Paige Bueckers, Aubrey Griffin announce return to UConn women’s basketball for 2024-25 season
STORRS — Paige Bueckers celebrated her first senior night with UConn women’s basketball on Friday, but the superstar guard confirmed in front of a screaming Gampel Pavilion crowd that it will not be her last.
Bueckers has two seasons of eligibility remaining with the Huskies because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a medical redshirt in 2022-23 due to a torn ACL. She is averaging a team-high 20 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game in 2023-24, and she is shooting 54.1% from the field. Bueckers was recently named to the Naismith Trophy midseason team and is a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award for the nation’s best shooting guard.
“I know everyone wants me to address the elephant in the room,” Bueckers said with a grin when she addressed the crowd at Gampel Pavilion. “Fortunately, this will not be my last senior night here.”
Bueckers was the 2021 Naismith National Player of the Year and led UConn to the Final Four in her freshman season, averaging 20 points, 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals. She appeared in just 17 games while grappling with a knee injury but still logged 14.6 points, four rebounds and 3.9 assists, leading the Huskies to the national championship game where they finished runners-up to South Carolina.
Fifth-year Aubrey Griffin also confirmed she will return to UConn in 2024-25 after suffering a season-ending left ACL tear on Jan. 3. She was averaging 9.5 points and six rebounds and made five starts prior to the injury. Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl, the other two seniors the Huskies honored on Friday, both told SNY postgame that they have not decided whether they will be back next season, but both have another year of eligibility if they choose to use it.
UConn beat Georgetown 85-44 on senior night Friday behind 26 points and 16 rebounds from Edwards. Bueckers added 21 points and a season-high eight assists, while Muhl added seven points and seven assists.
