Women's BIGEAST Basketball

UConn women's basketball star Paige Bueckers is "very close" to being fully cleared from a torn ACL that sidelined her for the entire 2022-23 season, according to ESPN's Alexa Philippou.

"I'm feeling really good," Bueckers told reporters Wednesday. "I'm just past the 10-month mark [following the injury and surgery]. So I'm definitely starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and the finishing mark. But there's a long way to go. ACL recoveries take a long time."

Bueckers tore the ACL in her left knee during a pickup basketball game in August 2022.

It is the second significant knee injury the rising star has suffered during her collegiate career after also suffering a lateral meniscus tear and tibial plateau fracture in her left knee during her sophomore season in 2021-22.

The 21-year-old is slowly working her way back to the court this summer as she participates in individual and team workouts. However, she has yet to be cleared for 5-on-5 action and it's unclear when that final benchmark may be reached.

"I'm in no rush," Bueckers said. "Our whole team and staff is in no rush. We have a lot of time."

With Bueckers sidelined during the 2022-23 campaign, the Huskies finished with a 31-6 record and were eliminated from the NCAA tournament in the Sweet Sixteen.

It was the team's earliest exit from the tournament since a Sweet Sixteen exit in 2004-05. The Huskies had reached the Elite Eight—at the very least—in every season from 2005-06 to 2021-22. That run included six NCAA titles.

Bueckers made a name for herself as a freshman in 2020-21. In 29 games, she averaged 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 2.3 steals while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from deep.

She went on to be named the 2020-21 Big East Player of the Year, was the Naismith Award winner and was also named to the All-Big East Team.

Bueckers appeared in just 17 games during the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury, and her numbers dipped across the board as she averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals.

However, she helped guide UConn to the 2022 national title game, where the Huskies fell to Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks.

Having Bueckers fully healthy for the 2023-24 season will be a huge boost for Geno Auriemma's squad. Bueckers will return to a lineup that also includes Azzi Fudd, Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Mühl.

The main goal for the Huskies is to win the 2024 national title, but Bueckers has set an individual goal of returning to the Naismith Award-caliber player she was before being hampered by knee issues.

"I want to be the type of player that I was before, pre-injury, but better," Bueckers said. "I have those expectations for myself, so that's where I want to be."

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma is among the 15 potential candidates for the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award.

Other candidates cited by the Atlanta Tipoff Club include South Carolina's Dawn Staley, LSU's Kim Mulkey, Indiana's Teri Moren and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.

Here's the full list of candidates on the late-season watchlist:

• Geno Auriemma, Connecticut
• Dawn Staley, South Carolina
• Kim Mulkey, LSU
• Teri Moren, Indiana
• Tara VanDerveer, Stanford
• Lisa Bluder, Iowa
  
• Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech
• Denise Dillon, Villanova
• Lisa Fortier, Gonzaga
• Shauna Green, Illinois
• Niele Ivey, Notre Dame
• Kara Lawson, Duke
• Kevin McGuff, Ohio State
• JR Payne, Colorado
• Lynne Roberts, Utah

An eight-time winner of the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award, Auriemma recently had to navigate a situation the Huskies haven't been in for 30 years. They lost back-to-back games against South Carolina on Feb. 5 and Providence on Feb. 8.

It was the first time UConn lost consecutive games since March 1993. The Huskies did avoid a third straight loss with a 67-59 victory over Georgetown on Saturday. They are still ranked No. 6 in the nation with a 22-4 overall record and high-profile wins over Texas and Iowa.

Staley has dominated this award recently with two wins in the past three years, including for the 2021-22 season. She led the Gamecocks to the national championship and a school-record 35 victories last year.

Things are lining up for Staley to be the favorite again this year. South Carolina is the nation's lone remaining unbeaten team (25-0) and coming off a dominant 88-64 victory over previously unbeaten LSU on Sunday.

Mulkey's only previous Naismith Women's Coach of the Year award was during the 2011-12 season at Baylor. She sparked an immediate turnaround at LSU with a 26-6 record in her first season at the school in 2021-22.

This season has seen the Tigers take another significant step forward. They were 23-0 before falling at South Carolina.

