Paige Bueckers, UConn Huskies win, cruise into Sweet 16 - ESPN

STORRS, Conn. — With 3:38 left in the fourth quarter of UConn's second-round NCAA tournament win over South Dakota State, Huskies star Paige Bueckers checked out of the game for the final time at Gampel Pavilion to a standing ovation from 10,000-plus.

The three-time All-American and presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next month's WNBA draft had made her final game on UConn's campus one to remember.

Bueckers lifted the Huskies to a 91-57 win over the 10-seed Jackrabbits, finishing with 34 points, tying her career high and marking a career-best for the NCAA tournament. She joined Maya Moore as the only players in UConn history to tally multiple 30-pieces in the NCAA tournament, and the effort helped ensure UConn's spot in its 31st consecutive Sweet 16, extending the program's NCAA record.

It was a fitting Storrs finale for Bueckers, who started her college career during the pandemic-hampered 2020-21 campaign and didn't get to experience a packed Gampel full of fans.

Monday was a 180 from those lackluster days, an «amazing atmosphere,» Bueckers described, that even made it hard at times for the Huskies to hear timeouts and whistles. After she subbed out toward the end of the third quarter with the game comfortably in hand, coach Geno Auriemma made sure she got one final curtain call, putting her back in for a few minutes in the fourth so she could get a proper send-off.

Bueckers took a moment to address the crowd postgame and thank the Husky faithful before running off into the tunnel and waving to fans as she left the floor.

«I've had the time of my life here,» Bueckers said. «It's been the five years I've dreamt of as a kid.»

«Paige was Paige and it's a great way to finish your career at home,» Auriemma said. «There's no