On what was suppose to be a milestone day for Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers turned into a scary one for the Huskies’ women’s basketball star.
The 2021 national player of the year played in her 100th game for UConn when the Huskies faced Villanova on Sunday. Things were going well for No. 8 UConn against the Wildcats with a 26-point lead late in the third quarter, but the mood shifted when Bueckers tried to grab a loose ball and Villanova’s Jasmine Bascoe dove for it. Bueckers’ leg got caught under Bascoe and the Huskies guard awkwardly went down on the court.
Bueckers held onto her knee and was in visible pain before she limped to the locker room. She later came back to the bench with ice on her knee but didn’t return in the 83-52 UConn victory.
Geno Auriemma update on Paige Bueckers
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma was asked about Bueckers postgame on the SNY broadcast. He said she is “pretty good” after getting into a “weird situation.”
“She’ll be fine. She looks good. I’m optimistic, let’s put it that way. I feel good,” Auriemma said.
Auriemma, the NCAA all-time wins leader, later compared Bueckers’ injury to one teammate Azzi Fudd suffered, presumably in 2022 when she missed a month of action after a similar injury.
“Like when it was with Azzi, it’s not the worst thing that we could imagine. So that’s great news, considering how awkward it was,” Auriemma said.
Paige Bueckers’ injury history
So far, the news seems to be good for Bueckers, considering the unfortunate injuries she has suffered during her college career. After missing a significant amount of time in her sophomore season, she missed the entire 2022-23 season after she tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the offseason.
Playing in what could be her final season in Storrs, Bueckers has been a leader for the Huskies with a team-high 19.9 points per game along with 4.3 rebounds and 4 assists a game.
Bueckers is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.
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