VanDerveer is the only coach besides Staley who has won the award in the past three seasons. The Stanford leader took home the honor after guiding her team to a 31-2 record and a national title during the 2020-21 season.

The Cardinal are currently ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll with a 24-3 record. Their final four regular-season games are against teams ranked in the top 25, including a marquee showdown against fellow Naismith watchlister Lynne Roberts and No. 4 Utah at Huntsman Center on Feb. 25.

Indiana's Teri Moren has slowly built the program into a national powerhouse. This is the eighth consecutive year it has won at least 20 games in the regular season. The Hoosiers' 24 wins this season are tied for the most in school history with the 2019-20 squad.

The last person other than Staley or VanDerveer to be honored as the Naismith Women's Coach of the Year was Iowa's Lisa Bluder in 2018-19. She is in the mix to win it a second time with the Hawkeyes owning a 20-5 record and the No. 7 spot in the AP Top 25.

A list of 10 semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award will be announced on March 8. The winner will be revealed on March 29 ahead of the Women's Final Four at American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.

Geno Auriemma will return to his post for the University of Connecticut women's basketball team on Wednesday.

The team announced Auriemma will coach Wednesday against St. John's after missing four of the past five games with an illness.

It's good to have you back, Coach 💙

Geno Auriemma has rejoined the team and will be on the sidelines tonight when the Huskies face St. John’s! pic.twitter.com/A0cu0PCbEE

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) January 11, 2023

Auriemma missed UConn's 85-77 win over Florida State on Dec. 18 after experiencing flu-like symptoms during pregame shootaround. He remained away from the team for their matchup against Seton Hall three days later.

"There's been a lot going on in the last couple weeks, and I think it caught up to me physically," he said in a statement before the Seton Hall game. "I've been feeling under the weather for about 10 days now, and my doctor recommended I take a few days off to fully recover. CD [longtime associate head coach Chris Dailey] and the coaching staff will continue to do a phenomenal job in my absence, and I look forward to returning to the team in a few days."

After returning to the Huskies bench for a Dec. 28 game against Creighton, the team announced Auriemma was still feeling unwell and Chris Dailey would serve as head coach for a Jan. 3 matchup with Butler.

Auriemma also sat out Connecticut's Jan. 5 win over Xavier.

"It's been an extremely difficult month for me, and I've been feeling under the weather and run down," Auriemma said about missing the Xavier game. "I thought I was ready to return, but I need a little more time. I'm going to take a step back to focus on my health and will return when I feel ready."

The Huskies had to postpone their Jan. 8 game against DePaul because they only had six active players as a result of injuries on their roster. Aaliyah Edwards injured her ankle and Ayanna Patterson suffered an undisclosed injury against Xavier.

UConn (13-2) is currently ranked No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25. It's put together six straight wins since an 85-78 loss to Maryland on Dec. 11.

Despite being the most consistently dominant women's basketball team in the country every year, the Connecticut Huskies are mired in a six-year championship drought dating back to the 2015-16 season.

Head coach Geno Auriemma is confident his squad is going to end its currently dry spell soon.

"We're going to win another one," Auriemma told reporters on Friday. "It's just a matter of when. I don't know when that is, but we're going win another one. Sooner rather than later would be good for me."

UConn's quest to win a title during the 2022-23 season will be more difficult than initially expected due to the absence of Paige Bueckers.

The superstar point guard tore her ACL in a pickup game on Aug. 1 and will miss the entire season. She led the team in scoring average (14.6 points per game), assists (3.9) and tied for first in steals (1.5) last season.

Auriemma and his staff did a fantastic job in recruiting to replenish the talent pool. The Huskies landed two of the top five prospects in espnW's 2022 class. They will also have Nika Mühl, Aaliyah Edwards and Azzi Fudd back.

Despite their title drought, it's not like times have been tough in Storrs, Connecticut recently. The Huskies were in the national title game last season, losing to top-ranked South Carolina.

Connecticut has reached the Final Four in each of the past five seasons the NCAA tournament was held. This comes after the program won four consecutive national titles from 2012-16.

The Gamecocks will likely enter this season as favorites to repeat as champions. Aliyah Boston, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, is back for her senior season.

