National champ Paige Bueckers grooves with Jalen Suggs’ sisters after South Carolina takedown

UConn star Paige Bueckers got her fairytale ending after the No. 2-seeded Huskies beat the No. 1-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks 82-59 in the national championship game on Sunday. Bueckers had a low-key game than her previous Big Dance performances tallying 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in the game.

Bueckers was seen grooving to Janet Jackson's hit song "Someone to Call My Lover" alongside her family friends, Jennica and Jaelle Suggs who are the younger sisters of NBA star Jalen Suggs.

According to the latest ESPN mock draft, the popular Paige Bueckers is projected to be the No. 1 pick during the 2025 WNBA Draft. During her postgame conference, Bueckers revealed her feelings at finally winning the natty.

“Unreal. Just so much gratitude for everything this program has meant to me, for how much my teammates have meant to me," Bueckers said. "I can’t name all the people. Everybody here, it takes a village just to do what we do here. Everyone is important to the team success.”

Paige Bueckers fairytale ending hyped up by former champ

During the ESPN broadcast after Paige Bueckers led UConn to national title No. 12, Huskies legend Rebecca Lobo who also won her sole natty in her last game for the program, hailed the journey that Paige Bueckers had taken to reach that stage.

"It's truly storybook," Rebecca Lobo said. "For her (Bueckers) and the journey that she's had, what she's been through, I think, too, it means so much because of all the trials and tribulations she's had along the way."

Bueckers arrived in Storrs with a lot of expectations and she justified them by winning the National Player of the Year as a freshman in 2021. The national championship that would put her in the Mt. Rushmore of UConn greats eluded her including the 2022 natty game and a harrowing Final Four loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes last year.

During his postgame news conference, Huskies coach Geno Auriemma, who won his first national championship in nine years, revealed his feelings at Bueckers signing off in style.

"One of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of since that very first," Auriemma said. "[Bueckers'] journey has been the most incredible for any kid I've had."

Paige Bueckers finished her college basketball career with 477 points scored at the NCAA Tournament which is good for No. 3 overall in the all-time points scorers list. But most importantly, she signed off with a much-coveted national championship to her name.