Carl Adamec: Bueckers wills UConn women to victory

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Mar. 29—STORRS — Nightmares of Mississippi State's Morgan William and Notre Dame's Arike Ogunbowale danced through the heads of many in the partisan crowd of 10,119 at Total Mortgage Arena Monday night as North Carolina State's Jakia Brown-Turner launched a 3-pointer from the corner with time running out.

Like the UConn women's basketball team's nemeses of NCAA tournaments past, Brown-Turner found nothing but net. What was different is the Wolfpack junior's clutch shot with 0.8 seconds left didn't send the Huskies home for the season but only sent the teams' Bridgeport Regional final to a second overtime.

And it gave Paige Bueckers another chance.

"I thought that shot was the one that was just going to make our team feel like, 'What else are we supposed to do?' " UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "The look on their faces was a little bit of 'How can this happen right now after all we've done?'

"But when we left the bench and we came back out, it was more 'This is just one more thing.' Then Paige said, 'That's fine.' This is one more thing and she decides, 'I'm going to do what I do.' The rest is in the scorebook."

Bueckers scored the Huskies' first five points of the second extra session to give her team a lead they would not relinquish. They were the last of her 27 points and No. 2 UConn went on to knock off top-seeded North Carolina State 91-87 to advance to its record 14th consecutive Final Four and 22nd overall.

Now the sophomore guard gets to go home to her native Minneapolis. The Huskies (29-5) will take on reigning national champion Stanford Friday night at the Target Center.

"For me, I take it one game at a time. Our whole team takes it one game at a time," Bueckers said. "We're not looking into the future. We're being where our feet are and staying in the present.

"It's obviously extra motivation just to go back home and have the Final Four there and be a part of that experience. But, honestly, wherever the location, what gym, what court, I'm just excited to be out there with my sisters and play another game."

The Huskies would be staying in Storrs if Player of the Year Paige didn't show up in the nick of time.

Since returning to the lineup after missing 19 games with a left knee injury suffered Dec. 5 against Notre Dame, Bueckers has showed flashes of the star that took the women's college basketball world by storm a year ago. She averaged 7.3 points in her first seven games but had 15 points on Saturday in the win over Indiana.

She was relatively quiet most of the first 40 minutes Monday. Her basket with 2:10 left gave UConn its final lead of regulation time but the Wolfpack were able to respond to tie with 59 seconds to go.

Her first eight points of the first overtime — two free throws, followed by two midrange jumpers, and then another two free throws — gave UConn a lead. She added two more free throws with 6.2 seconds left to make it 77-74 only to see Brown-Turner hit the tying 3 over her outstretched hand.

"I think NC State hitting that big shot to put us into that second overtime on her was the best thing they could do but the worst thing they could do," UConn freshman Azzi Fudd said with a smile.

The game wasn't over as Bueckers was just getting started.

A 3-pointer 22 seconds in and a pull-up on the next possession gave the Huskies a little room. Her teammates made sure the advantage held up.

"During the game, especially during crunch time, in close games like that I just try to stay composed, try to keep being that leader for my team and just play with poise and play with calmness," Bueckers said. "It's easy to get flustered and sort of let your mind take over. There's a lot going on. And then just finding a way to win. That's the main goal of basketball, and I want to win every game I play in.

"I can't dream a lot of stuff that happens to me. I'm just super-happy to be here."

So is Auriemma. Under his guidance, the Huskies have the most consecutive NCAA Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and Final Four berths in tournament history. Monday's victory allowed them to pass Tennessee for the most tournament wins with 129. They still have an opportunity to try to win their 12th national championship in the building they won their first 27 years ago.

When it was time to take the game over, it was Bueckers' time to shine.

"Usually with her, I'm pissed that it's not consistent the whole game and that she just picks and chooses when," Auriemma said. "Tonight she had no choice. It was either do it every possession or we're going to lose. I like when she is like that when she feels she has to be that aggressive every possession because everything good comes from how aggressive she is. That just makes life that much easier for everyone else."

As the Huskies met the media, Auriemma pointed to a box score on the table they were sitting at.

Even with all her heroics, UConn was a minus-6 in Bueckers' 44:42 on the court.

"You know what she said? 'It was the two threes I gave up,' " Auriemma said. "You can't get anything by her. She has an answer for everything."

On this night it was about everything the Huskies could have dreamed of.

Carl Adamec is a Journal Inquirer staff writer. He has covered the UConn women's basketball team for 33 years.

For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.