Redshirt senior point guard Paige Bueckers stole the show in UConn’s final exhibition game on Sunday as the Huskies gear up for the start of the 2024-2025 Women’s College Basketball season.
Despite facing an unheralded opponent in Fort Hays State, UConn found themselves up only 15-11 after the first quarter. The 23-year-old Bueckers poured in 27 points on 12-14 shooting along with nine rebounds in 27 minutes to help her team pull away 89-49.
Longtime head coach Geno Auriemma – an 11-time National Champion with the program – showed confidence in his team going forward despite the initial wobble.
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“No, I don’t have any concerns,” he said. “I think that the reason you play exhibition games is to get out in public for the first time, so you expect your veterans to play like veterans and you expect your young players to be a little bit nervous in the beginning.
“All of our veterans played great, I thought Paige was fantastic. All the other veterans, they were lousy! They were on the bench, so I’m not concerned” – Auriemma cheekily said with a final.
Bueckers was one of the best players in the country last season. She earned her second unanimous All-American nod after averaging 21.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She took home the AP Player of the Year, Naismith Player of the Year, and the Wooden. Award for her historic freshman 2020-2021 campaign.
Azzi Fudd (L) and Paige Bueckers (R) have barely played together in recent seasons due to injuries (
Getty Images)
Bueckerrs will be asked to shoulder a heavy load at the beginning of the new season with injuries ruling out upperclassmen Azzi Fudd, Aubrey Griffin, and Caroline Ducharme. Fudd missed most of last season after tearing her ACL – the same injury that ruled Bueckers out for the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign.
The talented guards were both named to the 2024-25 Woode Award watch list but have barely featured over the last few seasons together on the Huskies. Auriegmma is optimistic the pair will blossom when they share the court once again.
“I’ve almost forgotten what that could look like, or should look like, or have an imagination of, ‘Wow, I’ve seen them at their best together,’ and I’m anxious to see that again,” the 11-time National Champion coach said.
“It’s really an unknown at this point. I can only go by some of the things that I’ve seen I practice,” he continues. “I do know that having a much more aggressive Azzi would really help that combination work. It’s one of the great expectations that exist in our program right now.
“Watching Azzi in practice, she is more than just, ‘Stand there, wait for the ball and be the best shooter in the country’ like everybody thinks she is. I’m anxious to see what that looks like.”
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