STORRS, Conn. — As games ticked by last March, praise for Paige Bueckers rose outside the UConn women’s basketball program. But coach Geno Auriemma sensed something different about his All-American.
She led the injury-riddled Huskies deeper into the NCAA Tournament as she raised her level of play with each subsequent victory. Whenever the Huskies needed her, she tapped into a new level and showed greater competitiveness. She played all but five minutes through five NCAA Tournament games and bested her regular-season averages in points and assists while nearly doubling her regular-season rebounding average. But Auriemma wondered if she was also in her head. He couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, though. He wrestled with whether to address it, fearing he’d somehow speak it into existence and rattle the player who was impressing everyone around her. He wondered if he was just in his head.
Ultimately, Auriemma didn’t say anything, and in retrospect — because everything in hindsight is 20/20 — he wishes he would have. Because he was right. What he sensed was a feeling Bueckers hadn’t experienced at UConn before.
Fear.
“I was so afraid to lose that I just didn’t remember how to win,” Bueckers said.
She added: “Every day I woke up and thought, ‘I…
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