UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers dropped 18 points in her team’s win over Seton Hall to eclipse the 2,000 career point mark, becoming the fastest Huskies player to reach that plateau in program history.
The previous mark of 108 games was set by Maya Moore, however with 8:05 remaining in the first half of a lopsided 96-36 win, Bueckers bested that mark in her 102nd career game at the school.
“To be able to put that many points on the board in that short period of time is one tremendous accomplishment,” coach Geno Auriemma said. “To be able to do it in spite of the ups and downs and missing an entire season and a [half] of another season, to stay mentally locked in, to stay positive and to still be committed to putting the work in, there’s a lot that goes into being able to be out there and make the shots that she makes given what she’s been through.”
“I don’t know too many people that work at the game as hard and as often as she does, so I’m glad that she’s being rewarded. And I’m sure there’s a few more points in her future.”
Freshman Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd rounded out the scoring for the Huskies, recording 23 and 18 points each, but all the talk was surrounding the potential 1st overall pick in the upcoming WNBA draft after the game.
“I was hoping I would get it at some point,” Bueckers said of the milestone. “I knew I was six points away, so eventually, hopefully I would get there. I didn’t want to press, I didn’t want to force the issue and just let it happen naturally within the game flow and continue to play the right way, look for my teammates, look for my shot, play UConn basketball, and what’s supposed to happen will happen.”
UConn also got a boost in the form of Aubrey Griffin’s return to the lineup. Griffin suited up for her first game with the Huskies since tearing her ACL last January, and played a closely monitored 10 minutes on Sunday.
Up next for 6th ranked UConn is a date with Villanova on Wednesday, followed by a road game against Creighton on Saturday at 5:30pm ET.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.