With the shot clock going to lapse and her group ahead by a solitary point in extra time, Paige Bueckers hurled a long 3-pointer that hit the rear of the edge and ricocheted high into the air.
There was no doubt as far as Bueckers can say that the ball would descend through the net.
UConn’s first year recruit star scored 31 focuses, including her group’s last 13, to lead the No. 2 Huskies to a 63-59 extra time triumph Monday night up and over positioned South Carolina.
Bueckers scored the entirety of the Huskies’ 9 focuses in additional time, including that unlikely 3-pointer with a little more than 10 seconds left. There were 13 seconds on the clock when it left her hand.
“It bounced straight up, so I was like, ‘Man, it’s got to go in,’” she said. “It looked good. It felt good, but, yeah, I would say that was a really nice bounce.”
Bueckers has scored at least 30 focuses in every one of her last three games, and has 142 focuses over her last five games.
“It’s been a long time since one player has had to carry a team as much as she’s had to in some of these games,” Auriemma said.
The additional time thrill ride came only hours after the Gamecocks and Huskies procured the best two spots in The Associated Press Top 25 ladies’ school ball survey.
Aliyah Boston had 17 focuses and 15 bounce back for South Carolina (15-2), which defeated a seven-point shortage in the final quarter. Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson missed 3-pointers in the last seconds.
A layup by Aubrey Griffin had given the Huskies (14-1) a 50-43 lead with a little more than 8 minutes left, before South Carolina turned up the safeguard and went on a 11-0 run.
