STORRS, Conn. — With fewer than 15 seconds remaining in overtime of No. 2 UConn’s matchup against South Carolina, Paige Bueckers found the ball in her hands at the top of the key. Olivia Nelson-Ododa kicked it out to the freshman in desperation with three seconds left on the shot clock. With UConn holding a 60-59 lead over the No. 1 team in the country, Bueckers heaved the ball.
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Bueckers’ UConn teammates Nelson-Ododa and Nika Muhl knew it was going in. As Muhl said, it’s just what Bueckers does.
As the shot clock expired, the ball took a fortuitous bounce upward before gravity took over. Bueckers had already backpedaled beyond halfcourt by the time the ball descended and sailed through the net, sealing the Huskies’ 63-59 statement victory and Bueckers’ latest impressive performance.
“It felt good when it left my hand,” Bueckers said. “It bounced straight up so I was like, ‘Man, this has got to go in.’ It looked good, it felt good. But yeah, I would say that was a really nice bounce.”
The shot clock expiring, the game on the line and Bueckers with the ball — it’s becoming a regular sight for UConn and its opponents. Bueckers’ game-sealing 3 was the only one she hit of her six attempts in the game.
“There’s not much you can say. She’s that player,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “She’s that player that you know comes along that people talk about: ‘Hey, did you see that kid from Connecticut?’ She’s that kid.”
THE BOUNCE pic.twitter.com/emL0LtGbZF
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) February 9, 2021
Late in a game in which neither team could get in a rhythm offensively, Bueckers twice put the Huskies in position to even have a chance at the win. She recorded the final four points of regulation that helped push extra time before scoring all nine of UConn’s points in overtime. Bueckers finished the game with 31 points on 14-of-26 shooting. She added six steals, five assists and four boards in 45 minutes.
Bueckers is the first UConn women’s player to score 30-plus points in three straight games. Fourteen games into her college career, Bueckers is already building an eye-popping resume. This week, she was named Big East Freshman of the Week and Big East Player of the Week, becoming just the third UConn freshman to earn the latter honor. She’s hit double digits in 13 of 14 appearances. That included scoring 181 points in her first 10 games, passing Breanna Stewart (169) for the most by a UConn freshman in that span. After rolling her ankle during the Huskies’ win at Tennessee, in which she also hit a clutch 3, Bueckers missed one game and has returned to score at least 22 points in each contest since then.
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“The most impressive thing about Paige is she plays at the same pace the entire game,” Auriemma said. “She goes at a pace that allows her to use her skill. And I think that’s a great quality that usually comes to you a little bit later. She’s got it at such a young age that she’s able to have the game slow down for her and make the play that has to be made. She played all 45 minutes and, you know, there’s a lot of pressure on her, as you can see, to make shots. We need obviously to help alleviate some of that pressure, but I’m always surprised when she shoots and the ball doesn’t go in.”
On a team with six freshman and no seniors, Bueckers has stepped up as the closer. With the game on the line Monday night, she kept her composure andhit every shot. The rest of her teammates finished with 32 points combined on 15-of-47 shooting.
“I went to UConn to play in huge games like this,” Bueckers said.
The showdown between the Gameco*cks and Huskies gained an even brighter spotlight after the AP poll released earlier Monday ranked the teams first and second in the nation. Overall, UConn is now 22-3 when playing in a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup. As the No. 1, the Huskies are 15-2, and as the No. 2, they are 7-1. With the win Monday, UConn will most likely move into the No. 1 spot next week.
Through fifteen games, Bueckers leads UConn with 21.1 points per game, 79 total assists and 36 steals.
Before Bueckers took over late, the Huskies’ defense kept the game close. Neither team was shooting well — UConn went 2 for 15 from beyond the arc, while South Carolina went 1 for 9 — but UConn capitalized on South Carolina’s 21 turnovers, scoring 19 points off of them. The teams combined to commit 38 turnovers in a game with seven lead changes and eight ties. Bueckers led the Huskies in scoring and no other UConn player finished in double figures. Aliyah Boston led the Gameco*cks with 17 points, while Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson each added 11 points.
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Near the end of regulation, with 1:35 remaining, Bueckers broke UConn’s six-plus minute scoring drought with back-to-back buckets that forced overtime. In extra time, she took over once more, starting with a steal that resulted in two made free throws and culminating with her 3-pointer.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was brief but complimentary of Bueckers after the game: “She’s a player. She makes big shots when her number’s called, time and time again.”
When asked by a reporter if the gravity of the No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown and the role she played had hit her, Bueckers chuckled. “It’s all just so crazy to me that I’m here playing at my dream school in huge games like this with an amazing team and coaching staff,” she said.
More special for Bueckers was that her dad, mom and little brother were in the stands. It was the first time her dad had been in the stands to see her play in a UConn jersey.
There’s still a month of the regular season and the postseason left to play before the first chapter of Bueckers’ UConn career can be fully evaluated. But if the 3-pointer she hit against Tennessee marked her entrance onto the scene, her streak of 30-point games and game-winning efforts Monday have landed her in the conversation of UConn’s freshmen greats.
Even Bueckers’ final moments on the court Monday were indicative of a winner. With the victory secured, Bueckers ran off the floor and hugged some of her assistant coaches. She went out of view behind the curtains next to the bench. When she later returned to the sidelines, the closing bars of “All I Do Is Win” were fading into the background of the arena as Bueckers ran off into the locker room.
(Photo: David Butler II / USA TODAY Sports)
