HARTFORD, Conn. — At 5:52 p.m., Paige Bueckers jogged out to the XL Center court with her teammates, letting out a yell. “Woooooo,” reverberated through the empty arena.
For the first time since Dec. 5, Bueckers was one with her teammates. No crutches, no cast, no brace. Her return went about as well as anyone could have expected. She played eight minutes, brief appearances in each of the first three quarters, and scored eight points in the Huskies’ 93-38 victory over St. John’s in Big East women’s basketball.
Bueckers was cleared to play by UConn’s medical staff after a meeting with Dr. Robert Arciero on Thursday. She was not in UConn’s starting lineup against St. John’s, which included Nika Muhl, Azzi Fudd, Aaliyah Edwards, Christyn Williams and Olivia Nelson-Ododa.
Bueckers rose from the bench at 7:17 p.m., as the crowd noise began to build. With UConn leading 19-4 and 3:41 left in the first quarter, she entered the game to a long standing ovation as game day host Conor Geary introduced her.
Bueckers picked up a couple of rebounds, then on the last possession of the quarter, she took the ball downcourt, juked past a defender, briefly lost the ball, but recovered and hit a jump shot to beat the buzzer. She marched over to the student section to celebrate her first basket.
The national player of the year as a freshman, Buecker was averaging 21 points when she fell awkwardly during the final minute of the sixth game of the season, a victory over Notre Dame. Diagnosed with an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear, she underwent surgery on Dec. 13 and began the long rehab process.
She remained in the game as the second quarter began, exiting after 1:32. Her first stint in the game was 4:53, with two points, two rebounds and an assist. She returned with 1:50 to play in the half and added another field goal, a one-handed runner off the glass. The Huskies led 51-19 at the break.
In the third quarter, Bueckers scored twice more before calling it a night. By then, her teammates had the game well in hand; in fact, it was well in hand before she checked in the first time. UConn began the game with a 17-0 run, Fudd scoring eight points.
Fudd went 7 for 9 in the game to finish with 19 points. Edwards added 16 points with seven rebounds. Caroline Ducharme, Nelson-Ododa and Williams each added 13 points. UConn (21-5, 15-1 Big East) outshot the Red Storm 63.5% to 26.4%, and outrebounded them 41-23. St. John’s fell to 11-17 overall and 7-11 in the Big East.
