TAMPA, Fla. — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley questioned the narrative that has surrounded UConn guard Paige Bueckers and her quest to win a national championship, saying Saturday that it has overshadowed any discussion about what her players have done.
The Gamecocks will attempt to repeat as national champions Sunday in the national title game against the Huskies, who beat them handily earlier in the season. Bueckers is attempting to win her first national title with the Huskies in her final season with the program.
Staley was asked whether she felt Bueckers needed to win a title to cement her legacy as an all-time great in the game. She was asked a similar question last year about Caitlin Clark, whom South Carolina played in the national title game. South Carolina beat Iowa 87-75 to finish 38-0 as national champions.
“Sometimes we create these narratives about great players — Caitlin was one of them; Paige is one of them right now — and we tend to forget the narrative about what our kids have been able to do, going for their third in four years,” Staley said Saturday. “There’s a sentimental narrative about Paige. A great freakin’…
