Bueckers announces her return for next season following No. 15 UConn's win over Georgetown
Feb. 16—STORRS — During the Senior Night game Friday, a lot was left to the imagination for UConn women's basketball fans as to who was staying and who was going. There were no prior announcements from the four seniors being honored.
Until Paige Bueckers brought sold-out Gampel Pavilion into a frenzy late in the postgame senior ceremony, taking the microphone and announcing her return.
Said Bueckers: "I know everybody wants me to address the elephant in the room. Unfortunately, this will not be my last Senior Night here at UConn so I'm coming back."
The crowd of 10,299, which watched 15th-ranked UConn blitz Georgetown 85-44, erupted into delirium. Bueckers, the 2021 national player of the year as a freshman who has since been sidelined twice due to injuries, including missing all of last season, will return along with graduate student Aubrey Griffin.
Seniors Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl have not yet made their intentions public.
All four have remaining eligibility due to injuries and an extra year granted all NCAA athletes due to COVID-19.
Bueckers said her only "normal" year of basketball came as a freshman, when she averaged 20.0 points and 5.8 assists per game to earn All-America honors, but that was also a season interrupted by COVID, in which the Final Four in San Antonio was played in a bubble.
"And then there's just the love for this program," Bueckers told the media Friday. "I love playing here. I love being here. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. And obviously you think about what this team can do when we're fully healthy.
"... Again, just wanting to get more time here, more time with my teammates, more time with my coaches, more time playing at Gampel, more time in the program, was the biggest reason."
One of two national player of the year candidates on the team along with Bueckers, Edwards had 26 points on 11 of 16 shooting against Georgetown, adding 16 rebounds, four steals and three assists for UConn (22-5 overall, 14-0 Big East Conference).
Bueckers, had 21 points, eight assists and three steals, while Muhl finished with seven assists, eclipsing the 600-assist mark for her career.
Muhl became the fifth player in UConn history to hit 600 with her third assist of the night, putting her in the company of Moriah Jefferson, Diana Taurasi, Jennifer Rizzotti and Renee Montgomery.
Muhl, who set the single-season assist record last season with 284, dished career assist No. 600 to Edwards at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter. Muhl threaded the ball to Edwards in the paint, who found her way for a layup.
UConn led 46-20 at halftime behind 13 points, six assists and three steals from Bueckers, 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals from Edwards and five assists from Muhl.
Edwards then added 10 points and six rebounds in the third quarter, scoring 10 of the Huskies' 14 points. Bueckers hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to give the Huskies a 72-41 lead and Edwards completed her own scoring moments later with a layup and the ensuing free throw.
During the game, each of UConn's four injured underclassmen wore a jersey representing one of the seniors. Azzi Fudd wore Bueckers' No. 5, while Jana El Alfy sported Griffin's No. 44, Ayanna Patterson wore Edwards' No. 3 and Caroline Ducharme had on Muhl's No. 10.
Messages from several UConn alums appeared on video board.
The traditional pregame senior ceremony was held after the game, with the players accompanied by their families to center court.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said he didn't know what Bueckers was about to announce, but when the crowd began chanting "one more year" during the senior festivities, he thought that would be a perfect time.
"To be honest with you, she never said she was leaving and she never said she was staying," Auriemma said. "Paige is very, very bad at making decisions, very bad. Obviously, it changes the whole nature of things, the whole dynamic of things."
This season, the Huskies have lost five players to season-ending injuries.
Ice Brady added 10 points for UConn, which next plays a Presidents' Day matinee at noon Monday against Creighton at the XL Center.
Victoria Rivera had 16 points for Georgetown (16-10, 6-9).
