Sam Tapper – Sports Writer
Ever since Geno Auriemma took over as head women’s basketball coach at UConn in 1985, the program has seen countless superstars come and go. From Rebecca Lobo to Maya Moore, they all live in the state’s sports history books.
Included in that bunch is sharpshooter and current WNBA forward Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, who, after playing the first five years of her professional career with the Seattle Storm, is now coming back to the state she once called home after being traded to the Connecticut Sun.
Mosqueda-Lewis made her mark as a Husky through all four of her years at UConn. Despite coming off the bench as a freshman, she led the 2012 Huskies in scoring and was named the Big East Freshman of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year and was the MVP of the 2012 Big East Tournament, the second freshman in program history to do so.
Following her success as a freshman, “KML” upped her game to yet another level. She jumped into the starting lineup and scored 17.6 points per game to lead her squad again, ultimately leading them to the 2013 national championship while also being the nation’s best shooter from deep, shooting nearly 50 percent from three. Limited to 26 games as a junior due to injury, Mosqueda-Lewis again played a key role in securing back-to-back national titles.
In her senior year at UConn, Mosqueda-Lewis past fellow Husky-great Maya Moore as the program’s all-time leader in threes. She helped lead the Huskies to their third straight national championship and became the NCAA women’s basketball all-time leader in three-pointers made with 398.
Mosqueda-Lewis was drafted with the third overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft by Seattle, where her career was nothing like college, as she never averaged more than 5.8 points per game and only found herself in Seattle’s starting lineup nine times over the five year stretch.
Despite her not putting up numbers like she did at UConn, she was a key contributor on the 2018 Storm team that won the WNBA championship. Now, she finds herself back in the Nutmeg State, a new beginning with old fans, she looks to her career.
