Women's BIGEAST Basketball

UConn star Paige Bueckers will miss Tuesday's home game against Xavier with a sprained knee that didn't require an MRI, head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters Monday.

"We're hoping we'll have her back in a week," Auriemma said, per UConn WBB Weekly's Daniel Connolly.

Geno added that Bueckers didn’t need to undergo an MRI.

— Daniel Connolly (@DanielVConnolly) January 7, 2025

Auriemma added, per ESPN: "Obviously, you can imagine— she's pissed more than anything about having to miss any time."

The confirmation of the injury as a sprain will come as a relief to a program that watched Bueckers miss her junior season with an ACL tear to the same knee.

After missing part of her sophomore 2021-22 season with a fractured left knee, Bueckers sat out the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign with the torn ACL.

Bueckers has averaged a Big East-high 19.9 points per game through 15 contests so far this season.

She recorded 15 points in a Sunday blowout win over Villanova before suffering her latest injury on a collision with Wildcats guard Jasmine Bascoe with just over one minute remaining in the third quarter. Bueckers was in visible pain as she held her left knee after the play.

UConn was leading by 26 points at the time of the collision.

Paige Bueckers limps towards the locker room after a collision: pic.twitter.com/nbdDgibTJj

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) January 5, 2025

After the game, Auriemma compared her injury to the knee sprain that sidelined Azzi Fudd for three games in December, per Emily Adams of the Hartford Courant.

"Like what it was with Azzi, it's not the worst thing we can imagine, so that's great news considering how awkward it was," Auriemma said on Sunday, per Adams.

The Huskies will now prepare to take on Xavier at home and Georgetown on the road without their leading scorer. Freshman forward Sarah Strong could see her playing time increase in Bueckers' absence.

It sounds like UConn will expect to have Bueckers back before their most challenging stretch of the season takes place in February, when the Huskies face two ranked SEC teams in two weeks by taking on Tennessee and South Carolina.

Fans of the UConn women's basketball program can breathe a sigh of relief.

While star player Paige Bueckers limped to the locker room and never returned following a collision late in the third quarter of Sunday's 83-52 win over Villanova, head coach Geno Auriemma said on the broadcast that "she's pretty good. … She'll be fine. She looks good. I'm optimistic."

He continued and said, "It's not the worst thing that we can imagine. That's great news, considering how awkward it looked."

Paige Bueckers limps towards the locker room after a collision: pic.twitter.com/nbdDgibTJj

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) January 5, 2025

The injury cut short an impressive game for the guard, who had 15 points, nine assists, three rebounds and three steals on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.

It should be noted the Huskies were comfortably ahead at the time of Bueckers' injury, so there was no need to rush her back for the rest of Sunday's game. They finished the win with ease and were never threatened after the first half.

UConn is now 13-2 overall and 4-0 in Big East play after the latest win.

It is yet to be threatened in the Big East this season with each of its four victories coming by at least 26 points. Considering the next eight games are against conference opponents that could be overmatched, the Huskies may not look to rush Bueckers back to action.

That is especially true with a Feb. 6 showdown against Tennessee looming after that stretch of Big East games.

UConn is a dominant program that is in national-championship-or-bust mode almost every season, and the 2024-25 campaign is no exception in large part because of the presence of Bueckers.

She is a two-time All-American and two-time Big East Player of the Year with a Naismith Award and Associated Press Player of the Year on her resume. She entered Sunday's game averaging 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.0 steals per game while shooting 55.5 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from deep.

Bueckers is one of the faces of college basketball and will look to lead the Huskies to the Final Four and beyond if she is healthy, and postgame indications seem to suggest she is despite a scare in Sunday's win over Villanova.

The novelty of seeing UConn in the women's AP Top 25 poll wore off a long time ago, but the Huskies' inclusion this week is worth celebrating.

The Associated Press' Doug Feinberg noted this is the 627th time the school has been ranked by AP voters during Geno Auriemma's tenure as head coach. That ties him with Tara VanDerveer for the all-time record.

UConn sits seventh in the Week 9 poll after improving to 11-2 with a 67-41 victory Sunday over Providence. Senior guard Paige Bueckers finished with 23 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in 27 minutes on the floor. Forward Sarah Strong continued her impressive freshman campaign as well, adding 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

It was a strong response for the Huskies after they came up just short in their highly anticipated contest against JuJu Watkins and USC. Watkins sank a pair of free throws inside the final seconds to preserve the Trojans' 72-70 win on Dec. 21.

