The UCONN Huskies, the second seeded, entered the NCAA female tournament this year with high expectations.
The 34 points of the Huskies goalkeeper Paige Bueckers led the team on Monday victory against the state of southern Dakota in the second round in Storrs. The 91-57 victory struck Uconn’s ticket for the Sweet 16, where the Huskies will meet Oklahoma n ° 3.
The game also marked the last time that Bueckers would take the court at the Gampel pavilion in UCONN uniform.
Bueckers addressed the Huskies’s faithful for a few moments after Monday’s match.
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Uconn Paige Bueckers (5 )’s guardian speaks to the crowd after defeating the southern Dakota jackrabbits at the Harry A. Gampel pavilion in Storrs, Conn., March 24, 2025. (Images David Butler II / Imagn)
“It means everything,” said Bueckers as she was held in Center short holding a microphone. “We started playing here with cardboard cutouts as fans, so just to have crossed this and then have experienced the other side, which was incredible. The atmosphere was incredible. You can’t even hear waiting times, I can’t even hear mistakes, can’t even hear when the whistle is simply blowing because of their rude and the quantity of support they show.
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“It was a dream of playing here, a dream of carrying this uniform, a dream of playing in this environment. As much as you wanted it to continue to happen, you simply take every chance you have and never take it for granted.”
Uconn’s Huskies goalkeeper Paige Bueckers is out of the ground after defeating the southern Dakota Jackrabbits at the Harry A. Gampel pavilion in Storrs, Conn., March 24, 2025. (Images David Butler II / Imagn)
The victory over the state of southern Dakota also obtained the 31st consecutive appearance of the Sweet 16 of the Huskies. While Uconn had a slow start until Monday match, Bueckers scored the last 10 points of the first quarter Huskies.
“It’s amazing to watch,” said Uconn Azzi Fudd custody. “You feel almost sorry for the other team when Paige is locked up.
Uconn Paige Bueckers’ Huskies Guard (5) made its last basket at the Harry A. Gampel pavilion against the state of southern Dakota in Storrs, Connecticut, March 24, 2025. (Images David Butler II / Imagn)
It’s not the easiest five years for Bueckers. She missed a season and was limited to 17 games in another. She has a last chance to win a national championship before going to the WNBA, probably as a global choice n ° 1 in the draft.
“When you are in high school, it seems so easy, you know? I’m going to Uconn and I win a national championship,” said UCONN longtime coach Geno Auriemma. “Reality strikes, and you realize that it is incredibly difficult to do it. So, I don’t want someone to feel less than full when they leave here if they don’t have a national championship.
“She put herself in this position that if she leaves here without winning one, she will feel less than full. I do not feel that and, as I said, she does things that no one has ever done before. She had to do a lot for us all the time that she was here, and she is true.”
There will be a time when Bueckers will think about the memories of his time playing in Connecticut. She was not ready to consider Monday’s victory as the last chapter in her career Uconn.
“I’m sure we will have more time to think about it when the season is over,” said Bueckers. “Right now, we are super focused on the present but obviously simply extremely grateful, and you cannot really say how much this place has mean for me. I am forever indebted, and it became my second house.”
