Paige Bueckers just continues to show why she’s the projected #1 draft pick for this year’s WNBA draft. Bueckers dropped a massive 40-piece in UConn’s huge Sweet 16 win over Oklahoma. The showing included a 19-0 run by herself, to take command of the game and lead her side to the next round.
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While the world stood and applauded the performance from the 23-year-old, her coach, Geno Auriemma, wasn’t moved. Or at least that’s what it seemed like.
In the post-game press conference, he jokingly said he wasn’t impressed with Bueckers’ showing on the night and that her passive game in the first half cost her a chance at a potential 50-point game. While this may seem harsh, the relationship Geno shares with his players is near familial, and they’ve all come to expect this sort of banter from him.
“Last year in the BIG EAST/NCAA Tournament, she (Paige) averaged like 30 points per game, so I’m not that impressed yet,” he joked. “If she hadn’t been so laboring in the first half, she would’ve had 50.”
Of course, his playful relationship with his players doesn’t mask the fact that, at his core, Auriemma is a tough coach and expects his players to give him their best all the time. While his words here were clearly in jest, its entirely possible that he does really expect Paige to drop 50 every game.
He continued this banter with his star point guard in his official press conference, where he joked about her shooting stats and her defensive actions throughout the game. “That’s the most I’ve seen her shoot, and she was really bad defensively, so we can’t just let her off the hook that easily,” he joked after a reporter asked him if Paige’s performance last night was the best he’d ever seen from her.
Of course, Paige has absolutely no issue with the friendly jabs that her coach takes at her. She’s used to it by now. In the tunnel interview after the win, she was asked about her relationship with Geno and how he helps the team get ready for a big game like this.
“He means a lot. I mean obviously he got on me pretty hard for this game,” she began. “He challenges us in ways we didn’t know we could be challenged and he prepares us for these moments. It’s great to have that relationship and that bond with him.”
With the huge win over the Sooners, the Huskies will take on 1 seed USC. The Trojans will be without their talismanic sophomore Juju Watkins, who went down with an ACL tear a few days ago. Having declared for the 2025 WNBA Draft, Paige Bueckers will want to end her college career with a National Championship, and is ready to lead UConn to the biggest dance.