This time next week, Auriemma is all but guaranteed to pass VanDerveer and claim the AP poll record for himself.

UConn hits the road to play Marquette on Wednesday and then Villanova on Sunday. The Huskies will be big favorites in both matchups, and even going 0-2 may not be enough to bump them out of the Top 25 entirely for Week 10.

A man from Oregon pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge for stalking UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers.

ESPN's Katie Barnes reported Robert Cole Parmalee, who was arrested in August and again in September, pleaded guilty Wednesday at Rockville Superior Court in Connecticut and received three years' probation and a one-year suspended sentence.

What's more, the protective order that has been in effect since September will remain in place until January 2064. Parmalee cannot enter the state of Connecticut during the probation period and was banned from being in the same arena, hotel or practice facility as the Huskies women's basketball team.

The WNBA also banned him from arenas and practice facilities.

Parmalee was also ordered to undergo treatment for his mental health.

"My client had requested that [Parmalee] return home, get the evaluation and treatment that he needs, and that she be left alone," Bueckers' attorney, Robert Britt, said. "We're very happy with that."

Barnes reported that Parmalee was initially arrested by Connecticut State Police in August while walking near the Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. UConn Police said he told the state police he was in Connecticut to see Bueckers.

UConn police then rearrested him in September and charged him with breach of peace, electronic stalking and harassment.

According to authorities, his social media pages consistently referred to Bueckers, suggested he was going to propose to her and included direct video messages he sent to the UConn star. Police also said he left "rambling" messages for UConn's communications department.

Parmalee had been held on $100,000 bond since he was arrested and is scheduled to fly to Washington on Wednesday.

Hannah Hidalgo racked up 29 points on Thursday to help No. 8 Notre Dame hand Paige Bueckers and No. 2 UConn their first loss of the season.

The Fighting Irish staved off a third-quarter comeback push by the Huskies in order to claim a 79-68 victory.

NO. 8 NOTRE DAME TAKES DOWN NO. 2 UCONN ☘️

This is @ndwbb's 16th win vs. Geno Auriemma, the most by any school. pic.twitter.com/7AHyX0LZ0S

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 13, 2024

Hidalgo added 10 rebounds to her double-double while also recording eight assists and three steals.

Hannah Hidalgo is the most competitive player in women’s college hoops, and that’s on BOTH ends!

— Chiney Ogwumike (@chiney) December 13, 2024

Hannah Hidalgo is my NPOY favorite as of now.

Just saying.

— Talia Goodman (@TaliaGoodmanWBB) December 13, 2024

UConn's undefeated streak will end at eight games. Bueckers led the Huskies with 25 points while adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Notre Dame led by 11 points at the half, but UConn climbed back from the deficit to within one point of tying by the final moments of the third quarter.

Hidalgo responded with a buzzer-beating three-point jumper to keep the Fighting Irish in front.

HANNAH!! HIDALGO!! BUZZER!! BEATER!!

📺 ESPN#GoIrish // @HannahHidalgo pic.twitter.com/gyqEzUs7ig

— Notre Dame Women's Basketball (@ndwbb) December 13, 2024

Missing star guard Azzi Fudd, who is currently sidelined with a knee sprain, the Huskies were unable close the gap in the fourth quarter.

UCONN needs Azzi Fudd‼️

— Allie (@Al_lieeee) December 13, 2024

UConn had a bad night, Notre Dame had a good night. But I truthfully think this game would have turned out differently if Azzi Fudd was in the game. She is the spark we were missing. Hope we can put this game behind us!

— #firegeno (@firegeno) December 13, 2024

The loss marks the UConn's third straight defeat in matchups with Notre Dame, the Huskies' worst streak in the rivalry matchup since 2013.

UConn now holds an 38-16 all-time record against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish is the first team to defeat the Huskies 16 times under head coach Geno Auriemma, according to the ACC Network.

Fans are now putting pressure on Auriemma after UConn was out-rebounded 38-30 in the loss. UConn also went 3-of-16 from behind the arc, while Notre Dame converted 10 of 18 three-point opportunities.

