Paige Bueckers opens up on elite JuJu Watkins matchup as UConn succumbs to USC in nail biting game

UConn star Paige Bueckers talked about sharing the court with JuJu Watkins for the second time in their careers. Bueckers had a great performance, scoring 22 points, but it was not enough as the Huskies fell short.

The No. 4 UConn was unable to pull off the comeback victory against the No. 7 USC Trojans as they fell 72-70 at home on Saturday night.

In the postgame press conference, Bueckers was asked about her battle with Watkins — someone with a similar caliber of talent as her.

"Definitely, playing against great players, you embrace the matchup," Paige said. "You have fun in the moment. Both teams are trying to win, but yeah, matchups like these are why we play basketball."

Paige Bueckers and JuJu Watkins clearly have a strong mutual respect, and this was evident in their interactions during and after the game. The USC guard, who stole the show with 25 points, also praised her UConn counterpart in her own postgame comments.

"Paige is an excellent player, and I think it's just a testament to when you give women a platform, we're going to perform," JuJu said.

"I think that tonight was an excellent game. ... super exciting, and I think as we continue to get games like this, we'll always show up."

Paige Bueckers hails freshman Sarah Strong's performance in the USC loss

Despite the defeat, Paige Bueckers was full of praise for her UConn teammate Sarah Strong, who had another impressive outing. The 6-foot-2 freshman forward recorded her third double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds against the Trojans.

Although Strong missed potential game-tying free throws at the end of the game, Bueckers defended her young teammate and acknowledged her overall contributions.

"Just to be clear, that game was not won or lost with those three free throws," Paige said postgame. "Sarah was a huge reason we were a big part of that second-half comeback and the reason we were even in the game."

"For her to continue to show up on this stage and play as well as she has, continuing to affect the game in so many different ways is remarkable ... I don’t want people to get the wrong impression that she didn’t impact this game tremendously."

Paige Bueckers and the Huskies will look to rebound from this tough loss when they host the Providence Friars next on Dec. 29, while USC plays Michigan at Galen Center the same day.