Tag: Paige Bueckers

Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo named Wooden Award finalist

She had an incredible season, no?

[autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] racked up one record and honor after another during her freshman season at Notre Dame. Now, she’s going about as far as she can go as far as awards in women’s basketball. She has been announced as one of five finalists for the Wooden Award, which is given to the best player in the country.

Even though the winner will be announced Monday, merely being a finalist means Hidalgo will be invited to the ceremony April 12 in Los Angeles regardless if she wins the award or not. She also is one of 10 Wooden Award All-Americans.

In 35 games this season, Hidalgo became one of the country’s top scorers with 33.9 points a game. She also led the country in steals at 4.6 a game, and she averaged 5.5 assists a game. All that and more made her a First Team All-American and First Team All-ACC selection as well as the top rookie and defensive player in the ACC.

Hidalgo faces some incredibly stiff competition for this award. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is the clear favorite to win it for the second straight year, but Hidalgo also is up against 2021 winner Paige Bueckers of UConn, fellow freshman phenom JuJu Watkins of USC and Stanford’s Cameron Brink. Still, the fact that she can be in the conversation with these players is a good indicator that she’ll keep the South Bend faithful coming to Purcell Pavilion for the next few years.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Paige Bueckers classily consoling JuJu Watkins after UConn’s win is what March Madness is all about

This is truly what March Madness is all about. All class here from Paige Bueckers.

It’s the end of the road for USC freshman guard JuJu Watkins … this year.

Because we just witnessed a record-breaking, unreal season despite falling short in women’s March Madness after the loss to UConn. She had a 51-point performance this year, proving that the Caitlin Clark comparisons aren’t far off.

After USC lost in the Elite Eight matchup on Monday, her UConn counterpart Paige Bueckers came up to her and consoled the tearful Watkins, and that’s when March Madness is at its best — opponents showing love and encouragement to each other.

Here’s the moment captured by ESPN’s cameras for the world to see:

Paige Bueckers stunned fans with her explosive Elite Eight performance for UConn

Paige Bueckers put on a show in the Elite Eight round.

While Iowa’s Caitlin Clark got plenty of love for her incredible performance against LSU on Monday night, UConn’s Paige Bueckers wowed fans after leading her team past USC in the evening’s second Elite Eight game.

Bueckers scored 28 points, including three 3-pointers, as the Huskies made it to the Final Four over an excellent Trojans team led by the outstanding JuJu Watkins.

This impressive sequence late in the fourth quarter helped UConn pull away from USC, as Bueckers got five very tough points in the clutch.

It’s baskets like this that will help the Huskies guard succeed in the WNBA one day, even though she’s returning to UConn for the 2024-25 season.

 

To make Bueckers’ stellar performance even better, she and the Huskies will take on Iowa and Caitlin Clark on Friday in the Final Four for a chance at the 2024 national title game.

That game should be must-see television for all sports fans.

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March Madness: Elite 8 strategy for the $2.5K USA TODAY’s Women’s NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool

Win $2.5K in the Women’s NCAA Tournament Survivor Pool: Elite 8 pick and prediction.

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The 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament moves on to the Elite 8, starting Sunday at 1 p.m. ET. Only 284 entries in USA TODAY’s NCAA Women’s Tournament Survivor Pool contest remain out of the 3,754 who signed up.

Sunday, we have No. 1 seed South Carolina (35-0) facing No. 3 seed Oregon State (27-7) in Albany, while No. 1 seed Texas (33-4) meets No. 3 seed NC State (30-6) in Portland.

Monday, we have a couple of amazing bouts on tap. No. 3 seed LSU (31-5) and No. 1 seed Iowa (32-4) will battle in Albany in a national championship rematch, for a trip to the Final 4 this time around. It’s F Angel Reese and the defending champion Tigers against record-setter G Caitlin Clark and her Hawkeyes in one of the most anticipated games this season.

But don’t sleep on Monday’s nightcap from Portland when G Paige Bueckers and No. 3 seed UConn face freshman phenom G Juju Watkins and top-seeded USC in the final Elite 8 game of the round.

After getting through the 1st round with 3 correct picks for 12 points, I stumbled in the 2nd round and was eliminated. While No. 4 seed Indiana won for me, I was eliminated when 4th-seeded Kansas State lost to No. 5 seed Colorado.

Even though I was done, I still offered out picks for the Sweet 16, hoping to help you. Only having to make 1 pick this round, I rebounded with LSU topping 2nd-seeded UCLA in Albany Saturday in a 78-69 thriller.

As an employee, I wasn’t eligible to win this contest, but there’s no rule against me helping you win $2.5K.

A rules reminder: Remaining entries are required to pick 1 team in Elite 8, 1 team in the Final Four and then the National Championship Game winner — if you still have an eligible team to select.

Points are earned equal to your winning teams’ seeds.

Here is my strategy of which team to pick for the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool in the Elite 8 round.

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Elite 8 pick

PICK 1: UCONN HUSKIES (32-5)

Who they play: USC Trojans (29-5)

When: Monday, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Where: Moda Center, Portland

The Huskies are ranked No. 7 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, while the Trojans are No. 3.

