<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12594572" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="paige-bueckers" source="Orion">Paige Bueckers</keyword> dominated overtime in UConn's thrilling Elite Eight victory over NC State.</li><li>As the sophomore superstar took over, her teammates could only watch the magic unfold in awe.</li></ul><p>Paige Bueckers dazzled the basketball world with her incredible Elite Eight performance that helped the <keyword id="12096003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uconn-huskies" source="Orion">UConn Huskies</keyword> punch their ticket to a 14th-straight Final Four.</p><p>And even her Huskies teammates were awestruck by their point guard's magic.</p><p>The superstar sophomore dropped a game-high 27 points in UConn's double-overtime thriller against the top-seeded NC State Wolfpack on Monday in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Bueckers dropped 23 of those points after the half, with a whopping 15 coming over the two five-minute overtime periods.</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers." height="1669" width="2225" msid="90549525" hostid="261"></div><p>At one point, the 6-foot guard scored eight consecutive OT points for the Huskies, completely taking over the game when Geno Auriemma's squad needed her most.</p><p>"Literally I was thinking, we have Paige Bueckers, and they don't," UConn senior <keyword id="13391714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christyn-williams" source="Orion">Christyn Williams</keyword> recalled thinking during the final stretch of the game.</p><p>"I mean, once she makes one, the rim is like this big," she added, stretching her arms out in the shape of a giant hoop. "She's just going to keep making them. So just keep giving her the ball."</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers celebrates after a play against Marquette." height="1783" width="2672" msid="90549526" hostid="261"></div><p>Bueckers' heroics were undoubtedly magnificent to watch — especially considering she's only been back on the court following a knee injury for a month. But to Williams and other Huskies who see the star day-in and day-out, Bueckers' stellar play was "not really surprising." </p><p>"She does it every day in practice," Williams noted.</p><p>Auriemma echoed that sentiment during his own portion of the press conference.</p><p>"Paige does it routinely in practice every day, and so the players have come to expect that she would do what she did tonight," the Hall of Fame coach said. "And she did it so often last year."</p><p>"Paige is different," he added.</p><div type="image" title="UConn head coach Geno Auriemma (right) looks at Huskies point guard Paige Bueckers." height="1666" width="2222" msid="90549527" hostid="261"></div><p>Azzi Fudd — the freshman guard who is arguably Bueckers' closest friend on the team, having played together for several years before arriving in Storrs — suggested that the Minnesota native's late-game tear may have been inspired by the NC State player she was guarding.</p><p>When UConn looked to have victory in hand as the clock wound down in the first overtime period, Wolfpack star Jakia Brown-Turner drained a jaw-dropping three-pointer at the last second to buy NC State another five minutes of play.</p><p>She sank the shot over Bueckers' outstretched hand.</p><p>"That whole game [Bueckers] was amazing," Fudd said. "But I think NC State hitting that big shot to put us into that second overtime on her was the best thing they could do — but [also] the worst thing they could do."</p><div type="image" title="NC State's Jakia Brown-Turner drains a three to send the game to double overtime." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90549528" hostid="261"></div><p>Bueckers chuckled.</p><p>"I just wanted to continue to play, and Coach is always huge on me about just making sure to find a way to win," Bueckers said earlier in the press conference. "So I think that was the key tonight."</p><p>Bueckers and company will now head to the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota — less than 10 miles from Bueckers' hometown of Edina, Minnesota — to face the reigning-champion Stanford Cardinal in Friday's national semifinal at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Should the Huskies win, they'll advance to their first championship game since winning the title in 2016.</p>

