The second quarter had become a disaster for the No. 2 UConn Women’s Basketball team in their 31st straight Sweet 16.
The Huskies’ offense slowed down tremendously from the first quarter, and their defense made the No. 3-seed Oklahoma Sooners look unstoppable. For comparison, UConn was 5-20 from the floor in the period; Oklahoma made 10 of their 16 shots. Those divergent performances put the Sooners up 36-32 at halftime and the Huskies on upset alert in Spokane.
Above all else, though, head coach Geno Auriemma benched—yes, benched—his star guard. Redshirt senior Paige Bueckers sat on the sidelines following the second quarter media timeout and did not return for two minutes. The benching occurred because of the defense Bueckers played, one that allowed Oklahoma to run their dynamic offense.
It sparked the former National Player of the Year to a downright sensational performance in the second half.
The takeover started immediately following the intermission, with Bueckers scoring 10 of Connecticut’s first 16 second-half points. 19 straight points in the final frame, all in less than 6.5 minutes, soon followed. Once she exited, the program’s fifth all-time leading scorer had set a new career high in scoring.
Bueckers picked up 40 points, 29 in the second half, as the Huskies sunk the Sooners 82-59 to reach their 29th Elite Eight.
“That was as good a game as I have seen her play the whole time she has been here at the most important time,” Auriemma commented about the 6-foot-0 guard, who shot 16-27 from the field, postgame. “When you are a senior and you have been around as long as she has, this is what you are here to do; this is why you came here.”
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The soon-to-be three-time WBCA Coaches’ All-American had an encore for the ages five days removed from her Gampel Pavilion finale. Beyond her remarkable offense, Bueckers also grabbed six rebounds, rejected two shots and recorded three steals.
“We are never really surprised when she gets on heaters like that. I think every shot Paige shoots is going in,” Shade expressed about the Naismith Trophy finalist. “She really just brings the energy and really motivates us to want to get the ball back, get a stop on defense, make big plays.”
Yet Saturday afternoon was not solely the Bueckers show.
“Everybody sees the points, but nobody sees the screens set, the passes that were found to me,” the three-time Final Four All-Tournament Team selection noted. “It is an individual point total, but it is really a team effort.”
The three-time AP All-American received phenomenal support from both her big three and the underclassmen. Sarah Strong did not score in the first quarter but still secured a fifth postseason double-double with 11 points and 11 boards. Azzi Fudd also had 10 points on 4-13 shooting with five dimes while forcing two steals. KK Arnold’s defense disrupted Connecticut’s opponent again, but Ashlynn Shade delivered on offense. Shade complemented her four rebounds and three steals with 12 points on 5-8 shooting.
Bueckers praised all of them postgame. College basketball’s winningest coach did so as well when describing each of their specific roles on the team.
“Everybody that played contributed something,” Auriemma summarized on the fleet behind Bueckers. “That is probably the biggest difference from this year to last year. We have more people that can help. Tonight they did.”
Oklahoma hung 96 points on the reigning national runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes at home in the second round. The Huskies’ lockdown defense held the Sooners under 60 while forcing 23 turnovers and outrebounding them by two.
61% of their offense came from three starters. Senior guard Payton Verhulst led the offense with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second quarter at a 5-7 clip. Raegan Beers, who picked Oklahoma over UConn, and Sahara Williams each had 10 points and combined for 15 rebounds. Liz Scott had nine points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Sooners started on an 8-0 run while the Huskies missed their first four shots. Connecticut responded with a 10-0 run behind Bueckers and Fudd’s offense and Arnold’s defense. Along with the Minnesota native, the Wisconsin native helped force six of Oklahoma’s eight giveaways in the opening period.
But the second quarter went much differently than the first quarter for the Sooners. Oklahoma started 7-10 from the field in the frame behind Verhulst’s scorching three-point stroke. That hot start, mixed with a 10-0 run, put the Sooners ahead 29-25 over the Huskies at the second quarter’s media timeout. UConn got some answers on offense from Strong, Shade and Arnold, yet still trailed 36-32 at the intermission.
The stingy Oklahoma defense held Bueckers scoreless in that period; she erupted in the third quarter with 10 points in the first five minutes. Her supporting cast took over after Sooners coach Jennie Baranczyk called her first timeout.
Shade buried a layup and Strong scored five straight points as the Huskies exploded on a 16-0 run over a 4.5-minute window. Oklahoma countered with a 6-0 run behind Beers’ three-point play, but Connecticut landed two layups before the quarter concluded.
Just like any award-winning musical, the three-time NCAA Tournament Region Most Outstanding Player saved her best for the game’s final act. Bueckers scored 19 points in a row, going 8-9 from the field while rejecting a Sooners’ shot in the process. The 2024 Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year set a new career high with a contested three-pointer; she secured the 40-piece with a floater.
Oklahoma made just three shots in the fourth quarter as the Huskies improved to 1-2 this season when trailing at halftime.
Sadly, there will not be a third battle between Bueckers and JuJu Watkins; the star sophomore suffered a torn ACL in the second round. Despite this loss, especially for women’s college basketball, a highly anticipated Elite Eight bout between UConn and the top-seeded USC Trojans still awaits. Tip-off Monday night for the Final Four’s last spot is at 9 p.m. EDT on ESPN.
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