Back From the Bottom, Paige Bueckers Pours Gratitude on Her Comeback Year

Paige Bueckers is thanking her stars for having an amazing second half of 2023. She made a stunning recovery and became the town’s most talked-about newsmaker again. Recently, she rose to #3 on ESPN’s ranking of the top 25 women’s basketball players. Interestingly, she was placed the same in the preseason rankings. She has averaged 19.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and a 53.1% field goal percentage this season.

Even prior to her enrollment at UConn, Paige was well-known within the women’s basketball world. She lost a season due to an ACL tear, which unfortunately ended her winning run.

Paige Bueckers expresses gratitude

With 11 major awards to her name in 2020-21, including the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, and AP Player of the Year, Bueckers had a remarkable first campaign. But she ended up missing 19 games in her sophomore season due to surgery for a lateral meniscus rupture on her left leg and an anterior tibial plateau fracture.

The UConn star guard’s world came crashing down in a matter of seconds during a pickup game in early August 2022, despite her triumphant return from a knee injury that sidelined her for nearly three months of the 2021-22 season. The Bueckers finished the season as one of the best in women’s college basketball.

Moments like these have been bugging her NCAA career, but Paige definitely managed to slam the door hard on the faces of her critics with exemplary performances on the court. While UConn’s performance as a team is subjective to criticism, the perplexed perspective on Paige is shattered by her scoring skills.

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She took Instagram to express her gratitude as she posted a carousel of pictures reminiscing about both her best and worst moments of 2023: “I am so grateful to be playing the game I love dump… God is great. Thank you 2023.”

Bueckers winds up 2023 with a win

After a dominant 96-64 victory on Sunday, No. 15 UConn stopped No. 18 Marquette’s greatest start ever. Paige Bueckers scored 25 points, while Aaliyah Edwards contributed 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Huskies outscored the Golden Eagles 54-26 in the middle two quarters after ending the first quarter on a 13-0 run.

Marquette was playing the Huskies for the first time, with both teams ranked after defeating UConn in February for the first time in 18 attempts. The UConn run began with a three-point play from Edwards, a four-point play from Bueckers, and three-pointers from Muhl and Paige.

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Nine seconds into the second quarter, Bueckers made a jumper, and Fran Hottinger put an end to the Golden Eagles’ skid. Then, UConn scored nine more points to take the lead.