STORRS, Conn. – She broke down. Which is not something she does. Not ever. She is a person who thrives on competition, on winning, or at least the pursuit of it. Such single-mindedness doesn’t leave much room for pity parties.
But after five months of keeping up a brave face and force-feeding positivity – even if, at times, it came through gritted teeth – Paige Bueckers couldn’t do it anymore. Just a few feet from where she sat, on the other side of the door, Thomas-Boling Arena practically pulsed with energy.
Twenty-eight years earlier, UConn coach Geno Auriemma and Tennessee legend Pat Summitt agreed to play a made-for-TV game on Martin Luther King Day, igniting a rivalry that would come to define and grow women’s basketball. The series continued in its fever pitch for a dozen years, before Summitt put the kibosh on it in 2007.
Bueckers was only 5 when the rivalry went on hiatus. Still, she grew up dreaming of playing in that kind of game, especially on the road. As much as she welcomes the adulation of the home crowd, she really revels in the chance to silence the visitors. Bueckers played at Tennessee as a UConn freshman, but with COVID-19 rules still in place, there were only 3,000-some fans scattered through the 21,000-seat building.
This was the real deal –…
