"I'm probably gonna be sad": Paige Bueckers opens up about emotional goodbye before title game vs. South Carolina
Paige Bueckers will suit up in a UConn uniform for the final time on Sunday when the Huskies take on the No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2025 NCAA Tournament championship game. The guard has had an exceptional final season, averaging 20.0 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.2 steals.
During her final pregame presser on Saturday, Bueckers said about her emotions going into the game:
"I prayed about it. We all hoped we'd play on the last day, so that's all we can really ask for, just showing up and giving everything to that last day," she said. "I'm probably gonna be sad regardless of the outcome, just knowing that my college career is over and this is my last time wearing the UConn uniform.
"So just enjoying that, embracing that; making sure that I have nothing left to give after that game."
Paige Bueckers' time with the Huskies has seen its share of ups and downs, as she missed a whole season with an ACL tear. In five years at UConn, the guard is yet to win a national championship. The Huskies' last win was in 2016, marking the end of a four-peat with Breanna Stewart.
Paige Bueckers shares UConn's game plan against South Carolina
The Gamecocks are looking to defend their 2024 championship win and will be ready to give it all. Paige Bueckers and UConn will have a chip on their shoulder, as they lost their previous championship game to South Carolina in 2022.
Talking about the team's strategy for Sunday during the postgame press conference after the Final Four win, Buecker said:
"I think we all just want to lock in defensively. I think that's all of our main mindset in our main goal as a team, to be super locked in defensively. Talk, communicate, play with energy (and) effort on that side of the floor. And then it translates what we want to do on offense.
But being aggressive on both sides of the floor, Hunting shots hunting, the paint, and then hunting to get steals, deflections, just being disruptive. So being aggressive in all aspects."
Paige Bueckers and the Huskies have a slight advantage, as they won their previous clash against the Gamecocks during the regular season this year.
The NCAA Tournament championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ABC.