Paige Bueckers closes Gampel career with yet another unstoppable performance

When Paige Bueckers began her career at UConn in 2020-21, she played in an empty Gampel Pavilion. With the world still in the grips of the Covid pandemic, there were no fans allowed at games. Instead, they were replaced by cardboard cutouts taped to the unoccupied seats.

“People were buying to have their face in the stands with cardboard,” Bueckers said. “Then there were dogs and animals, too. When you look back, it was like unreal to think that we were playing in those circumstances, in those times.”

Five years later, she played her final game in Storrs in front of a raucous sellout crowd as the Huskies beat South Dakota State to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

“To have gone through that and then experienced the other side of it, it was amazing. The atmosphere was amazing,” Bueckers said. “You can't even hear time-outs, can't even hear fouls, can't even hear the whistle blow just because of how loud they are.”

Bueckers went out in style, too.

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