USC narrowly escaped an upset in the Sweet 16, edging 5th-seeded Baylor 74-70 in a physical battle. The good news is that the Trojans held the Bears to 38.6% (27-of-70) shooting from the field, but that bad news is that USC wasn’t much better at 39.4% (29-of-66) on its field-goal percentage. USC turned it over 9 times, too, while managing just 11 assists and 2 steals, to 17 dimes and 5 steals for Baylor. Still, the Trojans managed to get the job done.

Watkins misfired on 20 of her 28 field-goal attempts, including a dismal 2-of-11 from behind the 3-point line. Still, she managed to get to the free-throw line 13 times, knocking down 12 of her attempts. It was one of the strangest 30-point night you’ll ever see. She finished with 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 blocked shots, too.

USC will have its hands full with Bueckers. The Huskies eased by 7th-seeded Duke 53-45 in a defensive battle. Bueckers was 9-of-21 from the field, posting 24 points with 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocked shots and an assist, while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. F Aaliyah Edwards was tremendously efficient, too, hitting 6-of-7 from the field, ending up with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in a complementary role.

Coach Geno Auriemma is one of the game’s greats, and Bueckers and Edwards are outstanding options to confuse Watkins, who is on this stage for the first time. All 4 of the games in the Elite 8 are No. 3 vs. No. 1 seeds. The Huskies are your best bet to pull the upset, with NC State a close 2nd if you’ve yet to use them (I have).

Stream select live college basketball games and full replays: Get ESPN+

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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.

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Connecticut eliminates Duke in low-scoring Sweet 16 battle

Duke women’s basketball pulled out a 10-0 desperation run in the fourth quarter on Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough to get past UConn.

Duke’s second-round upset of Ohio State had the makings of a fairy tale beginning, but a fourth-quarter surge from the Blue Devils wasn’t enough to beat Connecticut in the Sweet 16.

The Huskies, led once again by Player of the Year finalist Paige Bueckers, took down Duke for a 53-45 victory.

On the bright side, the Blue Devils held Connecticut to one of its worst offensive halves of the year to start the game. Duke’s defense harassed UConn, and the Huskies only had 23 points after two quarters.

The down side? Connecticut still led by 10.

The first 20 minutes featured some ugly basketball (unless you love defense, in which case, it was glorious). The two teams combined for 16 points in the opening quarter. The Huskies started to pull away late in the second, however, with an and-one from Bueckers with seven minutes left in the half helping to ignite a 13-4 run that broke the game open.

The Blue Devils spent much of the third quarter at arm’s length, trailing by 20 points in the final two minutes of the frame for the largest deficit of the game. After scoring 26.5 points per game in Duke’s first two victories, junior guard Reigan Richardson was held in check. She finished with just 10 points, shooting 5/15 from the floor and 0/5 from 3-point range. It was her first game without a triple since Georgia Tech on March 7.

Despite the off night from the team star, who dealt with the expected attention from the Connecticut defense, Duke found a way to fight back into the game. The Blue Devils scored the final five points of the third, emphasized by a 3-pointer from Taina Mair, to pull within 15.

With 6:22 to play, the Huskies’ Ice Brady made a jump shot to make it a 15-point game again. UConn didn’t score again for more than five minutes.

The Blue Devils defense did all it could, and the offense desperately fought back into the game. Ashlon Jackson made two free throws. Freshman Oluchi Okananwa, the ACC Sixth Person of the Year, converted an and-one and buried a 3-pointer as part of her team-leading 15 points.

Duke could only score 10 of the 15 points it needed, however, and when Connecticut star Aaliyah Edwards broke the scoring drought with 1:07 left to play, the game was all but over.

Bueckers finished with a game-high 24 points, although Duke became the first defense to stop her from putting up a double-double in the tournament. Edwards and KK Arnold each added 12 points to the victory effort.

The Blue Devils offense, without open looks for much of the afternoon, finished with a 32.7% conversion rate from the floor and shot 21.1% from 3-point range. Richardson and Okananwa were the only two to finish with more than five points.

Duke finishes the season with a 22-12 record.

Dawn Staley dubbed Paige Bueckers the most elite women’s basketball player ever and here’s why

Dawn Staley dubbed Paige Bueckers women’s basketball royalty, and her reasoning makes it hard to disagree.

Paige Buckers is one of the best shooters in the country, and South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley knows it. It’s why Staley thinks Bueckers is the most elite player women’s basketball has ever offered.

Dawn Staley is careful and intentional about her words. When she compliments a women’s basketball player, people listen. She has a deep appreciation for the sport and its athletes, so it’s not surprising that she dropped heavy praise for UConn superstar Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers has been a household name for years and has battled her way back from injuries to drop serious buckets this season, propelling UConn all the way to the Sweet 16. In a newly released clip, LSU’s Hailey Van Lith and Flau’jae Johnson, plus Staley, give Paige her flowers. But it’s Staley’s words that you need to hear.

Here’s what Dawn shared about Paige (See the clip below and the 8:09 mark of the YouTube video):

“Paige is great. I think Paige is probably the elitist basketball player to ever grace our game. You look at her efficiency — she doesn’t take bad shots.”

