Let the madness begin.
With a win over the No. 22 Creighton Bluejays on Monday night, the No. 3 UConn women’s basketball team are conference champions for the twelfth time in a row.
With head coach Geno Auriemma becoming the winningest coach in division one college basketball history, Paige Bueckers notching 2,000 points on her career and many broken attendance records; this accolade is another addition to the many the Huskies have stored in the history book for this year’s campaign.
Bueckers, a graduate guard, was the forefront of the Huskies offense again in this one getting good looks from both sides of the ball. In total, the Minnesota native racked up 24 points and 8 rebounds on the night. In addition, Bueckers was named the tournament’s most valuable player for the third time in her collegiate career and was the first player in Big East history to ever do so.
During the trophy presentation ceremony when Bueckers was honored Auriemma described Bueckers as the main constant for the squad.
Last season, the conference tournament was a grind, after their roster was plagued with injuries, including Aaliyah Edwards who missed the championship due to a facial injury.
However, this year’s conference tournament, the journey was teamwork and having everyone healthy to get the result they wanted.
“It’s hard to do something that’s never been done at UConn before, like everything’s been accomplished.” said Bueckers to the media postgame. “So, I’m grateful and blessed, but it’s really a team award, a testament to the coaching staff, my teammates, so I’m able to go out there and perform along alongside of them, and I feel like we’re heading in the right direction with our momentum heading into the tournament.”
In addition to Bueckers, various players from up and down the bench contributed to their teammates from staying persistent in their shooting around the paint but staying dominant by the boards and guarding the ball.
Sarah Strong, who Auriemma compared to an evolved Kerry Bascom, put up a double-double in all three of their games in the tournament. In the championship game, the North Carolina native notched 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies.
“It’s great to win. I don’t think about it much as a championship game.” Said Strong to the media postgame.
This season, the matchup of Bueckers, Strong and Fudd have been lethal to their opponents. When playing with players with such vast experience like Bueckers and Fudd, Strong says that playing with confidence is what she’s learned the most from both of them.
“Playing with them is incredibly fun and playing with people who just know how to play basketball, who can do just about everything on the court, and makes it so easy to play with because, I mean, any look I get, it’s going to be a good one.” said Fudd on what it’s like to play with Bueckers and Strong.
Kicking things off in the first period, it was utter sovereignty from the Huskies, holding Creighton to zero points until the midway point of the first frame.
From there, Morgan Maly and Lauren Jensen started to find their way through UConn’s defense and both squads traded scoring droughts back and forth. However, UConn would be the top dogs heading into intermission with almost double the lead of Creighton, up 40-22.
Throughout the tournament, the Huskies defense and ability to play their roster down the bench has been right on the money with how they want to play in the NCAA tournament. Bueckers described to the media that the programs depth in their roster is what sets them apart from previous team’s she’s been on at UConn.
“Our ability to play with different lineups.” Bueckers elaborated. “Go big, go small. Have people available who are off the bench that can contribute and do great things for the team. So having different lineups, meshing together in practice, different groups, different lineups, is something that’s been different.”
Coming out of the lockeroom in the second half, the Huskies were not going down without a fight.
Despite Fudd not notching any points in the third quarter and the squad racking up 17 turnovers on the night, the program contributed tremendously on all aspects of the roster for them to keep a steady lead.
Players off the bench like KK Arnold, who notched five points, are the fuel to the Huskies fire that help aid them when others are struggling and keep them in the game.
With this win, Auriemma notched his 30th conference tournament championship, which he described to the media was a lot to take in.
“I think we have we have obviously, really good players, you know, I don’t think anybody wins without really good players. And we’ve been fortunate to get, you know, terrific players for 30 years.” said Auriemma to the media. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t be talking about this subject. But at the same time, you know, I think we have a culture. We have a belief system in our program that this is the expectation.”
What’s next for the Huskies, you may ask? The moment all Husky fans have been waiting for; the next push for their search of their 12th national championship title.
“I haven’t even really looked forward to next weekend, but I am super excited to see where we land.” said Fudd. “And I mean, I believe in this team so much, so I think that wherever we go, not obviously, decided to find out, but I’m not worried about where we go
To see if No. 12 will be the lucky number, fans can tune into Selection Sunday on Sunday, March 16 at 8 p.m. on ESPN to see where the No. 3 Huskies will end up on the March Madness bracket.