How defense and joy sparked Paige Bueckers to her best game of the season

Before the season, Paige Bueckers laid out a vision for her much-anticipated return from a torn ACL. When she finally got back on the court, she’d be boisterous, entertaining and happy. Bueckers wanted to put on a show after being away from the game for so long.

“I'm going to interact with the crowd much more than Coach (Geno Auriemma) and CD (associate head coach Chris Dailey) would want,” she said. “I've just missed it so much.”

“When people come, either watching it on TV or in in the stadium, they see how much I missed the game,” she added later. “I think just my passion and my joy, I'm just getting that back and just having fun playing the game of basketball again. That's what I want them to see.”

But through the first month of the season, there hasn’t been much to be happy about — for Bueckers or the Huskies. While she’s personally played well, averaging a team-high 19.0 points per game entering Sunday, not much else has gone the way anyone expected.

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