Hoops analyst claims Paige Bueckers breaking Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore’s record makes her a contender for Wooden Award

ESPN's Alexa Philippou looked at the top contenders for the 2025 Wooden Award for women's basketball, Hannah Hidalgo, JuJu Watkins, Lauren Betts and Paige Bueckers, in a video shared by ESPN on Monday. She highlighted how Hidalgo, with her high-octane gameplay, has shouldered the load at Notre Dame to take them to one of their best seasons.

For Watkins, Philippou referred to her tremendous performance against UCLA, noting her ability to rise to the moment. She then pointed to the rise of Betts and her elite efficiency and rebounding this year. The analyst then turned her attention to Bueckers, who has the lowest scoring average of the lot.

While speaking about Bueckers's Wooden Award candidacy, Philipou stated that the UConn guard could finish her senior year with a 50/40/90 shooting split. Philippou also highlighted that Bueckers outpaced Maya Moore, Brianna Stewart, Diana Taurasi and other Huskies to the 2000-point mark in her career.

"The other three candidates have likely surpassed her in the Wooden debate," Philippou said. "But the 6-foot guard out of Minnesota is still within reach of a 50/40/90 campaign, boasts a career-best assist-to-turnover ratio and earlier this season, became the fastest UConn player to reach 2,000 career points - faster than Maya Moore, Brianna Stewart and yes, Diana Taurasi."

Paige Bueckers is currently averaging 18.8 points, 4.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 steals. None of them are career highs, however, her 3.82 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in the nation. Bueckers is currently shooting 53.7% from the field, 39.8% from the 3-point line and 89.1% on free throws - nearing one of the most prestigious shooting splits in basketball.

Paige Bueckers wins Big East tournament MOP

Paige Bueckers led the UConn Huskies to a 70-50 win over Creighton on Monday, leading the program to its 5th straight Big East title. In the process, the star guard earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. It marks her third MOP award at the tournament, making her the only player to do it thrice.

Bueckers averaged 22.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 blocks and 1.3 steals throughout the Big East tourney. UConn now sets its sights on the NCAA tournament, which offers Bueckers a chance to earn the only major trophy missing from her illustrious college career - the national championship.