Aubrey Griffin will get her chance in the WNBA after all — and this time it’s with her home state team.
The former UConn women’s basketball standout signed a hardship contract with the New York Friday morning and will be available to play in the Liberty’s season-opener against the Connecticut Sun (7:30 p.m. on ION).
Griffin, from Ossining, N.Y., was waived by the Minnesota Lynx last week after participating in the first two weeks of training camp. Minnesota selected Griffin in the third round of last year’s draft. However, the former Husky sat out the entire 2025 WNBA season recovering after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
This year, Griffin impressed in the Lynx’s preseason opener against Washington on April 25 by recording six points, two rebounds, one block and one steal in 15 minutes off the bench. However, it wasn’t enough to secure a spot on Minnesota’s roster.
Griffin will remain with the Liberty for seven days per the rules of a hardship contract. After the week, the Liberty will have the choice of releasing her or renewing her for another week if the team still doesn’t have a league minimum of 10 healthy players.
Prior to signing Griffin and Julie Vanloo to hardship contracts on Friday, New York was down to just eight available players as it’s without Rebecca Allen (left leg), Sabrina Ionescu (left foot), Satou Sabally (cyst), Raquel Carrera (Not with the team) and Leonie Fiebich (NWT).
Griffin spent six years at UConn. She sat out two complete seasons due to back surgery and an ACL injury. As a freshman in the 2019-20 season, Griffin was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Tournament Team. In 2023, she earned All-Big East Honorable Mention honors. Two years later, she helped the Huskies win the 2025 national championship during her final season. Griffin is in UConn’s record books as she tied former Husky and Liberty great Rebecca Lobo for most consecutive made field goals after making her first 11 against Princeton on Dec. 8, 2022.
