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Geno Auriemma Details How UConn Benefits From 'Infectious' Play of Paige Bueckers

UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma explained how great play from Paige Bueckers helps his whole team.
Grant Young|
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after her three point basket and being fouled by the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jan 22, 2025; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after her three point basket and being fouled by the Villanova Wildcats in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The UConn Huskies women's basketball team improved to 18-2 in the 2024-25 NCAA season and 9-0 in the Big East Conference on Wednesday, as they blew through the Villanova Wildcats by a score of 100-57.

Superstar guard Paige Bueckers produced perhaps the most well-rounded performance of her season to this point, as she finished the game with 21 points (on 8-11 shooting, including 3-3 from three-point range), 9 assists, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, and just 1 turnover in 26 minutes played.

Bueckers was also playing great defense all game long, which seemed to propel her Huskies team to what ended up being an easy win.

After the game ended, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma spoke about what he saw from Bueckers against Villanova.

"There's a way that Paige manages a game that, it feels like she has complete control of the game and she can do whatever she wants," Auriemma said, per an X post from SNY. "When she's in the game and everybody is looking at her and everybody is waiting to see what she's gonna do, then for her to go off like she did today, it's infectious."

He then continued, "Everybody catches it, and it starts to feed itself and she has that effect. So I'm really excited about where she is right now.

"They told me I took her out before her triple-double, I said I don't pay attention to that stuff. I should, but I don't," he continued.

While Bueckers probably would have wanted a shot at that triple-double, we imagine she's still feeling pretty good about her performance.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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