Starting Five: Paige Bueckers earning the title of 'Miss March'

Before the Big East Tournament, Paige Bueckers had a conversation with herself. After an at-times grueling regular season in which UConn dealt with a slew of injuries and suffered five defeats, the start of the postseason provided a chance to hit the reset button.

Bueckers wanted to make sure she took advantage of it.

“I just told myself before the Big East Tournament, before this tournament, just to embrace it and have fun,” she said after the win over Syracuse.

The result? Only a stat-line of 28.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.2 steals and 2.8 blocks while shooting 53.9 percent overall and 44.1 percent from three across UConn’s five postseason games. Bueckers has been unstoppable since the calendar turned to the March.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, though. Aaliyah Edwards has been trying to tell everyone.

“I've been saying she’s built for March,” the senior forward said. “She is Miss March herself.”

In the Huskies’ second-round win over Syracuse, Bueckers carried the team with 32 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals on 25 shots. She refused to let UConn lose and was so spectacular that Geno Auriemma declared her the “best player in America.”

He would know, too.

“Listen, I've coached the best player in the country a lot more than anybody else coaching in this tournament,” Auriemma said.

Despite coming off a torn ACL, Bueckers already put together a spectacular campaign. She was named an AP and USBWA First Team All-American and then brought home Big East Player of the Year.

Somehow, she’s gotten even better in the postseason.

“If you go by stats, if you go by efficiency, if you go by the entire box score and what she means to our team playing power forward, I think she's done more for our team than anybody else could have done on our team,” Auriemma said.

“I wouldn't trade her for anybody else.”

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