UConn will never be thought of as an underdog because of the standard that has been set. Auriemma has led the Huskies to 11 national championships in his career. They still boast one of the best rosters in the country.

Connecticut will open the 2022-23 season on Nov. 10 against Northeastern. It also has games against Texas, North Carolina State and Duke in the first two weeks of the regular season.

The WNBA will have to wait a little longer for the arrival of Paige Bueckers.

The UConn women's basketball star told reporters Thursday that she will return to the Huskies for the 2023-24 season and will not declare for the WNBA draft. She will be sidelined the entire 2022-23 campaign after tearing her ACL this summer.

"I’m not leaving … I will be playing college basketball again," Bueckers said.

UConn announced Aug. 3 that Bueckers tore the ACL in her left knee in a pickup basketball game. She underwent successful surgery to repair the ailment Aug. 9 and has already begun rehab.

https://twitter.com/charlottecrrll/status/1554920893708640258

It's no surprise that Bueckers intends to return to the Huskies for another season. She told Bleacher Report in a June interview that her goal for the 2022-23 campaign was to win a national championship.

"National championship, that's it," Bueckers said when asked what would make a successful 2022-23 season. "I don't think you're going to get a different answer out of me. Getting to the Final Four my freshman year and the national championship last year, the only thing left to do is win it. So that's the goal."

Winning a national title would be the icing on the cake for Bueckers, and she'll have another opportunity to do that in 2023-24. After that, she'll have her sights set on the WNBA and winning a title with whichever team drafts her.

Bueckers emerged as a college hoops star in 2020-21 as a freshman out of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She averaged 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals in 29 games while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from deep.

The Huskies reached the Final Four when Bueckers was a freshman, and she went on to win the 2021 Wooden Award, 2021 Naismith Trophy and 2021 AP Player of the Year.

The 20-year-old was limited to just 17 games during the 2021-22 season due to a knee injury, which required surgery. She returned for the final two games of the regular season before helping the Huskies reach the NCAA tournament championship game, where they were defeated by South Carolina.

Bueckers averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc as a sophomore.

The Huskies will look to reach the national title game again this year, but it will be much more difficult to do without Bueckers.

The 2023 WNBA draft will feature the likes of Aliyah Boston—who was named Naismith College Player of the Year, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player last season—in addition to Haley Jones, Tamari Key, Ashley Owusu and Ayoka Lee.

UConn women's basketball star Paige Bueckers will miss the entire 2022-23 season after tearing the ACL in her left knee during a pickup basketball game on Monday, the team announced.

Bueckers will undergo surgery on Friday at UConn Health and an update on her recovery timetable will be announced after the procedure.

https://twitter.com/charlottecrrll/status/1554920893708640258

Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement:

"We're all devastated for Paige. She's worked really hard to get stronger and healthier this offseason, and this is an unfortunate setback. Paige is obviously an amazing basketball player but she's a better person and teammate and it's really unfortunate that this has happened to her. We'll miss her presence on the court, but she'll do everything she can to still lead and help her teammates this season. Our program will support Paige through her healing process to help her come back better and stronger."

It's a tough blow for Bueckers, who recently told Bleacher Report in an interview that she was gunning for a national championship in 2022-23.

"National championship, that's it," Bueckers said when asked what would make a successful 2022-23 season. "I don't think you're going to get a different answer out of me. Getting to the Final Four my freshman year and the national championship last year, the only thing left to do is win it. So that's the goal."

Bueckers burst onto the college basketball scene during the 2020-21 season as a freshman out of Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She averaged 20.0 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 2.3 steals in 29 games while shooting 52.4 percent from the floor and 46.4 percent from deep.

She helped lead UConn to a berth in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament, but the Huskies fell just short of reaching the championship game with a loss to Arizona.

Bueckers went on to earn a number of honors following her freshman season, including the 2021 Wooden Award, 2021 Naismith Trophy and 2021 AP Player of the Year.

The 20-year-old also had a solid sophomore season in 2021-22, though she was limited to just 17 games due to a knee injury suffered in a December game against Notre Dame before undergoing surgery.

