Paige Bueckers reacts to setting UConn record for points in an NCAA Tournament game

The UConn Huskies are dancing to the Elite Eight after dominating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet Sixteen. Star Paige Bueckers, in particular, had the game of her career, scoring 40 points and setting a program record for points scored in an NCAA Tournament game in the process.

After the game, Bueckers took some time to reflect on that massive individual accomplishment. In doing so, she made sure to praise her teammates around her for making what she did scoring possible.

“It’s an honor,” Paige Bueckers said. “I’m extremely blessed and extremely grateful that I even get to play at UConn and be in these conversations with, like, the greatest of all time. But people see the points, but, like, a large just attribution to Sarah [Strong], Jana [El Alfy], Ice [Brady], the way they were screening for me, getting me open, getting me looks. Like, everybody sees the points, but nobody sees the screens set, the passes that were found to me. So it’s, I guess, an individual point total, but it’s really a team effort.”

Prior to Paige Bueckers’ 40-point night, UConn’s highest individual scorer in an NCAA Tournament game was Kerry Bascom. She set that record in 1991, and it stood for more than three decades. She had scored 39 points in her NCAA Tournament outing.

For Bueckers, the game against Oklahoma was also her individual career high, regardless of whether the game came in the NCAA Tournament, Big East Tournament, or regular season. She had set her previous career high of 34 points twice, against Arkansas in 2021 and UConn’s previous NCAA Tournament game this season.

When Bascom finished her UConn career, she held the program record for career points scored. Today, she ranks ninth. Along with Paige Bueckers, who sits fourth on the all-time list, some of the great players in the history of women’s basketball rank on that list. Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, and Napheesa Collier headline that group of players who have dominated scoring for UConn, but never were able to accomplish what Bueckers did.

UConn is a program with an extensive NCAA Tournament history too. That includes 23 Final Four runs since 1991 and 29 Elite Eight runs. That includes this season, with Paige Bueckers sending UConn to its second straight Elite Eight.

While reflecting on a record-setting accomplishment is always great, Bueckers and UConn are going to quickly look to turn the page to their next test. That comes in the form of one-seed USC, who the Huskies are set to play on Monday.