Paige Bueckers said during a media availability Friday that her “ironic” dream way of crossing the 2,000-point mark would be a free throw.
That nearly came to fruition two days later.
Bueckers’ 1,998th and 1,999th career points came at the charity stripe; point No. 2,000 came around that area. The Minnesota native drove toward the lane less than two minutes into the second quarter. Instead of going for a layup, however, Bueckers pulled back and buried the midrange jumper from behind the paint.
The two-time Big East Player of the Year ultimately finished with 18 points on 6-10 shooting with four threes and seven assists. That bucket, though, made the two-time Bueckers the 12th player in the UConn women’s basketball team’s history with 2,000 career points. No one did it in fewer games than the 23-year-old guard’s 102.
“To be able to put up that many points on the board in that short of a time is one tremendous accomplishment,” head coach Geno Auriemma explained about Bueckers’ latest milestone postgame. “There is a lot that goes into being able to be out there and make the shots that she makes given what she has been through. I do not know too many people that work at the game as hard and as often as she does.”
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The Gampel Pavilion crowd erupted in applause and did not stop even when Yaya Lops subsequently buried a triple on the other end. The No. 6 Huskies led by 18 after that three-pointer; an offensive onslaught soon followed.
Ashlynn Shade’s long-range bucket from the corner ignited a 24-2 Connecticut run that ended the first half. That stretch, along with 17 made three-pointers and 13 steals, helped the Huskies sink the Seton Hall Pirates 96-36 in Storrs Sunday afternoon.
Fellow redshirt senior Aubrey Griffin received an equally loud applause when she checked into her first game in 382 days. Griffin grabbed four rebounds, scored three points and recorded two assists in 10 minutes. While Sunday provided a foundation Auriemma said can be built on, he enjoyed the return of UConn’s longest-tenured player.
“I thought she had fun. I know for sure she had some fun putting that uniform on and going out there and that reaction from the crowd,” the 40th-year head coach noted about Griffin’s return. “I am thrilled for her. I was not expecting anything at all; I was just happy to see her out there.”
The 6-foot-1 wing, while sore afterward, beamed with as much joy as a child on Christmas Day.
“It has been a long process, but every single one of them [the players] has been with me throughout it,” Griffin expressed. “I am just so grateful and thankful to be out there again.”
Eight long days had passed since six-time Big East Freshman of the Week Sarah Strong scored at least 10 points. Naturally, Strong responded with a game-high 23 points at a 9-11 clip while hauling in 11 rebounds for her fourth career double-double.
Graduate guard Azzi Fudd took one more shot than Bueckers did at 11 but also had 18 points without recording anything else. Fudd has averaged 18.8 points and 3.3 triples over her last four games. Her recent stretch has essentially created a deadly three-headed attack for the Huskies.
“The confidence those three have in themselves and each other is a huge factor,” Auriemma stated about Connecticut’s three former No. 1 recruits. “It is funny how everybody else starts making shots because those guys are making shots. … When it is clicking like that, it is really fun to watch.”
Seton Hall entered Storrs, Connecticut, third in the Big East standings at 5-1. As has been the case countless times in conference play, however, the Huskies’ defense held the Pirates to season lows in points, field goal percentage and assists. First-year guard Jada Eads provided the lone bright spot as she matched her season average in scoring.
Eads dropped a team-leading 14 points on 5-15 shooting with two three-pointers, four rebounds and four second-half steals. Maryland grad transfer Faith Masonius, Seton Hall’s leading scorer, was the other player who attempted 15 shots. While she only made three of them, Masonius also snagged six rebounds and had Seton Hall’s lone block.
Junior forward Messiah Hunter (seven points, three rebounds) scored the Pirates’ first points after Strong landed consecutive layups in the opening minute. Seton Hall’s one-point deficit was as close as the game got, however. The Huskies’ next four buckets all came from downtown, with Fudd accounting for half of them and Bueckers cutting her milestone chase in half.
A string of layups soon followed from UConn’s offense; the series lasted until the 6-foot-0 guard scored her 2,000th career point. Once the two-time WBCA Coaches’ All-American achieved her newest milestone, however, the Huskies busted the game wide open. Connecticut made nine of their last 13 shot attempts in the first half as they ballooned their lead to 40.
Fudd and Shade combined for 15 points during that 7.5-minute run, but no one grabbed the spotlight more than Griffin did when she entered. The student section quickly spearheaded “Aubrey” chants, their efforts rewarded when the New York native went 1-2 from the charity stripe. Huskies fans gave one last standing ovation in the quarter when she checked out and chuckled with Auriemma on the sidelines.
The third quarter merely became target practice for the Huskies. UConn attempted seven shots from behind the arc in the frame; they made five of them for 15 of their 28 points. Beyond their lethal three-point stroke, the Huskies utilized some strong two-way post play to keep the Pirates at bay. Jana El Alfy grabbed half of her eight rebounds while Morgan Cheli was the only Connecticut guard that made a two-pointer in the period.
The Huskies did not score a point or make a field goal in the first 4.5 minutes of the final frame. Once Allie Ziebell buried her second triple of the contest, however, UConn closed the game on a 12-3 run. Griffin zipped to the hoop for a fast break layup as the Huskies secured their largest margin of victory at 60 points.
UConn stays right where they are for the week as the Villanova Wildcats enter Storrs. Tip-off on Wednesday night is at 7 p.m. on SNY.
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