Bueckers returned for the final two games of the regular season before playing all of the Big East tournament and NCAA tournament. She helped lead the Huskies to the championship game, where they were defeated by South Carolina.

Bueckers averaged 14.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 54.4 percent from the floor and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc as a sophomore.

The Minnesota native was expected to have an even more impressive 2022-23 campaign, but now her junior season will be put on hold.

The Huskies will have to turn to veterans Aaliyah Edwards, Azzi Fudd, Nika Muhl and Caroline Ducharme this coming season, and now more pressure will be put on incoming freshmen Ayanna Patterson and Isuneh Brady, the No. 4 and No. 5 prospects in ESPN's 2022 class.

Paige Bueckers is in championship-or-bust mode.

"National championship, that's it," the UConn Huskies star told Bleacher Report when asked what would make a successful 2022-23 season. "I don't think you're going to get a different answer out of me. Getting to the Final Four my freshman year and the national championship last year, the only thing left to do is win it. So that's the goal."

That would be the natural progression for the third-year guard after she became the first woman to win the Wooden Award as the nation's best player as a freshman and then reached the national title game as a sophomore, only to lose to South Carolina.

She also took home the Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year, Big East Player of the Year and Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player during an outstanding freshman campaign that saw her average 20.0 points, 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 52.4 percent from the field and 46.4 percent from distance.

While Bueckers' second season was overshadowed by a knee injury she suffered during a December win over Notre Dame, she still returned in time for the NCAA tournament and scored in double figures in five of the Huskies' six games, including when she dropped 27 to defeat North Carolina State in the Elite Eight and clinch a second straight Final Four trip.

"Last year, we found out and learned what it takes to get there," she said. "I think now we know once we get there what to do with it. I think it will be a lot better just having that experience in getting there and making sure we get there again this season and have a different result. I'm hoping for a much healthier season this year just so we can have some continuity and consistency throughout the lineup."

That lack of continuity was a major storyline for UConn.

Bueckers missed 19 games with her knee injury that required surgery, played just 13 minutes in each of the final two regular-season games after she returned, and then averaged 15 minutes per game in the Big East tournament before resuming more of a normal workload in the Big Dance.

Fellow guard Azzi Fudd also didn't play from Nov. 22 until Jan. 26.

"I'm feeling healthy," Bueckers said. "Last summer, I had the ankle injury, and then the knee injury during the season, so I'm excited to be healthy."

A healthy Bueckers and Fudd combination will be key if UConn is going to live up to the guard's goal and win the program's 12th national championship.

So will the talented new faces within the program.

While the Huskies lost Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa and Evina Westbrook from last season's team, they landed Ayanna Patterson and Isuneh Brady in the 2022 recruiting class. Patterson is the No. 4 prospect in ESPN's rankings, while Brady is No. 5.

"The freshmen are really good," Bueckers said. "They're aggressive, they play hard, they play with energy. I'm excited to start playing with them more and starting to build chemistry with them."

UConn also brought in an impact transfer in Fairfield's Lou Lopez Senechal, who was the MAAC Player of the Year in 2021-22 and a three-time MAAC first-team selection.

"Lou's great. You can tell she's experienced and has been there before and done this," Bueckers said. "She fits right in really well. She's a great scorer and a great playmaker."

When she isn't building chemistry with her new teammates on the court, Bueckers is helping promote equity off it.

She partnered with Gatorade as part of its Fuel Tomorrow campaign that strives to improve access to sports while providing resources to fight inequity.

.@paigebueckers1 has one goal in mind: To be the best. Whether it’s being the best player on the court or the best role model she can be, Paige has the mindset to #FuelTomorrow by being a positive influence for her generation and the next to come. pic.twitter.com/CqXnkHT3Az

— Gatorade (@Gatorade) April 1, 2022

The UConn star also signed a multiyear deal with Gatorade in November 2021, becoming the company's first signed college player. She was previously named the Gatorade Player of the Year in high school.

"It's all still crazy to me, just the whole NIL experience," Bueckers said. "I've actually had an opportunity to build a relationship with Gatorade through high school and the player of the year program. Obviously working with them before has been amazing, but to actually team up with them and be a part of their organization and have a deal with them is surreal to me. I'm very fortunate and blessed and grateful to be a part of it and work with them."