Was Geno Auriemma taking a shot at Caitlin Clark by calling Paige Bueckers ‘the best player in America’?

Hmm.

Now, look: Caitlin Clark is amazing. Paige Bueckers is also amazing. We could leave it at that.

But legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma might be playing some mind games, especially now that women’s March Madness is in full swing.

Bueckers led the Huskies to a win over Syracuse in the second round on Monday wit a 32-10-6 game. Afterwards, Auriemma declared she was “the best player in America,” basing it on the analytics and such.

Now: was that a shot at Clark? Especially if they meet later in the tourney? Or was it a way to pump up Bueckers?

I’d say the latter, probably. But you make the call:

Can the Duke defense slow down Paige Bueckers?

Duke women’s basketball needs to slow down one of the best players in the sport on Saturday, but the Blue Devils might be suited to the task.

Let’s just get it out of the way: UConn’s Paige Bueckers is one of the best college basketball players of the last decade.

Bueckers was named the Player of the Year as a freshman in 2021, averaging 20.0 points. 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 steals in her first season of collegiate basketball. She led the Huskies to the Final Four that season and the national championship game the next.

This year, after missing a full season due to injury, she’s picked up right where she left off. She’s averaging a career-high in points (21.8), rebounds (5.1), and blocks (1.4), and she’s still dishing out 3.9 assists per game.

She’s racked up two double-doubles through two tournament games, dropping 28 points on Jacksonville State and 32 points against Syracuse. She’s pulled down 10.5 rebounds and dealt 6.5 assists per game in the postseason thus far, and she had seven steals between the two games.

In postseason basketball, the sport’s best players can be absolute buzzsaws. Scheme, depth, balance, it can all be thrown out the window if your team doesn’t have anyone to stop Bueckers.

The Blue Devils might not have that problem.

Duke allowed 58.0 points per game this season, the best mark in the ACC and the seventh-best average of any Power 6 school. The Blue Devils are allowing opponents to shoot 36.9% from the floor and 32.0% from beyond the arc.

Kara Lawson’s squad has a strong track record against dominant guards, too.

Syracuse’s Dyaisha Fair, an All-ACC First Team member who averaged 22.3 points per game (the third-most in the conference) got to play the Blue Devils at home in February. She finished 7/25 from the floor, one of just six conference games in which she finished below 30% for the game, and 1/7 from behind the 3-point line. The Orange only scored 45 points.

Florida State’s Ta’Niya Latson, another 20-point-per-game scorer and another All-ACC First Team guard, scored 15 points on 17 shots against the Blue Devils back in January. Duke won that game by 42 points on the Seminoles’ home court.

Even in Duke’s second-round upset of Ohio State, the Buckeyes’ star guard Jacy Sheldon couldn’t get off the ground. Sheldon averaged 18 points per game entering the contest, the third-best mark in the Big Ten, but she could only manage 13 points against the Blue Devils. Sheldon made five of her 13 attempts and just one of her four 3-pointers, and Ohio State went 1/11 as a team from distance.

A player of Bueckers’ caliber presents her own challenges. The only player Duke has seen on her tier this season is Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, a freshman who leads the conference in both points (22.9) and steals (4.6) while finishing third in assists (5.6). Hidalgo helped the Fighting Irish past Duke with a 23-point game in Cameron last month, but Duke lost that game by eight after losing the third quarter by 12.

The path for a No. 7 seed to make the Elite Eight would always be tough, Bueckers or not. However, if any 7-seed might have a path to slowing down the Huskies dynamic star, it would be the Blue Devils.

Where to watch Duke’s Sweet 16 game against Connecticut

Check out where you can watch the Blue Devils fight Paige Bueckers and Connecticut for a spot in the Sweet 16.

The Blue Devils already played spoiler once in the NCAA Women’s Tournament, but the next round of March Madness brings with it another giant to slay.

Duke will play Connecticut on Saturday in the Sweet 16 as Reigan Richardson and the team try to upset Paige Bueckers and the Huskies.

Richardson has averaged 26.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game through two rounds, the first Blue Devil since Alana Beard to reach 25 points in consecutive tournament games.

Bueckers, in her first tournament action in two years, has scored 30 points per game with two double-doubles thus far.

Day: Saturday, March 30

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Channel: ESPN

The winner of Saturday’s game will play either Baylor or USC for a ticket to the Final Four.

Was Geno Auriemma taking a shot at Caitlin Clark by calling Paige Bueckers ‘the best player in America’?

Hmm.

Now, look: Caitlin Clark is amazing. Paige Bueckers is also amazing. We could leave it at that.

But legendary UConn coach Geno Auriemma might be playing some mind games, especially now that women’s March Madness is in full swing.

Bueckers led the Huskies to a win over Syracuse in the second round on Monday wit a 32-10-6 game. Afterwards, Auriemma declared she was “the best player in America,” basing it on the analytics and such.

Now: was that a shot at Clark? Especially if they meet later in the tourney? Or was it a way to pump up Bueckers?

I’d say the latter, probably. But you make the call: