SPOKANE, Wash. — Paige Bueckers was asked earlier this week what her advice would be to younger players competing in their first NCAA Tournaments as the pressure mounts this time of year. Bueckers, UConn’s star guard, kept it simple.
“Do what got you here,” she said, “and just level it up a notch.”
No one does that quite like Paige Buckets, who took her own advice (and then some) Saturday afternoon in Spokane, Wash., where she dropped a career-high 40 points as No. 2 UConn cruised past No. 3 Oklahoma 82-59 in the Spokane 4 regional of the Sweet 16.
Bueckers finished 16-of-27 from the field and 6-of-8 from 3 on another night when she was unguardable, setting a UConn NCAA Tournament record for points and single-handedly outscoring the Sooners 29-23 in the second half.
The Sooners had no answers for her midrange game off high-ball screens or her range from deep.
Paige. Bueckers.
📺 ESPN https://t.co/b3uENu4ogJ pic.twitter.com/aOLrRTiwur
— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 29, 2025
Oklahoma, which hung right in on the glass with UConn and finished with 41 rebounds to UConn’s 43, ultimately fell short because it couldn’t contain Bueckers. It turned the ball over 23 times, and it shot 28 percent from 3 compared with UConn’s 38 percent mark.
Coach Jennie…