As part of their partnership, Gatorade designed a bottle that is tailored to her game and personality. It features a bright color palette that represents the joy she brings to the court, a fist pump to illustrate how important equal opportunity is to her, a nod to her game-day braids, a reminder to pursue one's dreams and a personal phrase with a connection to her father.

"It's extremely important because it talks about my whole journey through basketball," Bueckers said of the bottle. "They did an extremely great job designing it, and we had great communication throughout the whole process. There's a lot of things unique to me and unique to my journey. There are a lot of details like the 'Be you, be great.' That's a huge thing for me. That's what my dad always texts me before games, and it's something that I live by. The bright pink and purple and blue colors just pop, and I love colorful. It's sort of a vibe for me. The 'IF' is on the court, which signifies kids dreaming about their 'what ifs' and their big goals. For me, it was 'what if I make the USA Team' or 'what if I play at my dream school at UConn' or 'what if I make the WNBA?' Those are huge goals for me. People who look at me as a role model, just for them to know they can achieve their dreams as well. There's a lot of unique designs; there's a blue and pink overlapping, which sort of signifies my game-day braids. And the fist signifies to me everybody getting an equal and fair chance, hopefully, to have these opportunities and be what they want to be and dream who they want to be and where they want to be."

The personalized bottle only adds to Bueckers' star power, and she has a UConn legend to lean on to help her navigate the opportunities and challenges that come with it.

She was one of the Huskies who visited with Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart when the Seattle Storm were in Connecticut to face the Sun on June 17. Bird, who is one of the greatest players in basketball history and a UConn legend, announced the 2022 season will be the last of her iconic career.

Huskies for life 💙@UConnWBB x #TakeCover pic.twitter.com/ZSCaTiTqWI

— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) June 18, 2022

family

💙 pic.twitter.com/qEgzmbZQJz

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) June 18, 2022

"I see an endless ceiling... She definitely has that clutch gene."

Sue Bird on Paige Bueckers

Watch her live interview with @TaylorRooks now in the B/R app https://t.co/ZRQtC6wtfJ pic.twitter.com/n340LAjZCw

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 29, 2022

Bird's 13th All-Star selection this season marked the most in WNBA history, and her resume includes four WNBA titles, five Olympic gold medals, two collegiate championships and a Naismith Player of the Year before she was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2002 WNBA draft.

The Storm guard is one of the reasons UConn is the gold standard of the sport, and she remains a resource for the current team.

"She's one of the greatest to ever play the game," Bueckers said. "Having her come through UConn, it's been amazing to build that relationship with her. She's so humble. She's so kind. She doesn't act any different because of who she is. She's still nice to us and super communicative with us. Last year after we lost was disappointing, but she actually talked to us after the loss and was super helpful in telling us that 'it's all part of the plan, it's all part of the process. And you'll look back in 10 years and think of how much you've learned from it.' She tried to help us stay positive in a moment where you can look at all the negatives. She's been super helpful with me just being able to have someone to talk to who has been there and done that and seen all the things that I have yet to see."

If everything goes according to plan, one of those things will be winning a national championship this season.

The UConn Huskies fell short in the NCAA national title game on Sunday at Target Center in Minneapolis, falling 64-49 to the South Carolina Gamecocks, and Paige Bueckers told reporters after the loss that her team is not only disappointed but also frustrated by the outcome.

"At UConn, it's national championship or nothing," Bueckers said. "Obviously upset, frustrated, disappointed. Just wish things could've gone different for our seniors."

UConn was outplayed by South Carolina from the beginning. The Gamecocks outscored the Huskies 22-8 in the first quarter and outrebounded them 12-3, including 7-0 offensively.

UConn cut into South Carolina's lead with a 19-point second quarter, but the Huskies were a step behind all night.

Bueckers, the heart and soul of the Huskies, finished with 14 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal and one block in the loss and was the best player on the court for Geno Auriemma's squad.

While Bueckers took a step backward in terms of output, the sophomore guard still had an impressive second season with the Huskies, averaging 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 55.0 percent from the floor and 35.4 percent from deep.

