Mar. 25—STORRS, Conn. — Three minutes and 38 seconds into their second round NCAA tournament game against 10th-seeded South Dakota State, the No. 3 UConn Huskies still hadn’t scored.
They only trailed 3-0, but the upstart Jackrabbits were showing their mettle and gaining confidence. SDSU was a 29-point underdog, but when a Madison Mathiowetz 3-pointer gave them an 8-2 lead it made it possible to think maybe, just maybe, the Jacks could hang with the second-seeded, 11-time national champions.
That is exactly what legendary Huskies coach Geno Auriemma didn’t want.
“The entire day today, I kept thinking about how we would be able to get some separation from them,” Auriemma said. “Because of all the teams we’ve played this year, (SDSU’s) sense of who they are, what they’re trying to do, every possession down the floor, how determined they are, is second to none. I knew that was going to be the case. I knew how hard they were going to play, how disciplined they were going to play, how well they execute. I was fearful that the game would be played like it was played that first quarter, that it would be four quarters of that.”
Thanks to Paige Bueckers and a hellacious UConn defense, it wasn’t.
The Huskies (33-3) closed the first quarter on a 15-4 run, then outscored the Jacks 24-14 in the second and 29-8 in the third to put to rest, authoritatively, any thought of an upset in an eventual 91-57 win.
The Huskies move on to the Sweet 16 for the 31st year in a row. The Jacks season ends at 30-4.
An SDSU win would’ve ranked among the biggest upsets in women’s tournament history. But then, that’s why it didn’t happen — it would’ve been one of the biggest upsets in women’s tournament history.
Perhaps some Jackrabbit fans got caught up in the euphoria of upsetting Oklahoma State in the first round, or the flowering praise Auriemma and Bueckers heaped onto SDSU at their Sunday press conference. Maybe the players even started buying into it, too.
Good. That’s what great teams and great players are supposed to do. Believe they can win and meet the challenge head on.
The Jacks met the challenge head on, but when Bueckers started casually hitting fadeaway jumpers, pull-up 3s and acrobatic layups — at one time making eight consecutive field goals — it served as a smelling-salts moment.
This is UConn. Playing at home. This is Bueckers. Playing in her final game at Gampel Pavilion.
Did anyone really think Paige Freaking Bueckers was going to lose to South Dakota State in the final home game of her career? Yeah, no.
Bueckers had 34 points, tying a career-high. She was 14-of-21 from the floor, dished four assists and nabbed four steals, and had a pair of curtain call moments, as Auriemma pulled her once and then twice late in the game to be recognized by the crowd of 10,299. Bueckers was given a microphone to thank the fans after the game.
“It’s incredible to watch,” teammate Azzi Fudd said of Bueckers. “But you almost feel sorry for the other team because you know when Paige is locked in, there’s nothing you can do to stop her. It doesn’t matter what shot she takes, the ball’s going to go in. I was on the bench getting to watch most of it so that was really fun to just get to watch and see what she does and she makes it look so easy. We have all the trust in the world in her so just got to sit back and enjoy the Paige show.”
The Jacks were ready for that, but even when you think you’re ready for a player like Bueckers, you’re not really ready.
“Yeah, she was special and she’s certainly — I always hate to compare and rank — one of the very best players in the country and certainly will be a great professional,” said Jacks coach Aaron Johnston. “I think we knew that. I don’t know that we were surprised by it, but when someone that good gets to that level, it’s really hard to slow them down. I thought our effort was good. She made a lot of tough pull-up jumpers, made some shots behind screens. Just did things that are really hard to stop. They’re kind of outside of a defensive plan, I thought, but her talent is exceptional and it really shined.”
The Jacks never stopped playing. Paige Meyer, in her final game as a Jackrabbit, kept charging into the lane trying to make something happen, and while that contributed to SDSU’s 25 turnovers, she had 16 points and displayed the toughness, one last time, that made her arguably the most dynamic point guard ever to wear the SDSU uniform.
Brooklyn Meyer struggled with UConn’s interior defense and was limited to four points, but she left an impression, too. Late in the first half she went down with what looked like a badly twisted ankle. As trainers tended to Meyer she insisted to them, through tears, that she was OK, even though she clearly wasn’t. When the Jacks emerged from the locker room for the second half it looked like Meyer wasn’t going to join them. But then she jogged onto the court, told a teammate “I’m good” and finished the game.
The Jacks shot 41 percent for the game and 41 percent from 3. They had a 33-28 rebounding edge. But they could not handle the Huskies’ defensive pressure or slow down an offense that was lightning quick when it wanted to be.
“We came out with a good start,” Paige Meyer said. “I think their pressure kind of got to us that second quarter, just some turnovers, too, that kind of led to some easy baskets for them. They’re a really great team. Wish we could have done some things a little differently but still proud of the effort that the team had out there.”
In the end, the effort is where the Jacks must find solace in their loss to UConn. But for the season as a whole, there was much to celebrate.
It was undoubtedly one of the most successful seasons in SDSU history. They won their 6th NCAA tournament game. There were also wins over Creighton, Oregon and Wisconsin, a third consecutive undefeated conference season.
What’s more, the four teams that beat SDSU all made the NCAA tournament, and three of them (Duke, UConn and Texas) are all still playing.
That adds up to a pretty special year.
“I wish we had practice tomorrow,” said senior forward Kallie Theisen. “I wish we could keep going. But it’s been a great year.”
The final margin, unfortunately, indicates there is still a wide chasm between the No. 3 and No. 23 team in the country. The Jacks have come farther than anyone could’ve reasonably expected when they first took their teams to Division I two decades ago, Johnston’s team farther than any. But the true bluebloods, the ones who play for national championships, still operate on another plane. That doesn’t mean Johnston is going to stop trying to close that gap — he will continue to strive to raise the ceiling on his program, while reminding his players that getting that ceiling where it is right now is worth remembering.
“I’ll tell you what I talked about with the team,” Johnston said. “One, I think in my mind as a coach, you’re always trying to find ways to get better. We want to win these games. I can sit here and say that and that’s a true statement. That is the goal. We have to find a way to continue to play better if we want to advance. I don’t have any problem saying that.
“At the same point,” Johnston continued, “I mentioned to our players afterwards and they talked about it, I heard them say that a few times, as they were young girls, they grew up watching Connecticut. I reminded them that there are young girls at home watching them that want to be Jackrabbits. The takeaway is, yeah, we’re going to figure out some basketball stuff and try to keep moving forward in our plan, but not to forget the impact that our women have on our communities and our state and our young people back home. I think that’s an incredibly powerful statement to kind of be on the stage with a team that’s certainly at a different level right now, both nationally, how they play and the impact they have but to remind our players they can have that same impact locally and that can be that light for somebody else and that’s a really powerful message, and one that I hope stays with them as they move on.”