This is also want happens when you play Paige Bueckers so much off ball Geno Auriemma. Hidalgo has had the ball in her hands all night.

— Bi⚡️ERK (@BizerkJerk) December 13, 2024

Geno Auriemma with the Steve Kerr school of nonsense. Having your best shot creator and scorer playing off ball for huge portions of the game, allowing them to get out of rhythm.

— kendall Green (@ontargethoops) December 13, 2024

Geno Auriemma doesn't know how to coach against teams with the same level of talent as he has. Oh how the times have changed.

— GirlSTIR (@GirlStir) December 13, 2024

This loss is on Geno Auriemma. He didn’t prepare his team at all for the ball pressure, ball denial, and it also had to be a coaching decision for them help off the corners as much as they were. 3 point differential was 3 UConn 3s to 10 Notre Dame 3s

— SportyFella (@FellaSporty) December 13, 2024

Thursday's result could come up again during March Madness seeding.

Although the Fighting Irish struggled early in conference play with an 0-2 record against Big 12 opponents in the Cayman Islanders, the win also marks Notre Dame's third over a top-five opponent. The team also claimed victories over USC on Nov. 23 and Texas last week.

Assuming this score holds, USC, Texas and UConn will be a combined 0-3 against Notre Dame but 26-0 against everyone else. Three Irish wins over top-five opponents.

— Geoffrey Clark (@gfclark89) December 13, 2024

Notre Dame’s two losses in the Cayman Islands are irrelevant now.

They’ve answered with two Top 5 wins. Texas now UConn. 📈📈📈

— Kim Adams (@_kimadams) December 13, 2024

UConn meanwhile will look to learn from their first loss of the season as the Huskies prepare for conference play to begin in earnest in the new year.

Well that was a disappointing game for UCONN… good growing game though.. learn from it.

— Megan (@msxo20) December 13, 2024

hopefully this game is a wake up call for what uconn needs to do to tighten up, bc they are not gonna win that natty looking like that😭

— south central boots (@curiosity51db) December 13, 2024

I believe in this team, I really do. But we need to look at what we did wrong this game, where ND was better than us, and how ND capitalized on our mistakes. Take that and improve from it, we absolutely have the talent to get the job done.

— Mr. UConn (@1999Huskies) December 13, 2024

The Huskies return to action on Sunday against visiting Georgetown, while the Fighting Irish are back at home to take on Eastern Michigan the same day.

Paige Bueckers' custom Nike G.T. Hustle 3 is dropping Saturday, with the UConn star becoming the first NIL athlete to get their own player edition from the brand.

Paige Bueckers’ First Nike PE Shoe Drops This Week

Bueckers becomes the first NIL athlete to get her own Nike PE release. pic.twitter.com/8kFvQCfMIK

— Complex Sneakers (@ComplexSneakers) December 2, 2024

"It's definitely motivating to wear your own shoe," Bueckers said, per The Athletic's Ben Pickman. "I grew up wearing Nikes—all the signature shoes—so it's surreal to have this player edition model. I just want to show out in it."

The senior guard signed with Nike ahead of the 2023-24 season. Sole Retriever first reported in July her own unique design would be forthcoming within the Nike G.T. Hustle line.

Among the personalized touches are the area codes for Storrs, Connecticut, and her hometown of Hopkins, Minnesota, on the left tongue. The right tongue features a bucket as a nod to her "Paige Buckets" nickname.

"There are so many details that make this shoe special to me," Bueckers said. "This is the perfect colorway for me: I love baby blue and lavender, and the Radial Knit makes me feel fly. My favorite detail is the message from my dad, and the tribute to both of my homes is so meaningful for my first Player Edition model."

A two-time unanimous first-team All-American and the national player of the year in 2020-21, Bueckers returned to form last year after a torn ACL sidelined her for her entire junior campaign. She averaged 22.0 points on 53.0 percent shooting along with 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals.

UConn reached the Final Four of the NCAA tournament for the 23rd time, where it came up just short against Caitlin Clark and Iowa.

The Huskies are off to a 6-0 start in 2024-25 and sits second nationally behind UCLA. Bueckers has put up 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest in what's expected to be her final college season.

Geno Auriemma is the NCAA Division 1 all-time winningest coach.

