“Coach gets on her, I get on her”: Paige Bueckers expresses pride for UConn star’s hard work and aggressiveness
Paige Bueckers is aware of her standing as a leader for the UConn women's basketball team. She knows being persistent with her teammates to have them strive to be better every day is a top priority, as is the case with Ashlynn Shade.
The Huskies are coming off a 86-49 blowout win over the South Florida Bulls Sunday night. Bueckers had a solid performance of 22 points on 9-10 shooting, but Shade was the standout of the game with 15 points on 7-10 shooting overall as she looks to make significant improvements from last year, when she took home Big East Freshman of the Year honors.
After the game, Bueckers talked about how she pushed Shade to be aggressive at all times in order to maximize her skillset as much as possible. Seeing the results in the USF game, she was proud.
"Just to see her hard work all the time; coach gets on her, I get on her, the whole team needs her to be like that on the defensive end. So it was just like to see it was amazing, super proud of her, and that's what we want Ashlynn to be every single night."
"So to just instill that confidence within her, that this is what she does, and that's who she is now that she showed it. Super proud of her just wanted, like as much as I want to challenge my teammates, I want to support them too. So, when she performs like that, I want to give her the acknowledgement. And yeah, she was just flying around, being everywhere tonight."
Bueckers embracing leadership, getting help from teammates
Bueckers represents UConn as not only its star player but also its most experienced member, having been with the program since 2020.
Through her collegiate career so far, Bueckers is averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. Last season saw her put up 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks per contest, winning Big East Player of the Year as she led UConn to the Final Four before seeing the season come to an end in a 73-69 loss to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
With a national championship still in reach for Bueckers, she has to be willing to take the next step in being a leader so she can not only get the best of herself but also her teammates as well. Praising Shade for responding to adversity appears to be a key example of that as the Huskies look to get back to the Final Four and reach the championship game this time around.
UConn will be in action next at home against North Carolina on Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. ET.