SPOKANE, Wash. — At halftime of UConn‘s Sweet 16 matchup against Oklahoma, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma was displeased with star player Paige Bueckers, who had a team-high 11 points but made some defensive miscues in the second period that helped the Sooners take a 36-32 lead into the break.
Auriemma told Bueckers that once her defensive mentality returned, she could start going about winning the game for them — and she did just that.
Bueckers exploded for 29 second-half points, single-handedly outscoring the Sooners in the final 20 minutes and finishing with a career-high 40 to lead the No. 2 seed Huskies to an 82-59 win.
UConn will play in its 29th Elite Eight all time, and its 18th in the past 19 seasons, Monday against 1-seed USC, which beat 5-seed Kansas State later Saturday without injured superstar JuJu Watkins.
Bueckers, the presumptive No. 1 draft pick in next month’s WNBA draft, became the first UConn player ever to score 40 points in an NCAA tournament…