The UConn women's basketball coach won his 1,217 game on Wednesday, passing Stanford legend Tara VanDerveer's historic mark. The Huskies beat Fairleigh Dickinson 85-41 to give Auriemma the record.

Ahead of the game, UConn honored the 70-year-old for coaching his 40th season with the Huskies this year.

A goat in Gampel! 🐐

Geno Auriemma has been inducted into the international order of old goats 😂 pic.twitter.com/2gamPYU8b8

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) November 21, 2024

Geno Auriemma gets his gift honoring his 40 seasons at UConn pic.twitter.com/dRqBDfTMLY

— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) November 20, 2024

The state of Connecticut also honored him with a new road sign.

New road sign in Connecticut 👏 pic.twitter.com/Yj80ClBlnr

— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) November 21, 2024

After another career achievement for Auriemma, fans had high praise for him on social media.

Geno Auriemma becomes the winningest coach in NCAA Division I basketball history, solidifying his legendary legacy.#NCAAWBB x @UConnWBB pic.twitter.com/Jr7m1ySt5P

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) November 21, 2024

DT and Sue Bird in the house as Coach Geno goes for the D-I all-time wins record tonight 🏀✨ pic.twitter.com/vONoev2BIK

— espnW (@espnW) November 20, 2024

student section celebrating geno and cd’s historic win 🏅 pic.twitter.com/Jy5kIUHVWy

— sarah (@sar_nelly) November 21, 2024

Geno and CD.

That's it, that's the tweet.

— junglehusky, industry 🌱 (@junglehusky) November 21, 2024

Geno Auriemma takes up all four spots on the Mount Rushmore of basketball coaches. pic.twitter.com/QMtMlDCAwy

— James B. Terry (@terryjt1) November 21, 2024

https://twitter.com/QLovesMT/status/1859412210973286700

Geno really did it🐐

— Kristin Parisi (@kristinparisi11) November 21, 2024

Geno is the 🐐 #bleedblue

— 🏁KG🏁 (@nosoup4u_24) November 21, 2024

Once again, there is no reasonable argument you can make for anyone but Geno Auriemma as the greatest women's basketball coach of all-time.

— Russell Steinberg (@Russ_Steinberg) November 21, 2024

GENO WITH THE RECORDDDDDD

— reyyyy 💙 (@reyfaultline) November 21, 2024

https://twitter.com/BennisJr/status/1859412818786754704

There will never be another Geno Auriemma. 🐐🐐🐐 pic.twitter.com/gDv2KcyWtU

— K.BO XXV IS A CHAMPION 🗽🐺 (@KBO_XXV) November 21, 2024

geno auriemma. the absolute GOAT.

— brianna pirre (@bsp_13) November 21, 2024

Auriemma took over as UConn head coach in 1985 and quickly established himself as one of the best in the game. Nearly 40 years later, there's not much of an argument that he isn't the greatest coach to ever do it.

He has won 11 national championships, including four straight from 2013 to 2016, which was also the last time the Huskies won the tournament. He's also been to 23 Final Fours and has won 27 conference tournament titles and 28 conference regular-season titles. He has been named the Naismith Coach of the Year eight times, the Big East Coach of the Year 12 times and the AAC Coach of the Year six times.

On his way to 1,217 wins, he surpassed legends such as the late Pat Summitt from Tennessee, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and of course, VanDerveer, who retired after the 2024 season.

Considering all of the coaches even close to Auriemma are already retired and he can still keep adding to his win total, his record is going to stand for a long time.

However, the work is far from over for Auriemma as he's still got a long season ahead of him. UConn is off to a 4-0 start that includes a win over No. 16 North Carolina after last year's Final Four exit.

The Huskies have a handful of manageable games coming but have a tough December slate. They'll face four ranked teams next month including three top-10 teams in Notre Dame, Iowa State and USC.

Panini America reached a name, image and likeness deal with the biggest name in women's college basketball this season in UConn's Paige Bueckers, per Reuters.

The exclusive, multi-year agreement will feature autographed trading cards of Bueckers as well as a full team set for the 2024-25 UConn Huskies. It will also feature a product line of some of the pioneers of women's basketball who have influenced the star guard throughout her career.

Bueckers joins stars such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese who have signed partnerships with Panini.

