UConn star Paige Bueckers describes emotional toll of ACL injury - Just Women's Sports (2024)

Emma Hruby

Nov 6, 2023

Paige Bueckers missed the entire 2022-23 college basketball season with an ACL injury. And as she prepares for her return to the court for UConn, she also is looking back on her lost year.

The 22-year-old redshirt juniorspoke with “SportsCenter” about the emotional toll of the injury.

“The hardest moment definitely would be sitting in that waiting room after my MRI, the doctors telling me I tore my ACL,” she told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.

Bueckers is good at internalizing her emotions, and she didn’t want to be a burden on her teammates, she said. But when describing those emotions to Philippou, including how she tried both to grapple with them and to be a good teammate at the same time, Bueckers teared up.

“Hiding my emotions was definitely hard,” she said. “It just hurt so bad not being able to go out there, especially with all of the stuff we were going through as a team. But I think the biggest thing for me was coming in every day and making sure that nobody saw the dark times, the sad times I was going through.

“As a team leader I was just trying to do everything I could to have a positive attitude about everything and make sure that every time I came into the gym, every time I came to practice, every time I came to rehab I had a great attitude, I had a smile on my face.”

And even after enduring the hard times, Bueckers wouldn’t change her path.

“I wouldn’t trade my life for the world, I know that everything I went through up to this point has shaped me to be who I am as a person and as a player,” she said. “If I didn’t go through some of the things I went through, I wouldn’t be who I am. The story I want is just the story of overcoming adversity.

“Obviously I wish there could have been no injuries, but it’s just a part of my story and a part of my journey in life. But definitely hoping to make the most of the time I have left here.”

Bueckers made her unofficial return to the court in an exhibition game Saturday against Southern Connecticut State, but she and the Huskies officially will start their season at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday against Dayton.

From yesterday’s SportsCenter: 2021 national player of the year Paige Bueckers takes us through her ACL recovery, what it was like sitting out the majority of the past two seasons, and how she changed who she was to come back better than ever. Story + full convo drop Wednesday pic.twitter.com/DotqzpqJfi

— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) November 6, 2023

Emma Hruby

Apr 8, 2024

The USWNT will play in the SheBelieves Cup final on Tuesday after a back-and-forth matchup with Japan featured a 2-1 win for the home team.

While Japan scored mere seconds into the game, the USWNT was able to recover. Jaedyn Shaw earned an equalizer in the 21st minute with a brilliant strike from distance. The goal set a record, as she’s the first player in USWNT history to score in each of her first five starts.

But that wasn’t the only brilliant part of Shaw’s play, as she shifted to the No. 10 position and also tried her hand at a little bit of defense.

"I just want to point out, not only did she score a brilliant goal, and not only was she part of a lot of very effective build-ups, but she did a great job defensively," U.S. interim coach Twila Kilgore said about Shaw in a postgame news conference. "And this is an area where she has accepted a challenge and is continuing to grow and makes a massive difference for our team."

USWNT captain Lindsey Horan, who had the game-winning penalty, called Shaw “a footballer.”

“She has a physical presence, but she’s so smart on the ball and technical and savvy and creative,” she told CNN.

Both Mallory Swanson and Catarina Macario made their returns, Swanson with her first start for the USWNT since April 2023, when she suffered a season-ending injury.

“I looked up to her. She’s an amazing player,” Shaw told reporters about Swanson. “I’m so happy that she’s back and I can play with her.”

In total, 50,644 fans turned out for the USWNT, setting a new record for women’s soccer as the most-attended USWNT friendly ever hosted in the U.S. It’s also the most-attended USWNT match at home since the 1999 World Cup final.

The USWNT will now play Canada on Tuesday at 7pm ET in a re-match of the Gold Cup semifinal.

Emma Hruby

Apr 8, 2024

Dawn Staley just led South Carolina to a perfect season and a national championship — with an entirely new starting five from last year.

After the Gameco*cks won their second title in three years, and became the first team to go undefeated to the title since 2016, Staley took time to shout out, her players, her coaches — and Iowa star Caitlin Clark.

“I want to personally thank Caitlin Clark for lifting up our sport,” Staley said. “She carried a heavy load for our sport and it’s not going to stop here on the collegiate tour. When she’s the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft she’s going to lift that league up as well. So Caitlin Clark, if you’re out there, you are one of the GOATs of our game and we appreciate you.”

From one 🐐 to another @dawnstaley 🤝 @CaitlinClark22#NationalChampionship x 🎥 ABC / @Gameco*ckWBB pic.twitter.com/j5CFdlx8f7

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) April 7, 2024

Staley then doubled down in her postgame press conference, congratulating the Hawkeyes and Clark for making it back to the championship. She also called them a “formidable opponent that took everything that we had to win a basketball game.”

