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Women's Basketball

Paige Bueckers Shows off UConn WCBB's 2025 NCAA Title Banner in IG Photo

Andrew Peters
Apr 7, 2025
University of South Carolina vs University of Connecticut, 2025 NCAA Women's National Championship

There's a new addition to UConn's women's basketball facilities.

Huskies star Paige Bueckers revealed the team's national championship banner on her Instagram on Monday following UConn's win over South Carolina in the title game.

"National champ is crazy," she wrote.

The banner hanging in UConn's facilities likely isn't the one that will go in the rafters at Gampel Pavilion. The team will presumably have a ceremony later on raising the new banner alongside the 11 other championship banners.

The win for UConn marks the Huskies' first national championship since they won four straight from 2013 to 2016. Since its last title, UConn had reached the Final Four six times and made the championship game once in 2022 but couldn't get over the hump of winning it all.

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Now, Geno Auriemma's Huskies have their 12th national championship, the most of any program by a wide margin. The closest team to UConn is Tennessee, which has eight titles but hasn't won since 2008.

The Huskies' journey to the title wasn't easy as they had to face three No. 1 seeds (USC, UCLA and South Carolina) to win it. Despite being the only No. 2 seed to make the Final Four, UConn was clearly the best team. The Huskies won their Final Four matchup against UCLA 85-51 before downing the defending champion Gamecocks 82-59.

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While UConn has had some impressive championship runs in the past, it's hard to argue that this year's wasn't the most impressive.

Bueckers is now off to the WNBA, where she'll almost certainly be the No. 1 pick, but she will likely be back in town when it's time to raise the official banner.

Paige Bueckers, UConn Beat South Carolina as Fans Celebrate 1st WCBB Title Since 2016

Adam Wells
Apr 6, 2025
UConn v UCLA

Connecticut's nine-year title drought is over after an 82-59 victory over South Carolina in the national championship game on Sunday.

The Huskies' main trio of Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong set the tone for the entire game. They outscored South Carolina 65-59 on their own.

Bueckers overcame a slow start to cap off her storied college career with a title. She put up 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in the win, surpassing Maya Moore's school record for the most career points in the tournament in the process.

Fudd capped off an incredible Final Four with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting. She did this two days after dropping 19 points in UConn's victory over UCLA.

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Strong gave Fudd a run for her money as the best player on the court. The freshman forward recorded her fourth double-double of the tournament with 24 points and 15 rebounds. She also had five assists, three blocks and two steals.

Two months after the Huskies handed South Carolina its worst loss of the Dawn Staley era (29 points), their swarming defense once again caused all sorts of problems.

The Gamecocks were held to their third-lowest point total of the season and shot 34.4 percent from the field.

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Fans showered Connecticut with praise for a dominant performance in the victory to cap off an impressive 37-3 season that ended with a 16-game winning streak.

It's hard to find anything that wasn't working for the Huskies in this game. They entered Sunday ranked first in the nation in offensive and defensive rating. That showed up for all 40 minutes against a South Carolina team that had won 12 straight games.

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Bueckers' spot in UConn history was already secure, but adding a title to her resume before going to the WNBA only solidifies her status as an all-time great with the likes of Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart and many legends.

Head coach Geno Auriemma now has 12 national titles on his resume. The nine-year gap between championships is the longest since winning his first one in the 1994-95 season.

Even though Bueckers is on the way out, the Huskies are probably going to be favored to win the national title again next season with Fudd and Strong returning.

There's never really a rebuilding phase for the Huskies because they reload every year. That's going to be the case again in 2025-26 with two of the best players in the nation already in place and 4-star point guard recruit Kelis Fisher entering the fold.

Geno Auriemma Says He's 'Humbled' by Paige Bueckers, UConn's Final Four Win vs. UCLA

Adam Wells
Apr 5, 2025
NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament - Final Four

Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma was extremely impressed by his team's 85-51 victory over UCLA in the Final Four on Friday night.

Speaking to reporters after the game, Auriemma said he was "humbled" watching the Huskies cruise to a win over a UCLA team that was the top overall seed in the tournament.

