Paige Bueckers: Paige Bueckers surpasses Breanna Stewart for 4th most points in NCAA Tournament history

Paige Bueckers surpasses Breanna Stewart for 4th most points in NCAA Tournament history

NCAA Womens Basketball: Final Four National Semifinal-Connecticut at UCLA - Source: Imagn

Paige Bueckers continued shattering records as she surpassed former UConn star Breanna Stewart's points tally in the NCAA Tournament during Friday's Final Four matchup against UCLA. With this, Bueckers is now the fourth-highest point scorer in the NCAA Tournament.

Heading into this all-important clash against the Bruins, Bueckers needed only two points to match Stewart. She matched her tally early on in the game before surpassing her Huskies alumni. Despite breaking the record, Bueckers had a slow start, scoring only six points in the first half.

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But her teammates were off the blocks quickly, and the Huskies dominated the Bruins in both quarters for a 42-22 halftime lead.

Breanna Stewart featured in 23 games in the NCAA Tournament and amassed 446 points. Paige Bueckers broke that record in 21 games in the competition.

Only the likes of Caitlin Clark (492 points), Chamique Holdsclaw (479 points) and Maya Moore (476) are ahead of the Bueckers now. After beating UCLA 85-51, Bueckers and will have a chance to surpass Moore next and try and win a national championship when the Huskies take on the defending champions, South Carolina Gamecocks, in the final on Sunday.

Paige Bueckers has had a sensational season for UConn Huskies

Paige Bueckers' final season with the UConn Huskies has been nothing short of phenomenal. She guided the Huskies to the Big East Tournament crown for the second time in a row.

Individually, she won the 2025 Big East Most Outstanding Player award, becoming the first player to win the honor three times.

On Friday, she was also honored with the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year award. This is the second time she has won this award since 2021. Last season, she was also a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale award for shooting guards.

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Bueckers dropped some exceptional performances. She scored a whopping 34 points in the second round against South Dakota. In the third round, she shattered the program record with a 40-point outing against Oklahoma.

The projected No. 1 overall pick in this month's WNBA draft continued her great form with 31 points in the Elite Eight win over the USC Trojans. Bueckers will hope to end her college career with a natty on Sunday.

About the author

Atrayo Bhattacharya is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over seven years of experience in the field. He holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has worked for Khel Now, Sportz Interactive, Sports Rush and Newsbytes.

Atrayo follows Football, Cricket, NBA, Tennis, F1 and World Athletics and is a big fan of Bayern Munich and the Boston Celtics. He also supports the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

On the college scene, the Duke Blue Devils are Atrayo's favorite college team. They have an incredible legacy in the NCAA and Atrayo's favorite player, Jayson Tatum, came out of Duke.

Atrayo has interviewed quite a few international footballers like Roman Weidenfeller, Lothar Matthaus, Jens Lehmann, and Sarpreet Singh other than interviewing several personalities from the Indian Football Ecosystem.

When he is not watching or writing sports, Atrayo is either playing games or binge-watching a new TV series.

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Edited by Veer Badani