HARTFORD, Conn. — Chrissy Ducharme had a moment of realization as she watched her daughter lie in bed post surgery surrounded by her UConn women’s basketball teammates at The Graduate hotel in Storrs.
It was late April and Caroline Ducharme had just undergone surgery on her left hip. Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Nika Mühl, Dorka Juhász, Amari DeBerry and Piath Gabriel (now in the transfer portal) were there with balloons and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Mühl got a card that wished a “Happy Birthday” to Ducharme’s “new” hip. Associate athletic trainer Janelle Francisco was there at one point that afternoon too.
“It was so moving,” Chrissy Ducharme told The Hartford Courant. “I just stopped … and was like, ‘I get it, honey. This is it. This is your family. This is why you’re here.’ ”
