BRIDGEPORT, CONN. – She couldn’t miss. How almost literally.
Every time the ball left her fingertips, hiss. One after the other. All clutch shots, all necessary, all carry the weight of the expectations of a fabled program.
This has been a tough season for Paige Bueckers, physically and emotionally. But the Hopkins basketball wizard returned Monday night.
Buckers went into a phone booth and Paige “Buckets” reappeared. Their legend grew exponentially with a shooting exhibition that will be revisited for many years.
Buckers made eight straight shots after halftime, scored 10 points in overtime and five more in the second overtime as UConn outlasted North Carolina State 91-87 in a regional finals thriller that included more clutch shots than one can remember .
The result, according to UConn senior guard Christyn Williams, was down to one crucial factor:
“I thought we had Paige Bueckers and she didn’t,” she said.
Sometimes it’s that simple.
Paige Bueckers does Paige Bueckers stuff
Here are all of Bueckers’ 8 buckets in the 2nd half and in OT where she had 23 points (8-9 FG) and dominated from the middle pic.twitter.com/g4G5Rfp3mg
— Zach Milner (@ZachMilner13) March 29, 2022
The win propelled UConn to the Final Four for their 14th straight season this weekend in Minneapolis, giving Buckers a great homecoming. She had the entire UConn team on her back to make sure this happened.
Bückers downplayed the personal importance of playing on her sport’s biggest stage in her hometown, before admitting that “It’s nice to be home too. I’m not going to lie.”
She jumped at the opportunity and finished the game with 27 points in 10-of-15 shooting. She didn’t miss after halftime until a jumper rolled out in the second OT.
When the result was finally in and the huskies could exhale, Bückers cried out and thrust her arms into his arm and hopped down the square. She hugged teammates and danced, absorbing the moment and what is next.
Knee surgery sidelined Buckers for 19 games and left them rusty on their return. Coach Geno Auriemma tried to live up to expectations as his star waned after a two-month hiatus, nobody was sure if she would be able to match the form that earned her international player of the year as a freshman.
That Paige Bückers was seen again at the most critical moment of her season.
“I didn’t expect when that would come, that kind of moment that she had,” Auriemma said. “Paige is different. She was made for those moments.”
Buckers and her team had to work overtime to keep the program’s Final Four series alive. Teams traded big shot after big shot, neither team wanting their season to end.
“This is one of the best games I’ve been in since I’ve been with UConn, whether it’s regular season or postseason,” Auriemma said.
Bückers added: “I would have loved to see the game. Of course it was crazy to be there.”
Every time the huskies looked like they had something in their hands, the wolf pack had an answer.
NC State’s Jakia Brown-Turner emptied a rainbow three-pointer from the deep corner with a second left in overtime to level the score at 77-77 and force a second extra session. That happened after Bückers had made two free throws with 6 seconds to go.
The NC state, which has been trying to advance to its first Final Four since 1998, will look back with regret at the end of regulation.
With the score at 61-61, UConn’s Olivia Nelson-Ododa missed two free throws with 28 seconds remaining.
NC State squandered its last possession. The Wolf Pack waited too long to initiate their offensive and settled for a rushed three-pointer from Kai Crutchfield, who came nowhere near.
Bückers caught fire in the overtime – and that was it.
“Once she makes one, the fringe is so big,” Williams said, extending both arms to form a large circle. “She’s going to keep making them, so give her the ball.”
BOXSCORE: Connecticut 91, NC State 87 (2OT)
Teammates gave her the ball and she delivered in the clutch. So calm, so cool.
Buckers didn’t get a fairytale send-off in high school. The pandemic has canceled both the state championship game and her dream of giving a celebratory bow to her illustrious prep career.
Who knows, maybe she’ll get the fairytale finish after all.
After what happened Monday night, anything seems possible.