Bueckers now getting a bit more help
Paige Bueckers hasn’t been just a big part of UConn’s offense this season. At times, she has been the offense.
Remember her put-theteam-on-my-back performance against South Carolina? Her game-sealing 3 that night may be the defining moment to date for a team that has entrenched itself as a legitimate national championship contender.
Heading into Monday’s regular-season finale in Storrs against Marquette (8 p.m.), the freshman leads top-ranked UConn in scoring (20.1), assists (6.5), 3-point shooting percentage (49.5) and minutes played (36.2).
And guess what?
As the calendar turns to March, Bueckers is starting to get more help, too.
The Huskies have had a different leading scorer in each of the last three games — Christyn Williams (22 points) against Xavier, Nika Muhl (19) versus Creighton, and Aaliyah Edwards (24) in Saturday’s win over Butler — a trend they hope continues.
“You have to get contributions from a lot of people this time of year,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You can’t just think that, you know, one person’s going to be able to carry you.”
Most important may be the sudden reemergence of Williams, who appears to be back on track after her 0-for against Seton Hall on Feb. 10. Williams has scored in double figures in five games since, averaging 18.6 points on 52.1% shooting. That includes a 44.8% mark from 3-point range — a significant improvement from her season rate of 32%.
As a junior, Williams said she feels a personal responsibility to ease some of the burden on Bueckers, especially as the margin for error shrinks come tournament time.
“For us to win further down the line, we’re going to have to step up and help her,” Williams said. “We just can’t leave her by herself.”
For all her inconsistency, Williams remains UConn’s second-leading scorer, and defenses have treated her as such. That’s created more opportunities for lesser threats like Muhl to strike.
Muhl is a pass-first, defensive-minded point guard, not to be confused with an elite shooter like Bueckers. But she has made strides shooting from beyond the arc that can keep defenders honest. She’s hit three 3-pointers in back-to-back games after doing so just once in her first 15 contests.
“Hopefully I can stay consistent with the 3-point shot,” Muhl said. “We have a lot of great 3-point shooters on our
team. Adding myself to that, that’s really good for us.”
Bueckers has either tied or led the Huskies (20-1) in scoring 11 times this season, including five consecutive games to begin February. She has 11 20-point games and, earlier this month, became the first player in program history to score 30 points or more three straight times.
Although it was Bueckers providing the theatrics against Butler with a program-record 14 assists — she’s up to 130 assists on the season after surpassing the school’s freshman record of 123 on Saturday — Edwards carried the scoring load.
The 6-foot-3 Edwards was everything she’s been — tough, efficient, relentless. She was 9 of 10 from the floor and got to the free-throw line (6 of 6) more than any other Husky. She also grabbed a season-high 14 rebounds.
“Aaliyah today played the way she normally competes,” Auriemma said. “Some days it’s more pronounced than others, but you saw the real Aaliyah Edwards today because that’s who she is, that’s her as a competitor.”
Edwards’ development has given the Huskies a dimension they didn’t have last season.
“I’m not surprised by what she’s doing,” Auriemma said. “Going into March, and the teams you’re going to have to beat, you’re not going to beat them just standing out there hitting jump shots — that’s for sure.
“If you’re saying every night that we’re going to get a game like this from Aaliyah, then I’m going to tell you we’re going to be really, really hard to beat.”
HUSKIES STILL NO. 1
Unsurprisingly, UConn remained the top overall seed in the NCAA’s second Top-16 reveal. The rankings, released Sunday, did not reflect that day’s results. Stanford, Texas A&M and South Carolina were the other No. 1 seeds.
The NCAA also announced that this year’s regionals, held in San Antonio, will be named after famous sites in the city: Alamo, River Walk, Mercado, Hemisfair.