Paige Bueckers, Geno Auriemma's UConn surpass $3 million benchmark in annual ticket sales, highest for a public school in NCAA history 

Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers' UConn came up short in last season's NCAA tournament but made history in ticket sales. On Wednesday, the UConn Huskies disclosed that it garnered $3.25 million in the 2023-24 season, becoming the first public women's college basketball program to cross the $3 million mark, as per Sportico.com.

The latest figure represents a 34.85% increase in ticket sales for women's basketball from $2.41 million in the 2017-18 season.

However, the growth is not incidental. The University of Connecticut is the only FBS school that spends more on basketball than football. UConn's athletic department increased its expenses to $101 million last season from $90.7 million in the prior year. Moreover, the women's basketball program's operational expenditure increased to $12.54 million from $10.5 million in the 2022-23 season.

The upward graph highlights the increasing marketability of stars like Paige Bueckers and potential revenue streams that can open through their popularity and fan base. The Huskies lead all Division I women's basketball programs in the following, with 482K followers on Instagram.

The Iowa Hawkeyes are second on the list with 302K followers while the previous season's undefeated champions, the South Carolina Gamecocks, have 261K followers.

There is a possibility of UConn's ticket sale record being overshadowed soon as the Gamecocks, LSU Tigers and Hawkeyes are yet to share their numbers from the previous season.

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Geno Auriemma praises Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong for filling Paige Bueckers' void

Paige Beuckers suffered a lower body sprain in the Jan. 5 game against Villanova, forcing her out of rotation. As Geno Auriemma urged his roster to elevate their games in their specific roles, freshman Sarah Strong and senior Azzi Fudd responded.

Fudd torched Xavier with 23 points, followed by 21 points against Georgetown. Strong averaged 15.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals in that stretch. With that, Auriemma praised the freshman-senior duo on Saturday.

"They're both really good offensive players, so I'm not surprised," he said.

"I think they're getting an opportunity to be even more aggressive than they normally are. So, I'm glad Azzi played well. This is her first time playing down here and Sarah just keeps being Sarah," Auriemma added.

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Azzi Fudd continued her hot hand as Paige Bueckers returned to action against St. John's on Wednesday.

She led the team to a 71-45 with 13 points on 54.5% shooting. Sarah Strong had six points, five assists and four rebounds while Bueckers dropped 12 points.