Geno Auriemma Revealed 'Only Way' to Stop UConn Star Paige Bueckers
Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies women's basketball squad is off to a strong start to the 2024-25 season.
Their most recent win game against the North Carolina Tarheels on Friday, which many believed would be a tough matchup for them. However, the Huskies defeated the Tarheels with ease, leading them by 16 points after three quarters and ultimately securing a 69-58 win.
When healthy, Paige Bueckers has been UConn's best player (and one of the best players in the country) for the past five seasons. And she proved this once more on Friday after scoring 29 points (including going 4-8 from three-point range) while also adding 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Bueckers also went viral for a hilarious skipping celebration that she conducted directly in front of UNC's bench after making a buzzer-beater three-pointer at the end of the first quarter.
PAIGE AT THE BUZZER 😳
— ESPN (@espn) November 15, 2024
Paige Bueckers up to 15 points at the end of the first 🔥 pic.twitter.com/OB8r94ftr0
There's no doubt that Bueckers has one of the deepest, most well-rounded offensive skill sets in not just the college game, but in all of women's basketball. And her head coach Geno Auriemma explained that he believes there's only one way to stop her from scoring at will — although it won't be much help to opposing teams.
"Unless you foul her every single time, that's the only way you're gonna stop her," Auriemma said of Bueckers, per CT Insider's Maggie Vanoni. "I think she's the most difficult player to guard in America."
Geno Auriemma on Paige Bueckers: "Unless you foul her every single time, that's the only way you're gonna stop her .... I think she's the most difficult player to guard in America"
— Maggie Vanoni (@maggie_vanoni) November 16, 2024
Of course, fouling Bueckers means sending her to the free throw line — and she's a career 83% free throw shooter. So fouling her probably won't slow her down either.
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.