"It's amazing how it played out," Auriemma added. "When you go in there, you don't expect, 'Hey, we're going to win by 35 points tonight.' I mean, that's, oh my god. That is just so, so unrealistic."

The Bruins did a good job of containing Paige Bueckers in the game. She only finished with 16 points on 7-of-17 shooting after scoring more than 30 points in each of the previous three games.

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While Bueckers didn't turn in her best performance, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd stepped up their games. The duo combined for 41 points on 16-of-25 shooting (7-of-13 from three).

Strong and Fudd made more threes than UCLA's entire team (four). Lauren Betts tried her best for the Bruins, finishing with 26 points and accounting for 55 percent of their made field goals (11 of 20).

UConn has won each of its five tournament games by at least 14 points. The 34-point margin of defeat was the largest for UCLA since November 2018.

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Now, Bueckers will get the chance to cap off her storied career with a national championship. To do so, the Huskies will have to get by a South Carolina team looking to become the first repeat champion since Connecticut's run of four straight from 2012-13 to 2015-16.

These two teams met on Feb. 16 at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia. The Huskies dominated the Gamecocks 87-58 in what was tied for the fifth-worst loss by margin of defeat during Dawn Staley's tenure at South Carolina.

Bueckers recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists in that win. Fudd scored 28 points on 6-of-10 three-point shooting. The Gamecocks have won 12 straight games since that loss with an average margin of victory of 20.8 points.

The national title game between Connecticut and South Carolina will be played at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET

Paige Bueckers, UConn Dominate UCLA as Fans Hype NCAA Title Matchup vs. South Carolina

Paul Kasabian
Apr 4, 2025
UConn v UCLA

Azzi Fudd scored 19 first-half points to propel the UConn women's basketball team to a 42-22 halftime lead en route to a dominant 85-51 win over UCLA in the Final Four on Friday evening in Tampa Bay.

Sarah Strong added 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting (4-of-6 from three) and eight rebounds for UConn, while Paige Bueckers added 16 points and five rebounds for a Huskies team that made history:

This game was all UConn, which held UCLA to 38.5 percent shooting (4-of-16 from three). UCLA center Lauren Betts scored 26 points (11-of-18), but no other player had more than eight.

Fudd set UConn's tone early in this one, and the Huskies never looked back.

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The Huskies swarmed the Bruins on defense, forcing 19 turnovers. First-year center Jana El Alfy did a tremendous job down low, amassing four steals. Fudd and Bueckers had three steals apiece.

The defense led to offense, and UConn kept UCLA on its heels in transition. Bueckers was a magician at times, like on this touch pass to Kaitlyn Chen.

And then there was the first-year Strong, who met the moment in her first-ever Final Four appearance, consistently knocking down big shots to keep the Bruins at bay.

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UConn cruised down the stretch, to the point Bueckers even hit the bench with the team up 70-41 with just over five minutes remaining.

And now this sets up a potentially classic matchup with South Carolina, which took down Texas 74-57 earlier in the evening to clinch its championship spot.

This marks the second time that South Carolina and UConn will face off in the national championship. In 2022, the Gamecocks defeated the Huskies 64-49 behind 26 points from Destanni Henderson.

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Bueckers and Fudd, who started that game, are obviously out looking for payback. The Huskies could very well get it based on how they've been playing in this tournament and especially Friday.

UConn also has a massive win over South Carolina this year, having crushed the Gamecocks 87-58 on Feb. 16.

Chances are this game won't result in a 29-point blowout. Fans are ultimately hyped for the matchup, especially given how great both teams looked Friday.

Tipoff in Tampa will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Auriemma After Paige, UConn's Win: 'There's Disney World and Then There's UConn World'

Joseph Zucker
Apr 1, 2025

UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma believes the Huskies are in a class of their own after punching a ticket to the Final Four for the 24th time.

With Monday's 78-64 win over USC, the program has now reached the national semifinals in 16 of the past 17 NCAA tournaments.

"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."

UConn no longer maintains the same place within women's basketball it did during the height of its dynasty. The Huskies' last national title was in 2016. That drought feels like a lifetime when they collected 10 championships between 2000-16.

