Top honor for UConn’s Bueckers
Paige Bueckers is in a class all by herself.
UConn’s star guard became the first freshman ever to win AP’s women’s basketball player of the year award Wednesday.
Bueckers helped lead the Huskies to their 13th consecutive Final Four with 28 points in the regional final win over Baylor on Monday night, just the latest star turn for the phenomenol 19-year-old Minnesota native.
“It’s amazing, surreal for people to think of me that highly and to be in that position as a freshman,” Bueckers said. “To get this award, I’m extremely humbled and grateful.”
Bueckers was informed she won the award by coach Geno Auriemma during a team video session on Monday. She broke down as she accepted it in front of her teammates.
“A lot has happened over the past year things that could bring people down,” Bueckers said. “To get a reward and find something positive in these times, you cherish them. I was there with my teammates and coaching staff and to get that award with them around me makes you be so grateful for the position I’m in.”
Bueckers was an overwhelming choice, receiving 21 votes from the 30-member national media panel that chooses the weekly AP Top 25.
■ Maryland coach Brenda Frese was honored as AP women’s basketball coach of the year.
Golf: The Los Angeles County sheriff says detectives have determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but would not release details Wednesday, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star. Woods suffered serious injuries in the Feb. 23 crash when he struck a raised median around 7 a.m. in Rolling Hills Estates, just outside Los Angeles. The Genesis SUV he was driving crossed through two oncoming lanes and uprooted a tree on a downhill stretch that police said is known for wrecks.
NBA: Matthew Dellavedova’s long wait to play again may finally be over. More than a year since his last regular-season NBA game, the Cavaliers’ G could make his season debut Thursday night after being out with a concussion and appendectomy. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Dellavedova practiced Wednesday, and as long as he gets final medical clearance, the 30-year-old will play against the 76ers.
Soccer: Germany’s 35-match unbeaten run in World Cup qualifying — a streak dating back to 2001 — ended with a stunning 2-1 home loss to North Macedonia that left the team sitting third in its group after three games. It was only the country’s third ever loss in World Cup qualifying for the World Cup since since 1934, the other two coming against Portugal in 1985, when it was West Germany, and the famous 5-1 thrashing by England 20 years ago.