HARTFORD, Conn. — If you told someone a few months ago that Inês Bettencourt would be the starting point guard for UConn women’s basketball in a top-25 matchup on the road, they probably wouldn’t have believed you.
A few months before that, they probably wouldn’t have even heard of the freshman from São Miguel, Azores, an autonomous island region of Portugal. She was a late addition to the 2022 class after Paige Bueckers suffered a season-ending ACL tear in early August.
Yet, last Thursday, Bettencourt stepped to the free-throw line to seal the Huskies’ 69-64 win over Princeton after Nika Mühl went down with a head injury. Then on Sunday, with Mühl in concussion protocol and Azzi Fudd out with a knee injury, Bettencourt got her first career start in a 85-78 loss at then-No. 20 Maryland (now No. 15).
