History was made Wednesday morning as UConn guard Paige Bueckers became the first freshmen to win the Associated Press’ Women’s Players of the Year award. Coming out of high school, she had lofty expectation put on her and as of now she has delivered. After defeating Baylor in a tough matchup Monday, she helped lead UConn to it’s 13th straight Final Four appearance.
“You know I love you guys and none of this would be possible without you guys and coach,” said Bueckers, before being succumbed to her emotions. Once she was able to collect herself, she simply said “Just Thank You”. Doing anything to avoid getting emotional again.
Not Your Average Freshman
Paige was much deserving of this award for multiple reasons. As stated earlier, coming into UConn this year she had a target on her back from the jump. She joined the college basketball elite and did not shy away at all in the bright lights. Most notably, she also won Big East Freshman of the Year and Big East Player of the Year. Not to mention that this Huskies’ team had no seniors on the roster but rather seven freshman. Her leadership blossomed and was able to help lead the Huskies to a 28-1 record so far.
Bueckers numbers this year were stellar as she averaged 20.1 points, 5.9 assists, 2.3 steals per game and 45.9 3-point shooting. In addition to being the first freshman to win the AP POY, she was became the first freshman to make the AP First Team-All America as well as holding the record for most assists in a game at 14 and most assists by a freshman with 164.
No. 1 seed UConn will square off against No. 3 seed Arizona in the second semifinal, at 6:30 p.m. PT Friday. Should the Huskies win the tournament, her legacy at UConn will forever be cemented with the likes of Maya Moore, Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Rebecca Lobo, Breanna Stewart and list goes on.
