STORRS, Conn. (AP) – With the kick timer about to expire and his team ahead by a single point in overtime, Paige Bueckers threw up a 3-point long that hit the back of the rim and jumped high into the air.
There was no doubt in Bueckers’ mind that the ball would fall through the net.
UConn’s first-year star scored 31 points, including the last 13 on his team, to lead second-placed Huskies in the 63-59 victory in Monday’s overtime over South Carolina, which is at the top of the ranking.
Bueckers scored all nine Huskies points in overtime, including that unlikely 3 points with just over 10 seconds remaining. There were 13 seconds on the clock when he left his hand.
“He jumped up, so I thought, ‘Dude, he has to get in,'” she said. “It looked good. It was good, but, yes, I would say it was a very good jump.”
Gamecocks’ Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson missed 3 points in the final seconds.
The suspense came just hours after Gamecocks and Huskies won the top two in the Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.
Aliyah Boston had 17 points and 15 rebounds for South Carolina (15-2), which overcame a deficit of seven points in the fourth period.
A tray of Aubrey Griffin had given the Huskies (14-1) a 50-43 lead with just over 8 minutes left, before South Carolina increased their defense and went on to an 11-0 run.
Victaria Saxton tray finished Olivia Nelson-Ododa gave Gamecocks a 52-50 lead, and the Boston jump extended to 54-50 with just under two and a half minutes to play.
But Bueckers hit two straight jumpers to tie the game in 54 with 46 seconds remaining in the regulation.
“She is that player”, UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She’s that player that pops up that people talk about – ‘Hey, did you see that boy from Connecticut?’ She is that child. “
Henderson missed a falling jump with 4 seconds remaining and the Gamecocks lost three chances to take down a winner of the game.
The defeat ended a run of 12 consecutive wins for South Carolina.
“Let’s learn from this,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “I told our players that everything we want is still ahead of us.”
DEFENSIVE BATTLE
UConn missed his first five shots, hit three of the first 20 and still lost just 14-10 after a quarter. The Huskies fired just under 40% for the game, but held South Carolina at 37%. UConn scored 19 points out of 21 sales in South Carolina.
BIG PICTURE
South Carolina: The Gamecocks faced eight ranked opponents this season, with their only loss taking place on December 3 against the state of North Carolina. The program missed the first eight meetings with the Huskies before ending UConn last year, 70-52, at home.
UConn: Bueckers has 142 points in their last five games and 93 in the last three, scoring 30 or better in each of them.
“It has been a long time since a player has had to carry a team as much as in some of those games,” said Auriemma.
NEXT
South Carolina: The Gamecocks, which has played four street games in its last five games, hosts Missouri on Thursday night.
UConn: The Huskies present Seton Hall on Wednesday night.