Women's Fastbreak On SI

UCLA Coach Makes Her Opinion of UConn's Paige Bueckers Extremely Clear

UCLA head coach Cori Close showed love to UConn star Paige Bueckers before their Final Four showdown.
Grant Young|
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
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

While UConn Huskies star guard Paige Bueckers has long-since solidified herself as one of the best players in women's college basketball, she has reached a new level during this 2025 NCAA Tournament.

Bueckers is currently averaging 35 points per game in her team's three most recent games, which includes her scoring her career high in points in a single contest with 40 against Oklahoma. However, now Bueckers faces her toughest test on Friday, when the No. 2-seeded Huskies face the No.1-seeded UCLA Bruins during the Final Four.

If there is anybody who can concoct a game plan to slow Bueckers down, it's Bruins head coach Cori Close, who recently won the Naismith and AP National Coach of the Year awards. However, when speaking with the media on April 3, Close acknowledged how tough an assignment it is to keep Bueckers contained.

"Paige has just got an incredible charisma... to me, she's an incredible, most efficient scorer, all those things. But her elite skill in my mind that I love the most is watching her vision and her passing," Close said, per an X post from @creampuffs_5.

"It's just amazing... She’s an incredible player. She's an even better teammate,” Close continued of Bueckers. "Lots of respect and admiration."

It will be fun to see what Bueckers can do against Close's UCLA defense, and whether she can help propel UConn past the Bruins and into the NCAA national championship game.

What's for sure is Bueckers has a maximum of two more games before her UConn career ends and she takes her talents to the WNBA.

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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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