Paige Bueckers drops 5-word reaction in awe of UConn freshman Sarah Strong’s masterful game vs Creighton

NCAA Womens Basketball: St. John's at Connecticut (image credit: IMAGN)

Paige Bueckers was left in awe of Sarah Strong’s standout performance as No. 5-ranked UConn secured a 72-53 victory over No. 22-ranked Creighton on Thursday, clinching its fifth consecutive Big East regular-season title.

Bueckers reshared a video of Strong in action against the Bluejays on her Instagram story.

“Rah rah oohh la la,” Bueckers wrote.

Paige Bueckers' reaction to UConn freshman Sarah Strong’s performance against Creighton (IG/@paigebueckers)

Strong led the Huskies with 22 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes. Bueckers also made a significant impact, contributing 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

Kaitlyn Chen added 11 points and three assists, while Azzi Fudd finished with nine points, Ashlynn Shade with six points and KK Arnold with five.

According to ESPN, Bueckers is only the second UConn player in the last 25 seasons to accumulate 70 points and 30 assists over a four-game span in the same campaign.

The victory not only secured the conference title for the Huskies but also extended their unbeaten record in Big East play to 17-0 while improving their overall record to 27-3.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma highlights importance of winning the regular-season championship

UConn Huskies coach Geno Auriemma said that he had to remind his team about the significance of winning the regular-season title, as they remain focused on their ultimate goal of securing the national championship.

"I don't want it to be all the sudden it's national championship or bust at UConn and winning the regular-season championship doesn't matter anymore, because it does matter," Auriemma said to reporters on Thursday. "We've always made it matter. It's always been important to us," the 70-year-old added.

UConn has now won the Big East regular-season title outright 22 times, sharing the championship twice.

The Huskies will host Marquette on Senior Day at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, looking to complete this season’s conference play undefeated — the 18th time in UConn history.

About the author

Babatunde Kolawole is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over eight years of experience in the field with Canoncrested.com, Garbersports.com, LiveScore Bet Nigeria and Pulse Sports Nigeria.

Kolawole studied Agricultural Economics on the tertiary level but delved into sports writing after school. Over half a decade later, the experience garnered helped him land this role.

Historically, the Alabama Crimson Tide stands out as Kolawole's favorite team as he was drawn to their rich history.

As for basketball, JuJu Watkins is Kolawole's favorite current player due to how much diversity she has in her game, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets the nod for past players because of how he dominated with UCLA.

Kolawole has appeared on several TV and Radio shows as a guest analyst, and in his spare time, likes to watch movies (a sucker for the Marvel Cinematic Universe) and listen to a lot of music. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Victor Ramon Galvez