CROSSWORD NO. 1
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 Allamerican 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.
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.
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 to give the Cardinals the victory. She shot 92% from the free throw line.
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.
Out of the five players, only Howard was a first-team All-american last season. Evans and Boston earned secondteam honors in 2020.