“Her shoulders were heavy, getting a lot of eyeballs on our game,” Staley said of Clark. “And sometimes as a young person it can be a bit much. But I thought she handled it with class and I hope that with every step of the ladder of success that she goes, she’s able to elevate whatever room she’s in.”

When asked about the praise meant to her, Clark called it “special.”

“Anytime somebody like Coach Staley is able to recognize you and what you did for the game is pretty special,” she said.

“Obviously she’s somebody I respect so much. I respect what she’s done for South Carolina, I respect what she did as a player for our game. And anytime you can get the praises of her is pretty special, so it means a lot.”

Emma Hruby

Apr 8, 2024

Caitlin Clark’s storied college career came to a close on Sunday, and she leaves with no regrets. She walks away from the college game with two national championship games lost, but an excess of scoring records and attendance records won.

Clark finishes her time at Iowa with 3,951 career points, the D-I career scoring record, as well as the record for scoring in a single season. She is also the Big Ten’s all-time assist leader and leaves college as the first Division I women's player to score at least 1,000 points in two different seasons, according to ESPN.

"It's really hard to win these things. I think I probably know that better than most people by now," Clark said after the game. "To be so close twice, it definitely hurts. But at the same time, we were right there. We battled. We took down some really great teams to get back to this point."

Clark insisted after the game that she's not going to sulk. Instead, she reflected Sunday on the entirety of her college career.

"Whether it's the way the fans have supported me, the way I've been able to represent my state where I grew up, my family being at every single game -- there's not a regret in my mind of how things went," Clark said. "I'll be able to sleep every night even though I never won a national championship.

Those around Clark took time on Sunday to re-affirm the impact she's had on the sport.

"She moved needles, she did things that no one was doing other than Steph Curry, shooting from where she shot, but never losing her sense of fun and flair," said longtime Iowa assistant coach Jan Jensen. "I wish we could have helped her get us to the title ... Maybe they won't call her 'GOAT' ... But she'll always be our GOAT."

Clark also gave credit to coach Lisa Bluder for giving her the space to be the player she could be.

"I have to give Coach Bluder a lot of credit because she's allowed me to be myself," Clark said. "She's allowed me to be me, and I don't know if there's many coaches across the country that I could have committed to that would have allowed me to do that. I wouldn't have had this type of career."

Despite being the face of the recent surge in interest around women's college basketball, Clark insists the talent has always been there.

“Women’s basketball isn’t just suddenly good,” she said. “It’s been good. … No matter what sport it is, give [women] the same opportunities, believe in them the same, invest in them the same, and things are really going to thrive."

Emma Hruby

Apr 8, 2024

South Carolina finished the season the same way they started: undefeated.

The Gameco*cks beat Iowa 87-75 on Sunday to finish 38-0, becoming the first team to win a national title without dropping a game since 2016.

It came a year after Iowa ended South Carolina’s bid for an undefeated season in the Final Four.

"We're unbeatable," junior Bree Hall said. "That's the statement that was made tonight."

"We've come a long way," Te-Hina Paopao said. "It's been a long journey. We've trusted each other so much over the season. We have so much confidence with each other, so much love. ... We genuinely love to be with each other. We genuinely want to see everyone succeed. It's been a great journey and to cap it off with a perfect season, it's just a blessing."

Sophom*ore Raven Johnson, who was waved off by Clark from behind the arc in the 2023 semifinal game, held Clark to 3-11 with four turnovers after she had 18 points in the first quarter. She had just 12 points in the game’s final 30 minutes.

"It doesn't always end like you want it to end, much like last year," Staley said. "But my [seniors from last season] are at the top of my heart because they wanted this. And I hope we can erase whatever pain they had, last year experiencing not being able to finish it here.

"It's awesome. It's unbelievable."

South Carolina’s bench was the differentiator, outscoring Iowa’s bench 37-0 on the night. Key in that was freshman Tessa Johnson, who had 19 points in just 25 minutes of playing time. She joined former Gameco*ck Destanni Henderson as the sole players to have career highs in the national championship game in the last 25 seasons.

"They've done so much for this team," Paopao said of the bench. "A lot of people sleep on them. But they could start on any team in this country, but they decided to sacrifice that and play for this team and win a national championship, which we did today."

The Gameco*cks out-rebounded Iowa 51-29, including 18 on the offensive glass due in part to Kamilla Cardoso, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds. She earned Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four for her efforts, becoming just the fifth player with at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in a championship game in the past 25 seasons.

"Kamilla Cardoso was not going to let us lose a game in the NCAA tournament," Staley said. "She played through an injury, she played like one of the top picks in the WNBA draft and her teammates did something that no teammates have done for anybody who went to the WNBA in our program. They sent her off as a national champion. So this is history for us."