Bueckers has happy homecoming for No. 8 UConn in 62-44 win at cold-shooting Minnesota
Paige Bueckers had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for eighth-ranked Connecticut in her hometown, and the Huskies stifled Minnesota's outside shooters on the way to a 62-44 victory over the Gophers on Sunday.
Aaliyah Edwards scored 16 points and nine rebounds to help UConn (3-1) control the paint and conclude a strong week following a 92-81 loss on Nov. 17 to No. 14 North Carolina State.
Bueckers, working her way back from a torn ACL in her left knee that kept her out of the 2022-23 season, shot 4 for 12 from the floor in 31 minutes. When she was subbed out for good in the fourth quarter, Bueckers received a loud cheer from the crowd of 10,689 at Williams Arena about 10 miles east of the suburb, Hopkins, where she was raised.
The Huskies, who beat No. 20 Maryland 80-48 on Thursday, played their second straight game without star guard Azzi Fudd because of a knee injury she suffered in practice on Tuesday.
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Mara Braun had 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists for the Gophers (3-1), who went 6 for 34 from 3-point range and shot just 26.2% overall (17 for 65) from the field. Braun, the sophomore preseason All-Big Ten pick, missed her first 11 shots — several of them airballs — until swishing a corner 3-pointer that cut UConn's lead to 21-19.
The Gophers under new coach Dawn Plitzuweit entered the game ranked sixth in the nation in field goal percentage, a small sample size that hadn't yet stood up to this Huskies defense. They were feeling good about their position with a three-point halftime deficit despite a 9-for-38 shooting performance over the first two quarters. Braun, who went 11 for 28 from deep over the first three games, missed nine of her 11 tries from 3-point range.
The Huskies have five more nonconference foes waiting who appeared in the Associated Press preseason poll, and that strength of schedule doesn't include difficult games like this against an up-and-coming Big Ten foe playing in front of a full house on national television.
The Gophers have lost 24 straight games to opponents ranked in the AP Top 25. Their last such win was an 80-66 victory over No. 19 Arizona State on Nov. 17, 2019. Their last win over a top 10 team was a 93-74 win over No. 10 Maryland here on Feb. 18, 2018. This was Connecticut's first visit to Minnesota. The Huskies beat the Gophers in all three previous matchups, including in the Final Four in 2004.
UP NEXT
UConn: Plays No. 3 UCLA in the Cayman Islands Classic on Friday.
Minnesota: Plays Cal State Northridge on Wednesday.