UConn star guard Paige Bueckers could have sounded off about the officiating after an offensive foul called against UConn with seconds to play was instrumental in UConnâs 71-69 loss to Iowa in Friday nightâs Final Four game.
But even as debate raged over whether the call was good or bad, Bueckers said she believed she fell short of her standards, according to a post on X.
âEverybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a Basketball game or loses a Basketball game,â she said. âI feel like there were a lot of mistakes that I made that couldâve prevented that play from even being that big or causing the game âŚâ
âYou can look at one play and say, âThat killed usâ or âThat hurt us,â but should have done a better job, I should have done a better job, of making sure we didnât leave the game up to chance like that and leave the game up to one bad call going our way and that deciding it, so, yeah, maybe thatâs a tough call for us, but I feel like I coulda done a better job of preventing that from even happening,â she said.
Bueckers noted that UConn might not be champions, but the players were still winners.
âEverybody saw the heart, the joy, the passion that we played with,â she said. âWe just love each other and we enjoy being around each other. And this season meant everything to us, against all odds,â she said, according to CT Insider.
âItâs not the ending that we wanted, but just to look back and â itâs hard right now, of course, because all youâre thinking about is the loss, but this is relationships and memories weâll have for the rest of our life,â she said.
Bueckers had the grace to praise coach Geno Auriemma.
âIâm grateful that he recruited me here,â Bueckers, who will return for her final year at UConn next year, said. âHe recruited everyone else around me here, because I love every single one of them. And I owe everything to this program, and Iâm super grateful.â
On Friday night, Bueckers scored just 17 points, which was her lowest total for the NCAA Tournament, according to Sports Illustrated.
Auriemma hinted there might have been a reason for that, according to ESPN.
âShe definitely didnât get the ball enough and definitely didnât play the way she had played in the tournament leading up to today. There was something bothering her. I think it was physical. But she wasnât her aggressive self,â he said.
Asked what he suspected was the issue, Auriemma replied, âI donât know. She didnât say anything. She just had this look about her that wasnât quite right,â
âShe didnât move the way sheâs been moving. ⌠She wasnât as active as she normally is,â he said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.