15 hours Ago By Jeremy Goldstein
It was another Big East Tournament, another Big East title, and another Big East Tournament MVP award for UConn star senior Paige Bueckers in 2025. The 23-year-old primed to be the first pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft became the first player to capture three Big East Tournament MVP awards on Monday following the Huskies' 70-50 victory over Creighton. "It’s very cool and hard to do something that’s never been done at UConn before," Bueckers admitted.
It hasn't always been easy for Bueckers during her five years in Connecticut. After capturing the 2021 Wooden Award, she missed most of her sophomore campaign with a knee injury and then all of the following year after tearing her ACL. She returned in 2023-24 and has since pulled off two more Big East Player of the Year seasons .
Bueckers told the cheering crowd just how much they meant to her following the win. "[The support has] meant everything. It’s been a dream since I was a kid and it's been everything I can dream of," she said to a flurry of applause.
"The support, the best fans in the country, they travel everywhere. It’s been a blessing and I can’t be grateful enough." UConn jumped to a 27-11 lead they would never relinquish.
Bueckers shot 7-14 from the field and finished with a ho-hum 24 points and eight rebounds. Head coach Geno Auriemma was nothing but smiles at his post-game press conference. “I think Sarah [Strong] should’ve got [the tournament MVP award]," he jokingly said with a laugh.
"Paige is steady. She’s consistent. She plays her best games generally when we need her to play her best games.
This is quite an achievement. This conference has been around a long time." Bueckers appeared to run out of gas last year in the NCAA tournament, visibly forcing up shots as UConn bowed out to Caitlin Clark's Iowa.
Auriemma emphasized how that shouldn't be the case this season. "There's less wear and tear on her body this season and we were able to rest her, which we weren’t able to do last year,” he said. “It's a different cast of characters around her than previous years.
Every year she’s been in the tournament we’ve been at a disadvantage missing someone. Sometimes two or three. This is the first time we’re going into the tournament with most of the key pieces intact.
It's a great place for us.” The win gives UConn a fifth consecutive Big East title. They will have a shot at a No.
1 seed in the NCAA tournament but face competition from the likes of South Carolina, Texas, UCLA, and USC..