A UConn star said of the difference in Elite Eight thriller vs NC State: 'We have Paige Bueckers and they don't'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The 2021 <keyword id="11932023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa" source="Orion">NCAA</keyword> tournament was marred by controversy following the weight room scandal.</li><li>Social media posts revealed disparities between the resources at the men's and women's tourneys.</li></ul><p>With increased parity across the board, bigger stars emerging each season, and more coverage of the sport itself, the women's NCAA tournament has been steadily making gains.</p><p>But in 2021, focus shifted from the hardwood to the weight room as <keyword id="12832958" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="march-madness" source="Orion">March Madness</keyword> was embroiled with controversy.</p><p>Thanks to a video shared on social media by Oregon Ducks star Sedona Prince, blatant disparities between the resources offered to athletes at the men's and women's tournaments were broadcast for all to see. Most notably, players at the men's tournament had access to a sparkling weight room filled with rows of top-notch machinery. At the women's tournament, players were expected to make due with a pile of yoga mats and a pathetic-looking rack of dumbbells.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—Sedona Prince  (@sedonaprince_) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1372736231562342402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 19, 2021</a></blockquote><p>Nearly a year later, four of college basketball's biggest superstars — Louisville's <keyword id="13391712" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="hailey-van-lith" source="Orion">Hailey Van Lith</keyword>, Baylor's <keyword id="13391711" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nalyssa-smith" source="Orion">NaLyssa Smith</keyword>, Michigan's <keyword id="13391713" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="naz-hillmon" source="Orion">Naz Hillmon</keyword>, and UConn's <keyword id="13391714" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="christyn-williams" source="Orion">Christyn Williams</keyword> — reflected on the experience during an exclusive roundtable with TOGETHXR.</p><p>"I mean, that was crazy," Williams said. "You can't even make that up."</p><p>"They tried us, for sure," Smith added with a laugh. "They tried to play us."</p><div type="image" title="UConn's Christyn Williams looks to pass the ball." height="1855" width="2500" msid="90234718" hostid="261"></div><p>Williams then recounted the moment she and her Huskies teammates saw the weight room situation with their own eyes, a hint of disbelief in her voice.</p><p>"Like, honestly, we went to the gym and saw it had like five yoga mats and two-pound dumbbells," Williams said. "I'm like, WHAT?!"</p><p>"Our practice gym, like, had the lights turned off," Van Lith chimed in. "There was no lights in the practice gym! It was like a ballroom."</p><div type="image" title="Louisville's Hailey Van Lith handles the ball." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90234719" hostid="261"></div><p>Williams then broke down <a href="https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessWBB/status/1372676389208477696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1372676389208477696%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fncaa-sexism-images-show-inequality-mens-womens-march-madness-2021-3">the NCAA's "reasoning"</a> for the uneven resources provided to the men's and women's basketball stars. Leadership of the governing body for college <keyword id="11893855" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sports" source="Orion">sports</keyword> initially claimed that a lack of space at the women's tournament resulted in the lackluster weight room situation, but that turned out to be <a href="https://www.insider.com/ncaa-sexism-images-show-inequality-mens-womens-march-madness-2021-3">an easily debunked excuse</a>.</p><p>"They had a whole new gym the next day, didn't they?!" Hillmon said, referencing the replacement weight room the NCAA cobbled together after the scandal erupted.</p><p>"They got it quick!" Williams added. "I'm like, y'all could've just did this at the beginning."</p><div type="image" title="Michigan's Naz Hillmon grabs a rebound." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90234720" hostid="261"></div><p>All four athletes commended Prince for making the initial video that shined a light on the NCAA's wrongdoing. Hillmon also noted that the powers that be will always find a way to cut corners "if we don't continue to hold them accountable."</p><p>"That took guts, too," Van Lith said of Prince. "If I was her, I don't know about going against the NCAA like that. That's big time."</p><p>Check out the full video — in which Van Lith, Smith, Hillmon, and Williams discuss NIL, March Madness, social media, mental health, and more —below:</p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tBgc356v-kg" frameborder="0"></iframe>

4 college basketball stars blasted the NCAA for the 'crazy' 2021 March Madness weight room scandal

