Women's Fastbreak On SI

Geno Auriemma Jokingly Pressures Paige Bueckers by Saying JuJu Watkins Would Beat Her

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma had jokes about the upcoming Paige Bueckers vs. JuJu Watkins matchup.

Grant Young

Feb 25, 2022; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks with guard Paige Bueckers (5) from the sideline as they take on the St. John's Red Storm in the second half at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Feb 25, 2022; Hartford, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma talks with guard Paige Bueckers (5) from the sideline as they take on the St. John's Red Storm in the second half at XL Center. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The No. 4 ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team faces one of its toughest tests of the 2024-25 season when they take on the No. 7 ranked USC Trojans on Saturday, December 21.

In addition to this being a matchup between two 2025 National Championship contenders and top-10 teams in the country, perhaps the biggest reason for the hype behind this game is that it features superstars Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins, who are inarguably two of the best players in college basketball this season.

When speaking with the media on Friday, Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma discussed how Bueckers is handling the pressure of being one of the sport's brightest stars.

"I try to not put any more undue pressure on her," Auriemma said, per The UConn Daily YouTube account.

"Other than I said today that this isn't a JuJu [vs.] Paige game. I said 'Thank god... it's not JuJu against Paige one-on-one, because JuJu would kick her a**,'" he added.

"But this is UConn against Southern Cal. So you can imagine that didn't go over too good."

Bueckers spoke with the media after Auriemma and was asked about her coach's comment about JuJu beating her.

"Yeah, that's what he said at practice today," Bueckers said with a smile before shaking her head.

While Auriemma was obviously joking, it's worth noting that both Bueckers and Watkins had fantastic performances when UConn and USC faced off in the Elite Eight of the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

UConn won the game, but Watkins (who scored 29 points) outscored Bueckers (who scored 28 points) by one. We imagine Bueckers hasn't forgotten about that.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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