TAMPA, Florida — Paige Bueckers has always been a reluctant superstar.
She relishes the spotlight her transcendent talent brings only for what it allows her to do: Celebrate her teammates. Lift up the women who’ve come before her, particularly the Black women who’ve paved the way for the opportunities she has.
That makes how she finally got a national title so fitting. The 82-59 rout of defending champion South Carolina wasn’t a Paige Bueckers showcase game, like when she dropped 40 points on Oklahoma in the Sweet 16. She finished with 17 points, seven of which came at the free throw line, and went more than 20 minutes without making a field goal.
No, this was a collective effort by UConn, her teammates able to stand tall in part because Bueckers has spent so many years lifting them up.
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Azzi Fudd, who barely played in the title game three years ago because she had food poisoning, had 13 of her 24 points in the first half to set the tone. Freshman Sarah Strong let the entire country know that UConn, and the women’s game overall, is going to be just fine in the post Caitlin Clark and Bueckers era. The freshman had another double-double with 24 points and 15 rebounds, as well as a team-high five assists, three blocks and two steals.
“All of our mindset was just to be aggressive, stay locked in, stay disciplined, stay together. And that’s exactly what we did,” Fudd said. “To be able to do this for our seniors, I really don’t have words to describe what this feels like, what it means to me. But I’m super grateful and I’m super proud of this entire team.”
Kaitlyn Chen had four points. KK Arnold took three shots and made each one of them, finishing with nine points. Ashlynn Shade’s only field goal was from a 3-pointer in the corner after Bueckers beat coverage by kicking the ball out to her.
On down the line it went. In her final game with UConn on her front, every one of Bueckers’ teammates had her back.
“We talked about it as a team, that leading up to this weekend we hadn’t played our best team basketball yet,” Bueckers said. “But we thought we were saving our best performances for last. And it’s been just a great summary of what we have been this entire season, of being a team, staying connected, on any given night it can be anybody’s night.
“So it’s extremely fitting. It’s destiny. Obviously I have a great faith, so I believeGod planned it perfectly in the way that it went out.”
Bueckers hasn’t just been one of the best individual players in UConn’s storied history, she is one of its most beloved. Talented as she is, she could be a prima donna and get away with it. But she wouldn’t know how to do that if she tried.
In this, her final season at UConn, she spent a month waking before dawn to make breakfast for teammate Jana El Alfy, who was fasting during Ramadan. When she was given the mic during the post-game celebration Sunday, the first thing she did was thank the team managers and practice players who’d come to Tampa for the game.
Her teammates have also seen her struggles, missing most of her sophomore year with a knee injury and all of her junior year with a torn ACL, only to come back stronger.
Bueckers is, as they say, a real one, and the affection her teammates have for her is obvious.
When she scored on a layup with 7:45 to play, getting knocked to the ground in the process and drawing a foul, her teammates dogpiled on top of her. When she left the game for good with 1:32 to play, she shared a long hug with coach Geno Auriemma, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed in his arms. She then made her way down the bench, embracing the assistant coaches and her teammates.
Watch: Paige Bueckers cries in Geno Auriemma’s arms as she exits final UConn game
“Just gratitude for all that Coach has meant to me and how much he’s shaped me to the human I am, to the basketball player I am throughout this entire five years. And just putting it all together in one hugwhat our journey has been together,” Bueckers said. “Every single person that I went down the line and hugged just meant so much to me and meant so much to the team.
“Just like I’ve been saying, a state of gratitude.”
This is UConn’s record 12th national title, but its first since 2016. That’s an unheard of drought at UConn, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Bueckers took the Huskies to the Final Four every year she played, and reached the title game in 2022. In her hometown of Minneapolis, of all places.
But no one player can win a title on her own, even Bueckers. The Huskies didn’t have enough experience her freshman year, and were done in by injuries and Fudd’s illness in 2022. Last year, it’s a wonder UConn even made it to the Final Four, held together by bubble gum and sticky tape.
This year, however, UConn truly had a team. They had Bueckers. And Fudd. And Strong. And Chen. And El Alfy. And, and, and, and.
“It always seemed like, if we ever got a chance to get healthy, this could be pretty good,” Auriemma said.
Everywhere you looked Sunday, someone was making a play for UConn. South Carolina might have limited Bueckers’ offensively, but they couldn’t stop a multi-headed monster that was playing not just to win a title, but to win it for Bueckers.
“They’re good. They work well together. Super unselfish,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said.
That, that right there. That’s going to be Bueckers’ legacy at UConn.
Yes, she won a title, the only “hole” left in her illustrious resume that includes being the first freshman ever to win national Player of the Year honors and three unanimous selections as a first-team All-American.
But that title came because Bueckers is as good a teammate as she is an individual player. She made everyone around her better and, in turn, her teammates made her a champion. There’s no more fitting sendoff.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
