UConn frosh Bueckers leads women’s AP 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 recordbreaking 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% from the field and a remarkable 47% from 3-point range. She became the first UConn player to score 30 or more points in three straight games, including a 31-point effort against South Carolina. She also set the school record for assists in a game (14) and the freshman mark.

Oklahoma women’s coach Coale retires

Oklahoma women’s basketball coach Sherri Coale is retiring after 25 years leading the program.

The school made the announcement in a news release.

Coale, a native of tiny Healdton, Oklahoma, is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and will be inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame this summer. She led three Oklahoma teams to the Final Four, and the Sooners reached the national title game in 2002. She is a fourtime Big 12 Coach of the Year who led the Sooners to six Big 12 regular-season and four Big 12 tournament titles.

“In April of 1996, I accepted this, my dream job,” Coale said in a statement. “As a native Oklahoman, I was pretty sure I had died and gone to heaven. Though the task would not be for the faint of heart, I just wanted to build a program that this great state and this storied institution could be proud of. Twentyfive years later, I still cannot believe the ride Oklahoma women’s basketball has taken me on.”

Coale finished her college coaching career with a 512-293 overall record. Now, she’s ready to take a different path.

Oklahoma’s Harmon out for 2 rounds

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger announced Wednesday that guard De’Vion Harmon will miss the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament after testing positive for COVID-19.

That means the team’s No. 2 scorer won’t be available when the eighth-seeded Sooners play No. 9 seed Missouri on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Harmon averages 12.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists per contest. The sophomore scored 22 points earlier in the season in a win over Kansas and a career-high 23 in a loss to Oklahoma State.

Kruger said Harmon is the only Oklahoma player to test positive or be in contact tracing.

Albany hires Killings

ALBANY, N.Y. » Marquette assistant Dwayne Killings was hired as Albany’s basketball coach.

Killings served as associate head coach at Marquette under Steve Wojciechowski. Killings replaces Will Brown, who was not offered a contract extension after the season.