Paige Bueckers and UConn are in touching distance of their ultimate goal – winning the national championship.
The Huskies last lifted the title back in 2016, and have be tantalisingly close to March Madness glory in the years since.
Bueckers, considered one of the most complete and talented players in college basketball, has been the driving force behind much of their recent success.
She has led UConn to the Final Four in each season she’s played for them, but suffered heartbreak in the national championship game back in 2022, losing to the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Bueckers was then forced to redshirt the following season after suffering an ACL tear. In her absence, UConn lost to Ohio State in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, marking the first time they did not reach the Final Four since 2008.
With ‘Paige Buckets’ back for 2024, the Huskies made it back to the semifinals once more, but were stopped in their tracks by Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
That game, which saw Iowa advance to the national championship with a tight 71-69 win, offered fans a glimpse of what could be a regular occurrence in the WNBA.
Clark scored 21 points and made three momentum-turning 3-pointers in the second half to rally Iowa past Bueckers and UConn.
After a rough opening 30 minutes in the face of a swarming Huskies defense, the Hawkeyes star finally got going in the fourth quarter.
With the game tied at 51, Clark scored seven points in the first minutes of the period — including one of her signature step-back 3s — to give Iowa a small cushion.
The Hawkeyes went on to lead 70-66 before UConn’s Nika Muhl hit a 3-pointer after a steal with 39.3 seconds left to get the team within one.
But it was always going to be Clark’s night, and she converted one final free throw with time all but expired to confirm the victory.
Thanks to that result, the Hawkeyes star ensured her college career would end with a shot at the national championship.
Iowa went on to lose to the Gamecocks.
Bueckers, meanwhile, finished the Final Four game with a team-high 17 points for the defeated Huskies.
While defeat to Clark and Iowa would have stung, the UConn star will have one more chance for glory this year, before following Clark into the WNBA.
‘Paige Buckets’ is the presumptive No. 1 pick of this year’s WNBA draft – Clark went first last year – and it’s all but certain they will meet again in the pro league.
If the 2024 Final Four clash is anything to go by, it will be must-watch when they do.
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Clark, of course, has gone on to establish herself as the face of the WNBA with a historic rookie season.
And despite coming up short last year, Bueckers has since praised her former college rival for carrying the ‘weight of the world is on her shoulders’ when it comes to the sport.
“Caitlin brought so much new attention to the rise of women’s college basketball and the WNBA and women’s sports in general,” the UConn star said last year.
“I feel like the weight of the world is on her shoulders. And she just has this heavy burden to carry and she does it with grace and humility.”
Bueckers and UConn face the UCLA Bruins in the Final Four on Friday night.
How to watch March Madness in the UK
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March Madness is one of the most exciting times of the year for basketball fans, with a total of 68 teams battling it out to become the Division 1 college champions.
This year UConn have the chance to become only the second team ever to complete a March Madness three-peat, having emerged victorious for the last two years.
talkSPORT will have the latest news on the tournament, but for UK basketball fans the way to watch is through Sky Sports. The broadcaster will be showing EVERY March Madness game through their Sky Sports + streaming service.
Click here to sign up to a Sky Sports subscription, or read our article on the best Sky Sports deals available now.
