Uconn Basketball Star Paige Bueckers would thank her supporters one last time before playing her last collegial game at the Gampel Pavilion.
BUeckers matched her career mound at 34 points to help Huskies move on to their 31. Sweet 16-looking with a blow-out win over South Dakota State in the women’s NCAA Tournament Monday.
Uconn-Guard Paige Bueckers addresses fans after her final match at the Gampel Pavilion at the end of another round match against the South Dakota State in the NCAA tournament, Monday, March 24, 2025 in Storrs, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The fifth -year senior received a standing ovation from the amount of sale when she got off the field just minutes before the end of her last home game.
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“That means everything,” Bueckers said. “We started playing here with cardboard cuts like fans, so just to go through it and then experienced the other side of it, which was great. The atmosphere was astonishing. You can’t even hear timeouts, can’t even hear mistakes, can’t even hear when the whistle just blows because of how tall they are and how much support they show.
“It’s been a dream to play here, a dream of wearing this uniform, a dream of playing in this environment. So much more times you want this to continue to happen, you just take every single chance you have and never take it for granted.”
But it was a friendly gesture from Bueckers who contributed to the atmosphere on Monday night.
Uconn Huskies -vagt Paige Bueckers leaves the floor after defeating the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 24, 2025. (David Butler II-Preferred Pictures)
Uconn -Star Paige Bueckers Shining in goodbye home match as Huskies fights for national championship
CT Insider Reported that Bueckers bought 1,500 tickets and gave them away to fans as a way to thank them for their support.
“They have given me so much and given so much to the team, the support,” she said via the business. “We wouldn’t be where we are without them. They are the best supporters in the country. You see it in the environment as tonight. They are my friends. They are my friends. They are the people I go to class with.
“I just tried to give back as much as they give us because it means everything. To be able to support them and do it, so our last home game this year was a good environment it was cool to do.”
Uconn -vagt Paige Bueckers drives to the curve towards the South Dakota State during the NCAA tournament, Monday, March 24, 2025, in Storrs, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
Uconn went on to Oklahoma in Sweet 16 Saturday in Spokane, Washington, where BUECKERS will look like to win the national championship before moving on to WNBA draft As expected # 1 overall choice.
