following his team’s quarterfinal win over the St. John’s Red Storm Saturday.
Auriemma also noted that the 5-foot-9 guard has complemented her “tremendous” free-throw shooting with an improved three-point stroke. Through 34 games, Chen is a career-best 38.4% on three-pointers and 82.1% on free throws. The two-time First Team All-Ivy selection has the fourth-highest shooting percentage among all Huskies with 100+ shots at an even 52%.
But Chen is more than a prolific shooter; that becomes extremely evident when she drives toward the paint.
“When she attacks the basket, I think the ball is going in,” college basketball’s winningest coach noted. “She is one of the best I have ever seen at getting in the lane and scoring.”
The three-time Ivy League All-Tournament Team guard is 61.5% on two-pointers alone. Remove her offense, though, and Chen remains a high-impact player on the AP’s No. 3 team in the nation.
Opponents scored 57.2 points per contest against the Huskies’ defense last season; that number is now down to 51.9. Two teams—the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Tennessee Lady Volunteers—have scored 75+ points versus UConn all season. While it might not show up on the box score as much, having the graduate guard has helped Auriemma make some vital defensive adjustments.
“It gives us a chance to play a certain way that we would not be able to play if she was not here,” the co-Big East Coach of the Year explained. “We are pressuring the ball more in the full court, which we did not do last year, the year before, year before that.”
Those modifications include the Huskies forcing 1.8 more turnovers and one more steal per game over the last two seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25). Even with sophomore KK Arnold in the backcourt, Connecticut’s transition from Nika Mühl to Chen has felt seamless.
Kaitlyn Chen has played herself into being one of the 38 players drafted by a WNBA franchise next month. She might not be a first-rounder, but her shot selection and off-ball defense could result in the Flintridge Prep alumni taking a similar path. Any team needing a guard who can play aggressively on offense and defense will likely take Chen in the second round. That was the case with Mühl last year.
The 2024 WBCA All-America Honorable Mention has proven that she can take on any role depending on what a team needs. In one season, Chen went from being the star on Carla Berube’s Tigers to a multifaceted floor general.
If that does not seem convincing enough, the CSC Academic All-American has technically been backing up Bueckers at the one despite starting every game. The Naismith Trophy Semifinalist leads Connecticut with 156 assists to support the 19 points and 4.5 rebounds she averages.
But even in her latest role, the 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year has stood out.
“If she was a backup point guard for you her first year, you would be hard-pressed to find somebody better,” Auriemma commented.
When one thinks of second-round steals, one might consider Natasha Cloud, Tiffany Hayes, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton or Allie Quigley. Chen should join that list when the 2025 season concludes.
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