– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT — The greats of Connecticut’s past, as well as some of the brain trusts that are scouting the future of professional basketball descended upon Mohegan Sun Arena all week, a span of four days that also marked the final games that All-American Paige Bueckers will play as a collegian in the Nutmeg State, where her prodigious talent as a prep star was forged into a package that will make her almost assuredly the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft just over a month from now.
But also one month from now is the Women’s Final Four, and Bueckers and the Huskies made sure to fine tune their best form one last time at home before embarking on a run they hope will finally see an end to their national championship “drought.”
Bueckers had 24 points and eight rebounds as top-seeded UConn opened up a 16-point lead at the end of the first quarter on its way to defeating No. 2 seed Creighton 70-50 in the championship game of the Big East Women’s Basketball Tournament, the Huskies’ 12th conference tournament title overall and their fifth straight Big East Tournament crown. Sarah Strong had 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, six steals and three blocked shots while Azzi Fudd added 13 points for UConn (31-3).
“You work entirely for this moment to shine in March,” said Bueckers, who won the Most Outstanding Player award in the Big East Tournament for the third time. “It has meant everything. It has been a dream since I was kid [to play at UConn]. It has been a blessing.”
The Huskies jumped out to an 11-0 lead before the Bluejays scored the next seven points to reel Connecticut back in. Bueckers responded by scoring all of her team’s points in an 11-2 run that all but put the hammer down in the contest.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Monday’s championship game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Robert Cole. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 13 pictures in total.
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