<ul class="summary-list"><li>No. 1 NC State battled the <keyword id="12096003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uconn-huskies" source="Orion">UConn Huskies</keyword> through two OTs before losing their <keyword id="13488833" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="elite-eight" source="Orion">Elite Eight</keyword> matchup.</li><li>The Wolfpack admitted postgame that they knew playing in "UConn's backyard" would pose a challenge.</li></ul><p>The <keyword id="13488832" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nc-state-wolfpack" source="Orion">NC State Wolfpack</keyword> entered their Elite Eight matchup against the No. 2 UConn Huskies with the confidence that being a top <keyword id="13357676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa-tournament" source="Orion">NCAA tournament</keyword> seed merits.</p><p>But after their gutting, <a href="https://www.insider.com/geno-auriemma-cries-uconn-wins-double-ot-thriller-elite-eight-2022-3">double-overtime loss to Geno Auriemma and company</a>, the Wolfpack admitted that they knew playing in "UConn's backyard" would be an uphill battle — regardless of the team's respective seeds.</p><p>"We knew it would be hard coming in," NC State junior Jakia Brown-Turner said during the postgame press conference. "Getting this far in general is hard."</p><div type="image" title="Elissa Cunane and her NC State Wolfpack teammates Aziaha James (left) and Jakia Brown-Turner gesture to the crowd." height="1699" width="2500" msid="90524641" hostid="261"></div><p>"I know everyone was saying that it was UConn's backyard, but we just came out, played for each other, and gave it all we had," she added.</p><p>Monday night's thriller unfolded at Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which is located roughly 80 miles — or an hour and a half drive — southwest of the Huskies' campus in Storrs. Despite earning the top spot in the region, the Wolfpack had to travel the 565 miles between Raleigh and Bridgeport by plane ahead of their second weekend of March Madness play.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, Total Mortgage Arena was jam-packed with UConn faithful for the iconic matchup. Ahead of the game, ESPN estimated that 84% of fans on hand for the 7 p.m. ET tipoff favored the Huskies.</p><div type="image" title="Wes Moore." height="1666" width="2222" msid="90524643" hostid="261"></div><p>"This team just came up here essentially on the road," NC State head coach Wes Moore said during the press conference, gesturing to his players on the podium.</p><p>And still, they fought tooth and nail for a shot at their program's first Final Four appearance since 1998 — before most of Moore's players were born. Though UConn looked to be pulling away in the first half, the Wolfpack closed the gap with a massive third-quarter run and forced overtime after a neck-and-neck final stretch of regulation.</p><p>Once again, when the Huskies looked to have victory in hand as the clock wound down in the first overtime period, Brown-Turner drained a last-second three-pointer from the corner to buy an extra five minutes. But ultimately, a 27-point showing from UConn superstar Paige Bueckers — including 23 second-half points, 15 of which came in overtime — proved too much for NC State to handle.</p><div type="image" title="Cunane faces a double-team from UConn's Olivia Nelson-Ododa (right) and Aaliyah Edwards." height="1669" width="2500" msid="90524644" hostid="261"></div><p>The Huskies closed it out with two layups in the final 20 seconds from senior guard Christyn Williams, thereby ending the careers of four of the Wolfpack's biggest stars — including All-American Elissa Cunane.</p><p>"This journey has been incredible, and this team has done so much and accomplished so much," Cunane said postgame. "Although this is hurtful right now, I am proud of all that we've done this season, and even to be playing in this game. I couldn't be more proud of the team."</p>

NC State players admitted they knew playing in 'UConn's backyard' would be an uphill battle in the Elite Eight

