-
Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma likes to draw analogies with other sports, which is how the famous running back Jim Brown emerged when Auriemma was talking about the sensation of freshman Paige Bueckers.
Bueckers had his third consecutive game of 30 points or more – something no other UConn player has ever done – while his 31 points lifted the Huskies’ second place over No. 1 South Carolina by 63 to 59 in overtime on Monday in Storrs, Connecticut. The 5-foot-11 guard scored the Huskies’ final 13 points, including all nine in the extra period, and played the 45 minutes. She hit 14 of the 26 field shots and had 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 6 steals.
“She is very slow, and I say that with great appreciation,” said Auriemma. “She takes her time … she’s like when Jim Brown used to run. When she catches the ball, she’s like, ‘Should I go to that hole, that hole, that … what’s the best decision for me now? “She waits until the absolute last minute and nothing presses her, so you can’t make her play faster than she wants to.
“When you’re a sniper as good as she is … she really has a lot of confidence in her skill. If she can get one out, she thinks she’ll get in. Sometimes I marvel at how hard she has to work because of the attention defensive that she gets every night. She’s just good. “
This game did not become a dispute between the top two teams until Monday afternoon, when the Associated Press survey was published. The eleven-time national champion UConn has been in many of these games since he rose to national status in the 1990s. Even though the Huskies are 14-1, this is not a powerful team like many UConns in the past; even Auriemma would say that.
But he has a superstar freshman who skillfully punctuates off-screen and advances in the greatest moments as a longtime veteran. Bueckers, who was the No. 1 recruit in the 2020 class, is leading the Huskies in scoring (21.1 PPG), assists (5.6 APG) and theft (2.6 SPG). She is shooting 56.9 percent of the field, 55.6 in the 3-point range.
UConn has had a treasure trove of previous superstars who have also had notable freshman seasons, including Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart over the past 20 years, all of whom have become MVPs at the WNBA. None of them, however, was playing on a team with six other freshmen, like Bueckers. That means it is her team in a way that it was not for those other superstars as freshmen. It is getting a lot of attention and so far it is standing out beyond expectations.
“She is a player,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “She makes big shots when her number is dialed over and over again.”
However, if the Gamecocks had hit one of the four shots they had in the basket at the end of the regulation — Destanni Henderson’s jump was short, then Victaria Saxton missed a hit, followed by two missed hitting attempts by Aliyah Boston – Bueckers it wouldn’t have been the story of the night.
Gamecocks will regret their lost layups, which ruined their normally lethal transition game, lost free throws (8 of 15) and turns (21). They kept the Huskies 24.1 points below the season’s average of 87.1 by entering the game, kept them just 2 out of 15 behind the arc and overcame them by 52-39.
South Carolina ended the 2019-20 season in first place in the ranking and started this in the same place, before losing to NC State on December 3. Gamecocks’ first place substitute, Stanford, fell after an overtime loss in Colorado on January 17, Louisville took over position 1. When the NC state beat Louisville last Monday, South Carolina rose to position 1 again in this week’s survey.
But it will be a short stay, because the mistakes of the Gamecocks and the big shots of the Bueckers on Monday wiped them out. The second of the Huskies’ 3 points came from Bueckers with 13 seconds remaining, reaching the edge, jumping high in the air and then falling through the net.
“It was good when it got out of my hand,” said Bueckers, who missed his other five attempts at 3 points. “But, yes, I would say it was a very good leap.”
It was that kind of night for her, but it has become a normal thing with just 14 games in her college career (she missed a game with an ankle sprain). Bueckers also had a 3-point basket with 28 seconds remaining against Tennessee on January 21, which was the 67-61 victory dagger shot.
“It’s still crazy for me,” said Bueckers of how UConn’s career started here. “Just the blessings I received, just the opportunities I received. It’s all so crazy to me that I’m here playing at my dream school in big games like this with an incredible team and coaching staff. Day, every second, every minute, I am super grateful to be here. “