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But even with the sport becoming more balanced and new contenders ascending, UConn remains a constant. There's no reason to believe that will change in the immediate future.

Senior guard Paige Bueckers grabbed the headlines from Monday night, and understandably so. She finished with 31 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds.

Freshman forward Sarah Strong was just as good, pouring in 22 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. She's already looks like the next Huskies legend in the making. Strong is averaging 16.1 points, 8.8 boards, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

Bueckers is moving on after this season, having confirmed she's entering the 2025 WNBA draft. With Strong in the fold and senior guard Azzi Fudd sticking around for one more year, a 25th Final Four appearance will be the expectation in 2025-26.

Paige Bueckers' Historic Sweet 16 Performance Dazzles CBB Fans in UConn Win vs. OU

Paul Kasabian
Mar 29, 2025
Oklahoma v UConn

UConn guard Paige Bueckers outscored Oklahoma by herself (29-23) in the second half en route to leading the No. 2 seed Huskies women's basketball team to an 82-59 victory over the No. 3 seed Sooners in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.

Bueckers finished the game with a career-high 40 points, including 19 in the fourth quarter and 29 overall in the second half.

The Sooners led 36-32 at halftime after scoring 24 second-quarter points. However, it was all Bueckers from there.

The three-time first-team All-American scored 10 points in the third quarter, when the Huskies outscored the Sooners 27-10 to take a 59-46 lead.

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That set the stage for a magical and almost surreal fourth quarter, when Bueckers scored UConn's first 19 points over a 6:18 span. By the time her run was over, UConn led 78-51.

Bueckers shot 16-of-27, including 6-of-8 from three. She added six rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Elsewhere in the box score, UConn forward Sarah Strong posted an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double with five assists, while reserve guard Ashlynn Shade added 12 points and three steals off the bench. Oklahoma guard Payton Verhulst led the Sooners with 16 points.

But the story of this game was Bueckers.

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She was humble in a postgame interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, giving much credit to her teammates for the performance.

Still, she was simply tremendous, and her historic efforts were duly noted, including by a pair of ex-Huskies in Breanna Stewart and Aaliyah Edwards.

UConn will now play the winner of the Sweet Sixteen matchup between No. 1 seed USC and No. 5 seed Kansas State. The Huskies will await that victor in an Elite Eight matchup on Monday at 9 p.m. ET in Spokane, Washington, with the winner going to the Final Four.

Paige Bueckers Has Sprained Knee Injury; UConn Hopes Star Returns in 1 Week

Jan 7, 2025
UNCASVILLE, CT - DECEMBER 17: UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles the ball up court during the 2024 college Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase game between Iowa State Cyclones and UConn Huskies on December 17, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
UNCASVILLE, CT - DECEMBER 17: UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles the ball up court during the 2024 college Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase game between Iowa State Cyclones and UConn Huskies on December 17, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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.

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.

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.

UConn's Geno Auriemma: Paige Bueckers Will 'Be Fine' After Knee Injury vs. Villanova

Jan 5, 2025
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - DECEMBER 21: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies reacts during the second half of an NCAA women's basketball game against the USC Trojans at the XL Center on December 21, 2024 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT - DECEMBER 21: Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies reacts during the second half of an NCAA women's basketball game against the USC Trojans at the XL Center on December 21, 2024 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

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."

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.

UConn's Geno Auriemma Ties Stanford Legend Tara VanDerveer's WCBB AP Poll Record

Dec 30, 2024
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - DECEMBER 12: Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on December 12, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - DECEMBER 12: Head coach Geno Auriemma of the UConn Huskies reacts against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the second half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center on December 12, 2024 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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.

Man Pleads Guilty to Stalking UConn WCBB Star Paige Bueckers

Dec 18, 2024
UNCASVILLE, CT - DECEMBER 17: UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles the ball up court during the 2024 college Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase game between Iowa State Cyclones and UConn Huskies on December 17, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
UNCASVILLE, CT - DECEMBER 17: UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) dribbles the ball up court during the 2024 college Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase game between Iowa State Cyclones and UConn Huskies on December 17, 2024, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT. (Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

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.

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