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12096002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="geno-auriemma" source="Orion">Geno Auriemma</keyword> was overcome with emotion after UConn's double-OT Elite Eight victory.</li><li>The Huskies head coach cried while speaking with ESPN's Holly Rowe after the win over NC State.</li></ul><p>Geno Auriemma and his <keyword id="12096003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uconn-huskies" source="Orion">UConn Huskies</keyword> are headed to their 14th straight <keyword id="13392004" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="final-four" source="Orion">Final Four</keyword>.</p><p>And after his team survived a double-overtime Elite Eight thriller against the top-seeded NC State Wolfpack, following a season filled with injuries and uncharacteristic losses, the Hall of Fame head coach couldn't help but break down and cry.</p><p>In his on-court interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, Auriemma wiped away his tears, shook his head in disbelief, and explained that "it's just been that kind of a year."</p><div type="image" title="UConn head coach Geno Auriemma (right) looks at Huskies point guard Paige Bueckers." height="1666" width="2222" msid="90508431" hostid="261"></div><p>"When you're younger you think, 'I got a million of these left in me,'" he said. "You get to a certain age, then, when you go, 'I don't know how many of these I have left.' You don't know how many opportunities you're gonna get to be in this game."</p><p>"It means more," Auriemma added. "It means more because each time you do it, there's a new set of kids that have never been there, and they came to Connecticut for a chance to play in a Final Four. And it's just this overwhelming responsibility that you have to get them a chance. And we did. We did."</p><p>And they did in spectacular fashion. Despite missing 19 games during the regular season due to an injury and having yet to return to full strength, UConn superstar Paige Bueckers exploded for 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the floor to carry her Huskies to victory.</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90508432" hostid="261"></div><p>The sophomore point guard netted 23 of those game-high 27 points after halftime, with a whopping 15 coming over the two five-minute overtime periods.</p><p>"Thank God Paige [Bueckers] came back," Auriemma said. "She just gives everybody so much confidence and then everybody just ... took turns making plays."</p><p>Though UConn looked to be pulling away in the first half, NC State closed the gap with a massive third-quarter run and forced overtime after a neck-and-neck final stretch of regulation. Once again, when the Huskies looked to have victory in hand as the clock wound down in the first overtime period, Wolfpack star Jakia Brown-Turner drained a last-second three-pointer from the corner to buy an extra five minutes for Wes Moore's squad.</p><div type="image" title="NC State's Jakia Brown-Turner drains a three to send the game to double overtime." height="1667" width="2500" msid="90508433" hostid="261"></div><p>UConn closed it out from there, with senior guard Christyn Williams making two layups in the final 20 seconds to ice the game. She finished with 21 points on the night, and freshman Azzi Fudd added 19. </p><p>"It was just an amazing basketball game," Auriemma said. "It really was a great showcase for our sport."</p><p>"Like I told Wes [Moore] after the game — I wish we both could go," he added. "They had the game won in regulation probably. We had it won twice, and they just — they made us work for it."</p><div type="image" title="Players from both teams battle for a rebound during double overtime." height="1640" width="2500" msid="90508434" hostid="261"></div><p>Auriemma and company will now head to the Final Four in Minneapolis, Minn., to face the reigning-champion Stanford Cardinal in the national semifinal. Should the Huskies win, they'll advance to their first championship game since winning the title in 2016.</p><p>Check out the full video of Auriemma's emotional postgame interview with Rowe below:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1508622442394124288">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

Geno Auriemma teared up after UConn survived a double-OT thriller to advance to its 14th-straight Final Four

