Women's Fastbreak On SI

UConn Fans Loved Paige Bueckers 'Downright Disrespectful' Skip in Front of UNC Bench

Paige Bueckers produced an iconic moment during UConn's win against North Carolina on Friday.
Grant Young|
Nov 10, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after a basket against the South Florida Bulls in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Nov 10, 2024; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after a basket against the South Florida Bulls in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The UConn Huskies are rolling right now.

They entered Friday with a 2-0 record after beating two (vastly inferior) teams by a combined 91 points.

UConn was supposed to face a major challenge on Friday when they faced the North Carolina Tarheels on the road. And while the game was much closer than UConn's previous two contests, they still cruised to a relatively easy 69-58 win.

Per usual, the Huskies were led by superstar guard Paige Bueckers, who finished the game with 29 points (including going 4-8 from three-point range), 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Elite freshman Sarah Strong — who received a lot of praise from UNC's head coach before the game — added 14 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

The game's most notable moment came at the end of the first quarter, when Bueckers drained a last-second three-point shot at the buzzer, then proceeded to skip in front of UNC's bench.

Fans were loving Bueckers' skip, which has already become iconic within the women's college basketball community.

"The skip in front of the bench is downright disrespectful😭," X user @JN21666 wrote in a reply to ESPN's video of Bueckers' buzzer beater and ensuing skip.

Another X user added, "the skip in front of the bench…diana come get your daughter 😭😭".

Bueckers has received a lot of comparisons to UConn (and WNBA) legend Diana Taurasi, due to their similar offensive skillsets and killer (and sometimes playful) demeanor on the court.

"the aftermath of this shot is so steph coded 😭," added a third.

The made shot and skip combination does seem like something Steph Curry would do.

Fans can surely expect more remarkable moments like this one from Bueckers this season.

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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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