She noted the Huskies will use Sunday's loss as motivation to win the title next year.

"Obviously, every loss is hard to swallow and hard to watch again and go through again," Bueckers said. "You just want to make sure and do everything that you can in the offseason to prevent that from happening again."

The Huskies haven't won the national title since 2016, which marked Auriemma's 11th championship as head coach. If UConn can make it back to the championship game in 2023, Auriemma will hope to improve his title game record to 12-1. 

UConn star Paige Bueckers has signed a name, image and likeness contract with student services company Chegg ahead of the Final Four of the 2022 women's NCAA tournament.

Chegg announced Bueckers is its "first student-athlete brand ambassador" and noted the deal will focus on issues related to student hunger.

The Minnesota native is returning to her home state with the Huskies to play in the Final Four, and the partnership with Chegg will begin by teaming with hunger relief company Goodr to launch a pop-up grocery market Saturday in Minneapolis.

Bueckers and the companies hope to provide 6,000 meals as part of the event, and the long-term goal is to open permanent grocery stores at schools and college campuses around the country.

The 2021 Naismith College Player of the Year told ESPN's Alexa Philippou she's happy to be able to start the partnership near her hometown of Edina, a Minneapolis suburb.

"It means a lot," the 20-year-old said. "To be in a position to give back to a community that gave me so much, especially not knowing for so long if I could be here on the court with my team, it's really fulfilling. But it's also only just the start."

She added it's an opportunity to use her position as one of basketball's rising stars to help others.

"I am really lucky to have grown up with food on the table," Bueckers told ESPN. "Today I want to make sure I am sharing the opportunities I get and the resources I have with others who might need a hand. I have a lot of privilege and my responsibility to share."

The playmaking point guard missed nearly three months of her sophomore season with UConn because of a knee injury before rejoining the lineup in late February.

She's coming off her best performance since the return, tallying 27 points and six rebounds in a double-overtime victory over NC State in the Elite Eight.

Bueckers and the Huskies are set to face off against Stanford on Friday night, and the winner advances to face either Louisville or South Carolina in the national championship game Sunday.

BRIDGEPORT — A player was on the ground and in tears. She struggled to get up, sobbing in pain. Otherwise, the arena was silent. Her UConn teammates saw a sister down with a devastating injury. 

Again.

It was hard to discern the emotion inside Paige Bueckers when Dorka Juhasz went down with what appeared to be a compound wrist fracture, an injury Juhasz suffered on a drive to the basket following an offensive rebound early in the second quarter in the Elite Eight against NC State on Monday night. She was fouled on the play and fell directly on her left wrist. Teammates Nika Muhl and Evina Westbrook tried to hold in their tears. Olivia Nelson-Ododa's face showed fear, her eyes wide, her stare deep.

For Bueckers, something clicked into gear. After scoring just four points in the first half, she exploded for 23 in the second half in UConn's 91-87 double-overtime epic versus top-seeded NC State. Bueckers finished with 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting in a game that had head coach Geno Auriemma acknowledging her new place among some UConn legends.

Losing a player in dramatic fashion was par for the course for UConn during the 2021-22 season. The Huskies lost Bueckers for almost three months after she hyperextended her knee on Dec. 5 in a win against Notre Dame.

Now, this was happening again, and there was only one thing Bueckers and her teammates could do. After going through the motions the rest of the second quarter, the Huskies left the floor with a 34-28 lead. Bueckers had only scored four points on 2-of-6 shooting.

According to senior Christyn Williams, Auriemma explained the shift in mindset had to be to win the game for the fallen Juhasz. It was what the entire team and especially Bueckers thought about for the second half and the two overtime periods that followed.

What ensued following the emotional second quarter was a performance from Bueckers that hadn't been on display since before she suffered a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear. She was aggressive, scoring 23 points following the second quarter on 8-of-9 shooting. She made eight shots in a row from the third quarter through the second overtime period in a game that was a tit-for-tat classic.

Her performance was arguably the most important of her career, proving more meaningful than any of her Instagram-able highlights from her high school career and her Naismith College Player of the Year freshman season.

