Bruins Must Find a Way to Stop Tournament's Best Player

The UCLA Bruins are set for a Final Four matchup with the UConn Huskies and star senior guard Paige Bueckers. She's combined for 116 points in four tournament games, and the Bruins must find a way to limit her if they want to advance.

Mar 31, 2025; Spokane, WA, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) controls the ball against the USC Trojans during the first half of a Elite 8 NCAA Tournament basketball game at Spokane Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

The No. 1-seeded UCLA Bruins (34-2) are appearing in their first-ever Final Four, set to face a team that does it almost every year, the No. 2-seeded UConn Huskies (35-3). The Bruins' biggest priority to winning Friday night's semifinal game, is finding a way to stop Huskies senior guard Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers has been on an absolute heater over her last three tournament games. After scoring just 11 in the Huskies' first round win, she has scored at least 30 points in each of the last three games. She dropped a tournament-high 40 points in the Sweet 16 against No. 3-seeded Oklahoma.

Through all four tournament games, Bueckers is averaging 29.0 points on 58.6% shooting from the field and 58.3% from 3-point range. She is also earning 3.8 assists and 3.3 steals and has only committed nine turnovers in 126 total minutes played. There is a reason she has her jersey retired at UConn.

Bueckers is one of the best women's college basketball players of all time. She was named the 2021 AP National Player of the Year as a freshman and a three-time first-team All-American. Her legacy lives up to her production so far in this tournament, trying to win a title in her final year.

UCLA is coming in as the higher seed with a more successful season to this point but is still considered the underdog due to the inexperience. If the Bruins want to advance to the national title game and upset head coach Geno Auriemma and the Huskies, Bueckers must be stopped somehow.

She has shown the ability to set up from way beyond the 3-point arc and sink deep shots. The Bruins will have to press her and pick up the defense way beyond the 3-point line with others standing in the lane to help on a drive attempt.

The most recent game that Bueckers really struggled in was a 15-point performance in a win over Creighton in late February. She went 6-13 from the field but took just one 3-point shot. If the Bruins can keep her inside the arc, their size and skill should be able to disrupt several of her shots.

The Bruins struggled to keep LSU's leading scorer, Flau-Jae Johnson, off the board in their Elite Eight win over the Tigers on Sunday. Johnson netted 28 points, but the rest of her team did not do much of anything, leading to UCLA's win.

Another approach could be to limit every other player besides Bueckers and try to win that way. Although, Bueckers legitimately has the ability to score 50 points in a game which could pose issues. If the Bruins are able to keep everyone else under 10 points, they should find a way to win.

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