Bueckers Named BIG EAST Player, Freshman of the Week

STORRS—Paige Bueckers has been selected as both the BIG EAST Player and Freshman of the Week, as announced by the conference Monday. Bueckers reached the 30-point mark in both wins for the third-ranked Huskies last week, tallying 32 points off 13-of-20 shooting in Wednesday’s win against St. John’s before scoring a game-high 32 in Friday’s win at Marquette. She was 12-of-18 from the field against the Golden Eagles to tally a .658 shooting clip for the week, including an 11-of-15 (.733) mark from three.

The rookie sensation added 4.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game. This is Bueckers’ first BIG EAST Player of the Week certificate and seventh Freshman of the Week honor. She is the first to sweep both BIG EAST weekly honors since Villanova’s Maddy Siegrist did so on Dec. 23, 2019. Bueckers is just the fourth player in league history to sweep the awards, along with Siegrist, Marquette’s Allazia Blockton (Feb. 15, 2016) and fellow UConn standout Maya Moore (March 4, 2008).

Bueckers is just the third UConn freshman to be named conference player of the week. In addition to Moore, Christyn Williams was named American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Dec. 3, 2018. Fellow freshman Aaliyah Edwards was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. Edwards averaged 16.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and .867 shooting. She scored a career-high 22 points against St. John’s on Wednesday, going 9-of-11 from the field, before going a perfect 4-for-4 at Marquette on Friday en route to 11 points.

—Staff Reports