How did Bueckers get from point A, moving gingerly against Indiana in Saturday's Sweet 16 matchup, to point B, scoring 27 points and sending her team back to its 14th straight Final Four?

"During the game, especially during crunch time, in close games like that I just try to stay composed, try to keep being that leader for my team and just play with poise and play with calmness," Bueckers said. "It's easy to get flustered and sort of let your mind take over, and like I said, just get flustered when they're in close games like that. There's a lot going on. And then just finding a way to win. That's the main goal of basketball, and I want to win every game I play in."

But staying composed and patient with herself throughout the rehab process was a challenge for the sophomore. She struggled with the sadness that comes with being isolated and not being able to play. She noted on Sunday's pregame presser that it was her teammates and especially her closest friend on the team, Azzi Fudd, who helped her stay grounded and positive.

During the few months and 19 total games that she missed, Bueckers developed a patience that could temper her stubbornness. She wanted to play so badly but understood that taking her rehabilitation one day at a time would allow her the best shot at returning to who she was before her surgery.

Senior Evina Westbrook reminisced back to the time before Bueckers' injury, acknowledging what her team looked like and how an overreliance on Bueckers was a systemic issue.

"We don't need that one person to play for us," she told B/R. "I think that's what it kind of was and kind of looked like at the beginning of the season. We're just so used to like, 'Well, we know she's going to make it, so you know just let her do it.'"

While Bueckers recovered, her teammates took it upon themselves to improve, gain their own confidence and function without their star scorer.

How did the Huskies adjust? What did that look like?

For senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa, losing Bueckers and other players to injury led to inner reflection. She asked herself questions: What do I need to contribute? What will help this team win? 

"I think we all had a moment where we had to really think about that for ourselves," she said. "And I think that's when we started just coming together and realizing, 'OK, look, if I bring this and that and somebody else brings this, and we just kind of figure out a way to make it flow and work, we can be successful.'"

But was all of that null and void after Bueckers' heroics Monday night? Not necessarily.

What made Bueckers so effective was how she was able to read the NC State defense and pick the spots where she knew she had the most open or makeable shot. For her to get those looks, the other four players alongside her had to set the right screens and move off the ball rather than just stand around and watch. Bueckers had the space to create because of the work that Nelson-Ododa and Aaliyah Edwards did as screeners and the commitment Fudd had to cutting along the baseline to free an open lane.

When Bueckers was gone, UConn had to raise its level of play. But when she returned at the end of February, it was clear that her presence raised the team's play even more.

"Thank God Paige came back; she gives everyone so much confidence, and everyone just kind of played and everyone took turns making plays," Auriemma told ESPN's Holly Rowe after the game.

The confidence that Bueckers brings to her teammates regardless of if she's 100 percent healthy was reminiscent of a similar vintage performance the women's basketball world saw this past fall. Diana Taurasi's Phoenix Mercury defeated the Las Vegas Aces in dramatic fashion in Game 5 of the WNBA Semifinals, a game in which Taurasi scored 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a fourth quarter when she went 4-of-5. When asked if Bueckers' Elite Eight performance parallels at all to Taurasi, Auriemma was hesitant to compare players. 

He remarked that he hasn't seen anyone else play with the type of "resolve" and "toughness" amid the number of injuries that Taurasi has endured. As of now, Bueckers doesn't have the history of battling through injury time and again like the former UConn legend.

But he did acknowledge the shared qualities between Taurasi and Bueckers.

They both are gym rats, adore competing, aspire to compete at everything and believe they are the best at what they do. "I've seen D do what Paige did tonight," he said. "I saw it at home. We were playing TCU, and we were down at halftime. D had 31 in the game and just took over the entire second half and made sure we won."

On Monday night, Bueckers made sure the Huskies won.

When the final buzzer sounded following the second overtime period, the injured Juhasz, who had appeared in a sling and had her left wrist wrapped in gauze, walked over to center court to meet her teammates that had been on the floor.

It happened in an instant: The entire team surrounded her and enveloped her in a hug. And following the center-court meetup came Bueckers. She was ready to let her emotions rain.

"We got this, we got this for you," Bueckers shouted while embracing Juhasz with tears in her eyes.