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12594572" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="paige-bueckers" source="Orion">Paige Bueckers</keyword> put a pause on all of her Name, Image, and Likeness deals for the month of March.</li><li>The UConn superstar said she wanted to "strictly focus on basketball" during the <keyword id="13357676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ncaa-tournament" source="Orion">NCAA tournament</keyword>.</li></ul><p>The <keyword id="12096003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="uconn-huskies" source="Orion">UConn Huskies</keyword> are a win away from the Final Four.</p><p>And their superstar is all-in on hanging a banner back in Storrs — even if it comes at a cost.</p><p>Paige Bueckers is one of the highest-earning college athletes in the country and one of the biggest beneficiaries of loosened Name, Image, and Likeness (<keyword id="12467960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nil" source="Orion">NIL</keyword>) regulations in the NCAA. Between <a href="https://boardroom.tv/paige-bueckers-brand-uconn/">filing a trademark for "Paige Buckets,"</a> <a href="https://www.insider.com/paige-bueckers-nil-money-greater-than-mens-sweet-16-stars-2022-3">cashing in on her vast social media following</a>, and inking lucrative deals with <a href="https://www.insider.com/paige-bueckers-gatorade-first-college-athlete-nil-2021-11">Gatorade</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-does-cash-app-work">Cash App</a>, and StockX, the reigning National Player of the Year <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/reviews/out?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fuconn-paige-bueckers-college-basketball-ncaa-11628078726%3Fmod%3Dhp_featst_pos3">makes a pretty penny</a> as just a sophomore in college.</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers." height="1559" width="2080" msid="90505194" hostid="261"></div><p>But all of those business opportunities rank behind her on-court responsibilities. And in the month of March — while she's focused on bringing the Huskies their first national title since 2016 — they aren't on her agenda at all.</p><p>"I've sort of canceled out this whole NIL stuff during the month of March," Bueckers said Sunday. "I told my agency, I told the people in my circle, I just want to strictly focus on basketball this month."</p><p>"It's what I wanted to do all year, but on off days we'd get some stuff done," she added.</p><p>Bueckers' agent, Wasserman's Lindsay Kagawa Colas, confirmed to Insider that the star always stressed the need to prioritize "basketball and school" ahead of sponsorship opportunities. Any deals Bueckers inked also "needed to be about impact and lift across the entire ecosystem of womens basketball," Colas noted.</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers." height="1406" width="2500" msid="90505195" hostid="261"></div><p>"Each of her partners wholeheartedly supported that commitment by executing content captures prior to March and focusing activations on lifting via organizations Paige identified," she told Insider. "Specifically, that means that anything you see now was pre-banked, ready to share in a way that takes advantage of the spotlight the tournament provides while allowing Paige the freedom to be fully present for her team and focused on performance."</p><p>So far, Bueckers' approach of putting "basketball first and everything behind that... second" has worked. UConn cruised to a 45-point victory against the Mercer Bears in the opening round of the tournament, then advanced to the second weekend with a hard-fought victory over the chippy No. 7 UCF Knights.</p><p>The Sweet 16 brought the second-seeded Huskies a highly-anticipated matchup with the No. 3 Indiana Hoosiers, a game in which Bueckers and senior guard Christyn Williams each contributed a team-high 15 points in UConn's 17-point victory. Now, the Minnesota native Bueckers and her Huskies are gearing up <a href="https://www.insider.com/uconn-home-game-advantage-elite-eight-nc-state-star-claims-2022-3">for a battle against the top-seeded NC State Wolfpack</a> with a trip back home to Minneapolis on the line.</p><div type="image" title="Elissa Cunane and her NC State Wolfpack teammates Aziaha James (left) and Jakia Brown-Turner gesture to the crowd." height="1699" width="2500" msid="90505197" hostid="261"></div><p>"They're solid. They're experienced. They know how to win. They play great together," UConn head coach <keyword id="12096002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="geno-auriemma" source="Orion">Geno Auriemma</keyword> said of the Wolfpack. "They don't seem fazed by anything. They had 9 million reasons to lose that game [against Notre Dame in the Sweet 16], and they ended up winning it."</p><p>"It just goes to show you their resolve and their ability to just play and play the whole 40 minutes," he added.</p><p>Auriemma's whole team will need to play its best basketball to get past NC State and advance to its 14th-consecutive Final Four. But having his star point guard firing on all cylinders is, perhaps, most crucial of all — and Bueckers has done everything she can to be ready.</p><div type="image" title="Paige Bueckers." height="1184" width="1579" msid="90505199" hostid="261"></div><p>"Ever since the end of the Big East tournament, I've just tried to lock in mentally and physically," Bueckers said after the first round of the NCAA tournament. "[I'm] trying to do whatever I have to do, cut certain stuff out, and just really lock in this next month."</p><p>"The preparation has helped me be better on the court," she added.</p><p>The Wolfpack and Huskies will tip off at 7 p.m. ET Monday with a Final Four matchup against the reigning champion Stanford Cardinal on the line. Fans can watch it all unfold on ESPN.</p>

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A UConn star said of the difference in Elite Eight thriller vs NC State: 'We have Paige Bueckers and they don't'

Meredith Cash

4 college basketball stars blasted the NCAA for the 'crazy' 2021 March Madness weight room scandal

Meredith Cash

NC State players admitted they knew playing in 'UConn's backyard' would be an uphill battle in the Elite Eight

Meredith Cash

Geno Auriemma teared up after UConn survived a double-OT thriller to advance to its 14th-straight Final Four

Meredith Cash

Paige Bueckers refused NIL deals in March to 'strictly focus on basketball' during UConn's NCAA tournament run

Meredith Cash