Bueckers lives up to hype
Uconn guard is third freshman on All-america team
Paige Bueckers came to Connecticut with a lot of hype surrounding her.
The freshman guard has lived up to it so far, delivering record-breaking performances and earning a spot on The Associated Press women’s basketball All-american team Wednesday. She’s only the third freshman to make the AP team, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and Uconn’s Maya Moore.
Bueckers received 28 first-place votes from the national panel of 30 media members that vote each week in the AP Top 25 poll. She was joined by Dana Evans of Louisville, Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, Rhyne Howard of Kentucky and Nalyssa Smith of Baylor.
“Name one player that has taken a team this young to where we are today,” Uconn coach Geno Auriemma said. “Who’s done more than her? And if you can give me a better argument, then I would say I’ll vote for them, too. But I don’t think you can.”
Bueckers averaged 19.7 points, 6.1 assists and shot nearly 54 percent from the field and a remarkable 47 percent from 3-point range. She became the first Uconn player to score 30 or more points in three straight games.
Evans was a key to Louisville’s regular-season ACC championship. She averaged 20 points and saved her best effort for the fourth quarter when she consistently would take over games.
Boston had a solid sophomore season for the Gamecocks, averaging 13.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and blocking 2.8 shots a game. She was a key reason that the Gamecocks won the SEC Tournament.
Howard had a strong junior year, averaging 20.7 points and 2.3 steals for the Wildcats.
Smith has been key in Baylor’s success. The junior forward led the team in scoring (18.1) and rebounding (9.1) as the Lady Bears won their 11th regular-season Big 12 title in a row.