UConn, Bueckers back in Sweet 16
How UConn freshman has managed first March Madness: ‘Grew up a lot’
PORTLAND, ORE. — The UConn women’s basketball team’s loss to Ohio State in last year’s Sweet 16 in Seattle was historic.
It was the earliest the Huskies had exited the NCAA Tournament since 2005, snapping the program’s NCAA record of 14straight Final Four appearances. The headlines read: “UConn’s dynasty is over.” But that was last year. This year, UConn has Paige Bueckers.
The 2021 National Player of the Year is back from missing all last season with an ACL injury and playing better than ever. She’s averaging careerhighs across the stat sheet and has expanded her game on all fronts — all while playing out of her normal position.
Bueckers leads the No. 3 seeded Huskies as they look to avenge last year’s upset by facing No. 7 Duke in Saturday’s Sweet 16 at Moda Center in Portland, Ore. (8 p.m. on ESPN). The winner will advance to
STORRS — No freshman in the UConn women’s basketball team’s illustrious NCAA Tournament history has scored more points in her first two games than Ashlynn Shade.
That Shade and the Huskies will play a third tournament game is due to a play the freshman guard made on the defensive end on Monday.
With 50 seconds left and No. 3 UConn hanging on to a threepoint lead over sixth-seeded Syracuse, Shade tipped the ball away from Orange star Dyaisha Fair as
Moda Center, Portland
Saturday, 8 p.m. (ESPN) she cut into the lane, and Paige Bueckers was able to grab it and call time out while on her knees, denying Syracuse a chance to tie. KK Arnold nailed a 3-pointer on the Huskies’ ensuing possession and they went on to a 72-64 win at Gampel Pavilion to earn their 30th consecutive NCAA Sweet 16 berth.
“Definitely, it’s satisfying,” Shade said. “To get that little tip at the end there when she was coming down in transition definitely felt good. It was kind of like a little turning moment. They could have cut the lead even more and it would have given them momentum. It was really helpful, and Paige was with me by my side. We handled it pretty good.”
UConn (31-5) will take on No. 7 Duke in a Portland 3 Regional semifinal game Saturday (8 p.m.) at the Moda Center in Oregon.
The steal was the second of the game and 36th of the season for Shade. She also has four blocked shots in her 35 games.
“I missed a shot so we were determined as a team to get it back,” Bueckers said. “Ash picked up the ball great trying to contain Fair and try to make her take a tough shot, and she ended up getting her hand on the ball. I saw it loose, and I wanted to do everything I could to get it back. I knew we had time outs left so I wanted to get the ball and call time out to give us possession going the other way.”
Arnold’s 3-pointer with 27.9 seconds left doubled the lead to