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Baylor Women's Basketball

The 1-3-1 Round of 32: Baylor (20-12) vs UConn (30-5)

March 20, 2023
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The last time that Baylor and UConn met happened to be the end of an era in Waco. The top-seeded Huskies took advantage of a hamstring injury that sidelined the National Defensive Player of the Year, Didi Richards, and freshman All-American Paige Bueckers led UConn on a 19-0 run.

Baylor surged back in the fourth quarter and had an opportunity to win, but a controversial no-call as two Huskies mauled BU guard Dijonai Carrington. UConn danced their way into the Final Four, while Kim Mulkey headed to Baton Rouge following the Bears’ Elite 8 exit.

On Monday night when the Bears and Huskies take to the hardwood, Baylor will have an entirely new coaching staff led by Nicki Collen, while only two players remain from the 2021 squad — Caitlin Bickle and Sarah Andrews. Bickle spoke about the upcoming matchup and how different it will be from the last time these two met in San Antonio.

“It’s so different, because we’re such different teams. They have a couple that were there then, we have a couple, but we’re such different teams, especially our team,” said Bickle. “We have a new head coach, we have so many different girls who maybe watched that game on different teams or they were in high school, but there’s such different girls on our team.”

As these two historic programs get set for another bout on a national stage, here’s the 1-3-1 on seventh-seed Baylor (20-12) and second-seed UConn (30-5).


One Player:

With Bueckers out for the season with an ACL, UConn did what any perennial power would do — looked for another 5-star player to step up and be the star. Junior forward Aaliyah Edwards let everyone know she wasn’t to be slept on, as she torched 15-seed Vermont in the first round with a career-high 28 points along with seven rebounds, five assists, four steals and four blocks.

Edwards is just one of only two Huskies to play in every game this season and against top 25 opponents she is averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.4 percent from the field.

She was named an AP Third Team All-American this season after averaging career highs with 16.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 57.3 percent from the field this year.


Three Nuggets:

●      Monday will be the 10th meeting all-time between the Bears and the Huskies and third meeting in the postseason between the two programs — UConn leads the series 5-4.

●      UConn is 131-22 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, which is the winningest record in the sport.

●      The Bears have won two of the last three matchups with the Huskies.


One Concern:

Baylor is going to have their hands full in the paint on Monday night, which makes their habitual foul troubles not ideal. UConn scored 54 points in the paint and had 23 points off turnovers in their 95-52 rout of Vermont in the opening round.

With Edwards at 6-foot-3, UConn adds more size in the paint with 6-foot-5 grad-student Dorka Juhasz. A former two-time First Team All-Big 10 at Ohio State, Juhasz had a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double against Vermont.  

The Bears will need to play disciplined and rely on contributions from their bench in order to keep their season alive. 


Game Info:

It will be a Big Monday affair for Baylor and UConn as they look to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. on ESPN from the Huskies' home court — Gampel Pavilion. It will mark just the second meeting between the two programs in Storrs, Connecticut. 

Discussion from...

The 1-3-1 Round of 32: Baylor (20-12) vs UConn (30-5)

24,154 Views | 184 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by bawitdaball
whitetrash
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WacoKelly83 said:

Anybody watching ou game? They came back from 18 down. Ou up by 1 going into the 4th
Didn't last. OU down 10 with 90 seconds left. Of course they have overcome that once before this season….
bawitdaball
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wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.
Baylorkid
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bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
blueeyedbear
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Baylorkid said:

bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
Yes, I would agree - she was something special when she was on.
Baylorkid
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blueeyedbear said:

Baylorkid said:

bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
Yes, I would agree - she was something special when she was on.

Imagine if she stayed at UConn and played with both Tina Charles and maya moore
bawitdaball
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Baylorkid said:

bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
Agreed. I often don't consider her as she chose Delaware, so she transferred knowing she woudn't win one. Maybe Buckers would be the most high profile player who was expected to win one that didn't. But you are correct, Delle Donne likely would have made Baylor's 2019 run a little less "given" as she would have countered Griner well in the tournament.
Max Roguespierre
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bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.
Bueckers may stay at UConn as long as she can. She already has at least a 6 figure income through NIL. Her national profile could actually decline in the WNBA. At the moment, I think that women's college basketball offers a bigger platform for her because of the NCAA Tournament. And WNBA rookie salaries simply don't move the needle for someone who already makes as much as she does in college.
historian
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bawitdaball said:

Baylorkid said:

bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
Agreed. I often don't consider her as she chose Delaware, so she transferred knowing she woudn't win one. Maybe Buckers would be the most high profile player who was expected to win one that didn't. But you are correct, Delle Donne likely would have made Baylor's 2019 run a little less "given" as she would have countered Griner well in the tournament.


Griner's last year at Baylor was 2012-13. In 2019 we had Kalani Brown, Lauren Cox, Chloe Jackson, DiDi Richards, Juicy Landrum, NaLyssa Smith, et al.
“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!”
Psalm 119:36
bawitdaball
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historian said:

bawitdaball said:

Baylorkid said:

bawitdaball said:

wgeralds said:

BUVA said:

I'm curious how long Paige Bueckers will be at UConn. Isn't this the second year she's been out with injuries? How many medical redshirt years does one get? She should have a PhD by the time she finally graduates.
remember baylor softball player whitney canion? i swear she played like 6-7 years because of the medical issues she had
She'll be a first round pick. Rumor was originally that she would stay for her fifth COVID year, but I assume with her injuries she'll attempt to cash in as quickly as possible and play at the next level, especially if UCONN doesn't win it all next year. She could be the best player to ever play the game and not win a NC.

Idk I would say the best college player to not win a championship would be Elena delle Donne
Agreed. I often don't consider her as she chose Delaware, so she transferred knowing she woudn't win one. Maybe Buckers would be the most high profile player who was expected to win one that didn't. But you are correct, Delle Donne likely would have made Baylor's 2019 run a little less "given" as she would have countered Griner well in the tournament.


Griner's last year at Baylor was 2012-13. In 2019 we had Kalani Brown, Lauren Cox, Chloe Jackson, DiDi Richards, Juicy Landrum, NaLyssa Smith, et al.


Correct. Della Donne played at Delaware from 2009 - 2013
 
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