UConn women’s basketball team said, Kaitlyn Chen did so wonderful after attending Princeton and Storrs…
After graduating from Princeton, Kaitlyn Chen joined the UConn women’s basketball team on campus less than three weeks ago. When the graduate transfer turned the corner after practice on Friday, she was met with a scrum of microphones and cameras ready to record her every word. She was mostly prepped for what was to come at Storrs by her former coach Carla Berube, a UConn player from 1993 to 1997, but she is still getting used to her newfound fame in the “Basketball Capitol of the World.”
I’m going to have to speak with her about that,” Chen smiled and joked. “I think Coach Berube gave me some idea of what I was getting into, but so far, this place has been a lot of fun.” Plenty of basketball, which I enjoy, so everything is well. After spending the last four years leading Princeton to the top of the Ivy League, Chen has a learning curve going into UConn. In addition to the Tigers’ three straight Ivy League titles, which Chen earned three times as most outstanding player, Princeton upset the NCAA Tournament twice in a row in the first round in 2022 and 2023. Chen shot 48.8% from the floor and averaged 15.8 points, 4.9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma first learned about Chen when she logged 18 points and seven assists for Princeton during a regular-season game against the Huskies in December 2022. UConn escaped with a 69-64 win at Gampel Pavilion, but Auriemma began keeping tabs on the Tigers’ point guard after that performance. When she landed in the portal as a graduate transfer this offseason, he jumped at the opportunity to add her.
“I just though she had complete control of that game, the way Carla wanted them to play. She made big shots. She was a presence on defense, and I just kind of followed her after that,” Auriemma said. “ … She’s a little bit older, she’s played the position for four years. A lot of the stuff Carla does is similar to what we do. We’ve only had a couple workouts, but she’s very, very impressive, to say the least. I really, really like her. She’s tough, she’s smart, super easy to coach.”
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