‘She did Paige things’
Geno breaks down boost provided by Bueckers’ return
All the UConn women’s basketball team needed Friday night from Paige Bueckers was an easy-breezy reintroduction to the lineup and that’s exactly what she offered, showing no signs of hesitancy or rust over 12 minutes of a 93-38 victory over St. John’s at the XL Center.
She got in, got involved and got out, finishing her first game in nearly 11 weeks with eight points, one nifty assist to Aaliyah
Edwards and a first-quarter buzzer-beater that she followed by celebrating with the student section.
Beyond her signature flair, though, and certainly beyond her actual contributions to a game that was well in hand before she even took the court, was Bueckers’ presence. And that, it seems, has the power to change everything for a team that sometimes struggled to find itself without her.
“I think because of the way it played out last year, and Paige being Paige and the kind of year she had, when we lost her a lot of our other players really felt that loss hard,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “Because it just put so much on their shoulders. I don’t know that at the beginning they understood just how much Paige does for them. The team that she came back to is not the same team that she left.”
UConn, indeed, has grown since Bueckers was injured in the closing seconds of a victory
Dec. 5 against Notre Dame. The Huskies learned to produce in different ways. The team became stronger mentally through struggles, stronger physically because so much was demanded through three months of depleted lineups and so many injuries.
And here was UConn Friday, whole for the first time, clicking, skipping and smiling through a ho-hum victory that seemed to signal something more significant. Because of who was in
ules with the virus still in effect. UConn did return to the Final Four in 2021, yet lost again to the eventual runner-up, Arizona.
Now, as seniors, their final collegiate season as been anything but smooth as the team has dealt with transfers, countless injuries, illness, broken buses and continuous last-minute cancellations due to COVID-19.
“This is a pretty uncharacteristic season for UConn,” Nelson-Ododa said. “A lot of the stuff we’ve faced this season, I’ve never even seen in the past four years. We definitely had to just step out of our comfort zone and figure out a lot of things in order to lead our team and come out with wins and grind out certain things at certain points in the season.”
Across four seasons, Williams has played in 122 games with 121 starts—including becoming the first freshman to start her first career game since Breanna Stewart. She’s recorded 1,724 points, 479 rebounds, 283 assists and 148 steals. She was named First Team All-Big East (2021), First Team All-American Athletic Conference (’20) and the 2019 AAC Freshman of the Year.
“She’s been the designated driver. Whenever we need to rest somebody, I put Christyn in,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She’s making the most of it. She’s been pretty consistent now.”
Nelson-Ododa has become one of the Huskies’ most prominent frontcourt leaders. She missed her first-ever collegiate game this season on Feb. 9 due to a groin injury (which kept her out for three games) but in total has recorded 85 starts in 127 career games. The 6-foot-5 center is currently tied for No. 7 all-time on UConn’s career block list with 251. She led the team in rebounds and blocks as a sophomore and junior and has a team-high 9.9 boards and 1.7 blocks per game this season.
Westbrook came to Storrs as a sophomore transfer from Tennessee. Despite sitting out her first UConn year due to NCAA transfer policies and a knee injury, the Salem, Oregon, native has become the team mom and leader off the court. This spring wraps up her second and final season playing for the Huskies as she was challenged in a new role in becoming the team’s go-to sixth woman.
“Personally, it feels really good,” she said about her recent growth. “Especially just being a senior and having this be your last year, (I) definitely want to go out on a positive note, positive tone, not only for myself but my teammates as well, leadership-wise and overall.”
Added Auriemma: “This is the best basketball that she’s played in all the time she’s been here. She’s the Evina that I always thought she’d be.”
Juhász still hasn’t decided on whether she will be returning to Connecticut in the fall. The graduate transfer has helped boost UConn’s frontcourt as one of its two most experienced post players. The Hungarian native proved she can be tenacious when called upon and has adjusted well to UConn’s style under the guidance of the other players. While her parents won’t be making the overseas trip for senior day, the team has volunteered to walk out with her.
“It’s just such a quick turnaround, if you think about it. It’s been not even a year that I’ve been with these guys,” she said. “They just welcomed me so quick, and they were so happy that I’m here. It’s really like being a part of a family. Obviously, I had a different team, but I came in and I felt like just love from them right away.”
This likely wasn’t the senior season any of the four players envisioned. Eight of UConn’s 12 players have missed at least two games or more due to injury or illness (Westbrook and Aaliyah Edwards have played in every game), while the college basketball world is still managing playing in a COVID world.
However, with the team fully reloaded now with Paige Bueckers’ return, the Huskies are peaking right on schedule. The postseason is right around the corner, and with it, UConn’s aspirations for winning national title No. 12 are as high as ever.
“With this being such a crazy year with all the challenges and adversities that they’ve never seen before, they (the seniors) handled it so perfectly and they still make sure that the team is under control and that we’re doing the things that we need to do to be successful,” Edwards said.