"Growing up I used to collect cards of all my favorite players, to know that my teammates and I will have our own Panini trading cards and that fans are going to go collect it is really special," Bueckers said. "I can't wait to collaborate on projects that give collectors and fans more ways to celebrate our game."

Bueckers' loaded resume includes the 2020-21 Naismith Award, Wooden Award and Associated Press Player of the Year award. She is also a two-time All-American and two-time Big East Player of the Year who is once again under the spotlight in 2024-25.

Through three games this season, she is averaging 21.3 points, 4.0 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 3.0 steals while shooting 65 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range. The overall efficiency despite being the primary focus of opposing defenses every night stands out, and she is the primary reason the Huskies are on the short list of realistic national title contenders.

If she continues to live up to expectations and play at such a high level, she will be all but a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 WNBA draft.

That would give the Dallas Wings a foundational building block in the backcourt who is already a household name among basketball fans because of her collegiate career.

And now those fans will have the opportunity to collect some of her trading cards following this partnership.

UConn guard Paige Bueckers says she didn't watch the 2025 WNBA draft lottery on Sunday, according to ESPN's Alexa Philippou.

The Dallas Wings won the rights to the No. 1 pick in the draft, which is set to take place on April 14.

When asked about how she was dealing with the distractions surrounding the upcoming draft, Bueckers answered, "I think I've mostly dealt with it by focusing on having a great practice today."

(She had a cheeky smile saying this)

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) November 19, 2024

Bueckers has opened the 2024-25 season by averaging 21.3 points through three games for the Huskies.

She has one year of eligibility remaining at UConn after this season. Bueckers could enter the draft as the potential No. 1 pick, or return for a fifth college season.

ESPN's Michael Voepel reported following the draft that the Wings winning the top pick could potentially impact Bueckers' desire to go pro in 2025.

"Sources around the league have indicated that the Los Angeles Sparks, who got the No. 2 pick in the lottery, would have been Bueckers' preferred option," Voepel wrote.

The Sparks, who hold the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, were favored to win the No. 1 pick after finishing the 2024 campaign with an 8-32 record.

Both the Sparks, who fired head coach Curt Miller after two seasons and a 25-55 overall record, and the Wings, who parted ways with Latricia Trammell after Dallas missed the playoffs in 2024, are in periods of transition. Miller has now joined the Wings as general manager, but neither team currently has a head coach.

The Wings have more questions to answer after starting forward Natasha Howard, who played a key role during Dallas' run to the 2023 semifinals, indicated in a social media post that she planned to leave for another team this offseason. Satou Sabally, who was also a core part of the semifinal team, is also hitting free agency after playing out her last one-year contract.

Drafting Bueckers would jump-start the Wings' ability to rebuild without Howard, but it sounds like fans won't get an answer as to her draft decision until closer to the end of the 2024-25 college season. UConn, which entered the AP preseason poll at No. 2, is looking to end the campaign as national champions for the first time since winning four consecutive titles between 2013 and 2016.

Legendary UConn women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma made history on Friday night.

The Huskies defeated North Carolina by the final score of 69-58, marking Auriemma's 1,216th career victory. It tied him with former Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer for the NCAA Division I career record, via the Associated Press (h/t ESPN).

Geno Auriemma ties Tara VanDerveer for most wins (1,216) as a D-I head coach in college basketball history 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dTNqIMJ8s9

— ESPN (@espn) November 16, 2024

UConn improved to 3-0 with the win as the team begins to pursue its first NCAA Tournament championship under Auriemma since 2016.

The 70-year-old is starting his 40th season with the Huskies, owning a career record of 1,216-162 following Friday's victory.

Auriemma previously reached 1,200 career wins during the 2023-24 season, becoming the third coach to reach the milestone while also achieving it the fastest. Former Duke men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski is the only other member of the club that includes Auriemma and VanDerveer.

The Huskies coach should be able to build upon the record once he eventually achieves it, as Krzyzewski retired in 2022. VanDerveer also announced her retirement following the 2023-24 season.

Auriemma has led UConn to immense success since he took over as head coach in 1985, recording 11 championships and 23 appearances in the Final Four during his tenure with the school.

In terms of individual accolades, he has eight Naismith National Coach of the Year wins under his belt and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Auriemma's first opportunity to break the record will come on Wednesday when the Huskies host Fairleigh Dickinson. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. ET.