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Alexa Philippou, ESPN
STORRS, Conn. — One year ago this week, Paige Bueckers got emotional as she walked to her car after her University Huskies defeated the Baylor Bears in the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament. Buccaneers, whose season was on hold due to a torn ACL, wanted nothing more than to play in a high-stakes game with a crowd.
She “praised so hard one year ago today to be in the position I am in,” Bookers said Monday.
The Buccaneers, currently playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than 700 days, had 32 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, four steals and one block on Monday to lead the third-seeded Huskies to a 72-7 win over sixth-seeded Syracuse. He defeated him with 64 and became a legend. A competitive second round matchup in front of a packed Gampel Pavilion crowd.
With the win, UConn extended its NCAA Tournament record for consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to 30.
He scored 28 points in the Huskies' first-round win over Jackson State, giving the Buccaneers 60 points to open the NCAA Tournament, the most points by a UW player through the first two games since Kelly Bascom in 1991. This was the highest number of points scored since 2013, when he scored 62 points. The Buccaneers also scored for the first time. A Division I player in the last 25 years with at least 60 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists in his first two games of the tournament.
Her 32 points on Monday, largely achieved by dissecting the Orange's zone and finding gaps in the paint to score, are a career high in the NCAA Tournament.
“Paige was great as a freshman… [Now] She’s much better,” Syracuse coach Felisha Leggett-Jack said. “I've known Geno since he was a freshman at Syracuse University. Paige is one of the top three to ever come through that door.”
The redshirt junior made the final basket of the game with 1:32 remaining and helped the Orange fend off a Syracuse onslaught midway through the fourth quarter by capitalizing on a foul out by college point guard Nika Muhl. . However, the Buccaneers continued to make the game-winning play, giving the ball to freshman KK Arnold with 29 seconds left for a 3-pointer and the final defensive rebound to seal the victory, and in the final, University defeated Syracuse from the field. He helped keep the team scoreless. 1:53.
“We have the best players in America,” UW coach Geno Auriemma said. “Statistics only tell you one thing… but when it happens and how it affects the game is very noteworthy. I think I will go as far as I can to carry the load.As long as I have her.''We continue to collect donations from everyone little by little.
“We need guys who can make the winning plays in the big moments, especially the last five minutes of the game. We need guys who can make those plays, the shots we need to make, the rebounds we need to make, the loose balls we need to make.” They have to accomplish, the stops they have to make. ”
University led for most of the contest and led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter. But once the tide started to turn, with Syracuse closing within eight points and Mule picking up three fouls in 30 seconds and fouling out, the Orange eventually cut the lead to two points.
“We have the best players in America. If you look at the statistics, you can tell one thing… but when it happens and how it affects the game is very interesting. I I think this team will go as far as she can to play like that.''It's a huge burden.'' As long as she continues to receive donations from everyone, little by little. ”
UW coach Geno Auriemma talks about Paige Bueckers
Coach Mule led Syracuse star Daisha Fair, who was held to just two points in the first half, but finished with 20 total points to keep the Orange within range. A season-high 13 threes, including a combined nine from freshman Sophie Burrows and junior Georgia Woolley, also contributed greatly.
Fair, a fifth-year senior, finished her storied college career with 3,403 career points at Buffalo and Syracuse, passing Jackie Stiles and Kelsey Mitchell as the No. 3 all-time leading scorer in Division I women's basketball on Monday.
“At the end of the day, she's never going to stop trying. She's never going to stop believing in herself,” Leggett-Jack said of Fair. “Whether she scored her point after the second half or not, her fightback was bigger than anything she'd ever scored.”
UW defeated second-seeded Ohio State on Sunday to secure a matchup with seventh-seeded Duke in the regional semifinals.
The Huskies remember last year's Sweet 16, when a shocking upset of the Buckeyes ended their 14-year run of Final Four appearances.
“We are lucky,” Auriemma said. “We're going back to where we finished last year. I think we're a different team, a different mindset, and we want a different result.”
