Paige Bueckers leads UConn to Big East title: 'They have all the pieces to win it all'

Let's face it: Geno Auriemma is not an excuse-maker, but his team has been far from full strength over the last four years. So, as the confetti fell down from the rafters at Mohegan Sun Arena for a fifth consecutive year in celebration of UConn's Big East Tournament championship, the program's 23rd overall, this one felt different.

"They're playing as well as anyone in America right now," FOX Sports analyst Kim Adams said in reference to the No. 3-ranked Huskies during the broadcast. "They have all the pieces to win it all."

The Huskies' talent was on full display Monday night as they put together a two-hour clinic that resulted in a 70-50 win over a Creighton team that is an NCAA Tournament lock and entered the game with a 26-6 record. 

Jim Flanery, whose Creighton team had already lost to UConn twice this season by a combined 30 points heading into Monday night's conference title game, said that the margin for error for his team was "slim to none," and that "we'd have to be perfect." 

Just four minutes into the game, it was 11-0 Connecticut, thanks in large part to a defense that has been outstanding over the last month and is the biggest strength of the team right now. The Huskies rank fourth in the country, allowing just 51.9 points per game, and hold the nation's best scoring margin at +29. UConn held both St. John's and Villanova to just two points in a quarter in their respective quarterfinal and semifinal victories. 

What was missing in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds showed up in the final, though, with UConn shooting 8-of-15 from 3-point territory in the first half and leading 40-22 at the break. The Huskies had shot just over 26% from downtown in their previous two Big Ten Tournament games.

But the biggest story of this UConn team and throughout all of women's college basketball is pretty clear: Bueckers Mania. 

Paige Bueckers is still chasing that elusive first national title, but on Monday night, the Huskies' senior star did accomplish a first-time feat, winning Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, and in the process, becoming the first player to win the accolade three times (2021, 2024, 2025). Bueckers totaled 65 points on 55% shooting while tallying 14 rebounds, 12 assists, five blocks and four steals in three Big East Tournament victories.

"There are two ways that a senior can go," Auriemma said. "They can either be panicking or stressed about what's coming next, or they can relish in the moment, make the most of it and have the final say. Let's hope it keeps going the way of the latter, but that's what she is right now."

Bueckers just had that look in her eye Monday night, one that says she has a hunger to pen her final chapters at UConn after being sidelined for both her sophomore and junior years due to injuries. The 6-foot senior guard isn't deferring to anybody right now, instead taking matters into her own hands and commanding the game. When you combine Buecker's hunger with a blossoming freshman in Sarah Strong, who is the ultimate matchup nightmare, it's a downright scary combination. 

Strong possesses the ability to process the game at an elite level while being unflappable and not letting anything slow her down.

"It's my favorite trait of hers … she just plays," said Auriemma, who brought up the fact that sometimes freshmen need time to get to that point where they're not trying to think too much. 

But that's not the case with Strong, whose mother, Allison Feaster, was a three-time Ivy League Player of the Year at Harvard and a 10-year WNBA pro, and whose father, Danny, played at NC State and then overseas.

After a 20-point, 16-rebound performance in UConn's win over Villanova in the semis, Strong tallied 13 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, four assists and three blocks in the title game victory. When UConn goes smaller with her at the 5 spot and guards around her, it's what Flanery referred to as "their death lineup."

"Sarah is the best and most difficult player to match up with that they've had since Breanna Stewart," St. John's head coach Joe Tartamella told FOX Sports by phone after UConn's win on Monday night. "Strong completes them if she's at the top of her game because Bueckers is driven, Kaitlyn Chen is steady and Azzi Fudd is the X-factor." 

Tartamella also brought up the fact that this UConn team didn't even celebrate on Monday night. In past years, the Huskies did show a bit more jubilation over winning the conference tournament crown, but this felt like a rung on the ladder toward what feels like a very realistic outcome for the first time in several years: a national title.

Auriemma has won 11 national championships at UConn, the last coming back in 2016. But the way his team is playing right now gives him as good a shot as anybody.

Bueckers' passion and pursuit are real and Strong lives up to her name in every way. The Huskies are a wagon, and it showed on Monday night.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him at @John_Fanta.

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