Paige Bueckers stats tonight: How did the UConn star fare vs Notre Dame (Dec. 12)

Paige Bueckers made a valiant effort for UConn despite losing their first game of the 2024-25 women's college basketball season to No. 8 Notre Dame 79-68 on Thursday night at the Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana.

The six-foot guard fired 25 points on 11 of 20 shooting from the field and 3 of 4 free throws to lead the Huskies, who fell to 8-1.

Bueckers also picked up three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 37 minutes of action for the No. 2-ranked UConn. The fifth-year senior made her presence felt early, making a layup that trimmed Notre Dame's lead to one (5-4).

Bueckers added 10 points in the second period on five layups and jumpers but the Huskies' defense went absent, allowing Notre Dame to score 21 points in the second frame and falling behind 39-28.

The guard picked up four points in the third quarter, helping UConn mount a comeback, trimming the deficit to one before Hannah Hidalgo made a 3-pointer that handed the Fighting Irish a 56-52 lead approaching the fourth.

Bueckers would make nine more points in the final 10 minutes on two jumpers, a layup and three free throws. However, she and the Huskies couldn't keep up with the fourth-quarter scoring attack that Notre Dame put up in the last quarter to absorb their first loss in nine games.

Here are Paige Bueckers' final stats in UConn's loss to Notre Dame.

Player	MP	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FG	3-PT	FT	TO	PF
Paige Bueckers	37	25	3	2	2	0	11-20	1-5	0-4	3	2

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Huskies vs Fighting Irish Game Recap: UConn misfires on threes, outrebounded in loss to Notre Dame

UConn had their eight-game winning streak snapped by a gunslinging Notre Dame team who caught fire from the outside early in the game. The Huskies had no answer to Hannah Hidalgo's outside sniping, allowing the star guard to make 6 of 11 shots from deep.

Worse, they couldn't make their 3-pointers, missing 13 of 16 attempts from the 3-point line, partly because of their sniper Azzi Fudd's absence due to a minor knee issue. Huskies top guard Paige Bueckers went 0-4 from the outside, despite shooting 11 of 16 from the 2-point area.

The Geno Auriemma-coached team dominated the inside lane, making 36 points as against 20 for Notre Dame. However, they couldn't keep up with Notre Dame's gang rebounding, losing the battle of the boards 38-30.

They were outclassed in assists (17-10), steals (10-8) and blocks (3-1) in an all-around letdown on the Huskies' part. Aside from Bueckers, Sarah Strong, Kaitlyn Chen and KK Arnold scored in double figures for UConn with 14, 11 and 10 points respectively, while the rest of the team combined for eight points.

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