In dominant UConn win, Paige Bueckers wasn't spectacular. Here's why that's a good thing

STORRS, Conn. ― UConn women's basketball star Paige Bueckers was comfortable with the uncomfortable on Saturday.

Bueckers, one of the top players in the 2025 women's March Madness tournament, had a relatively soft impact on the box score in the No. 2 seed Huskies' 103-34 first-round domination of No. 15 seed Arkansas State. But that didn't stop her from making her presence known.

She contributed 11 points, good for fourth among Huskies players, as well as four assists, one rebound, two blocks and two steals in 21 minutes.

For a player of Bueckers' caliber, that's a rather pedestrian stat line. But that wasn't how UConn head coach Geno Auriemma saw it.

"That's the way you have to play at Connecticut," Auriemma said after the game. "Some nights it's about you and some nights it's not. What did we have, 29 assists on 40 baskets? That's pretty good."

After Arkansas State scored the game's first basket, UConn unleashed a 13-0 run in the opening minutes. The Red Wolves went scoreless for 5:20 before a 3-pointer finally found its way in, but followed it with another drought of 3:41 to end the first quarter. The Huskies were already ahead by 29.

It was more of the same to end the half. Arkansas State committed 16 turnovers that led to 27 of UConn's 66 first-half points. The Red Wolves shot 6 for 36 from the field in the first two quarters.

Nothing was easy.

It was Azzi Fudd (game-high 27 points) and Sarah Strong (20 points, 12 rebounds) who dominated the stat sheet. Fudd added seven assists. Strong had five assists of her own as well as five blocks.

Bueckers, meanwhile, was still engaged. Acting as a magnet for defenders, she was consistently able to facilitate passes that led to wide-open scoring opportunities.

"If you complete a lot of passes early in the possession, you're going to get a lot of opportunities," Auriemma said. "That's pretty much what happened. Every time we broke their pressure, there was a wide-open opportunity at the other end."

It was Buecker's first NCAA tournament game since 2023. She watched her teammates fall in the Sweet Sixteen last season while recovering from injury.

"A lot of times when kids haven't played, they put pressure on themselves to make up for missing NCAA tournaments and trying to get it back in one night," Auriemma said.

Bueckers stayed composed. She didn't force shots. She didn't hang her head when a 3-point attempt rimmed out. And when she was replaced just four minutes into the third quarter — with the Huskies already up by more than 50 points — she remained an engaged teammate on the bench, fine with saving her bullets for later in the tournament.

The Huskies have made the Final Four each year Bueckers has been healthy, but they've fallen short of a national title each time. UConn plays the winner of Oklahoma State and South Dakota State in the second round Monday.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paige Bueckers plays supporting role in first UConn March Madness game

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