"Seeing her without braids feels illegal": College hoops fans react to Paige Bueckers simple hairstyle for clash against Butler 

During Saturday's game against the Butler Bulldogs, Paige Bueckers flaunted a different hairstyle. Apart from her on-court heroics, Bueckers has garnered widespread popularity for her consistent two-thin front braids, which begin from either side of the middle and are pulled back and locked into a ponytail.

The UConn guard put up a stellar performance, leading the Huskies to a 101-59 win. She played for 22 minutes, garnering 18 points, five assists, three steals and two blocks on 50% shooting. The program's IG handle posted her game stats on Instagram.

Given her court time, it was Paige Bueckers' most efficient outing of the season. Despite that, fans rushed to the comment section to react to her new hairstyle:

"Seeing her without braids feels illegal," a fan said.

"Finally this girl is giving her scalp some rest 💀💀💀," another fan said.

"Paige looks so good without the braids," one fan said.

More fans reacted to her hair:

"No braids no problem 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️," a fan said.

"That means she needs to retire her braids 🤷‍♀️," another fan said.

"She should keep that hair style for the rest of the season & into the post season," one fan said.

Fans react to Bueckers' changed hairstyle against Butler | via @uconnwbb/ig

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Paige Bueckers reveals the reason behind the new hairstyle

UConn women's basketball sideline reporter Chelsea Sherrod asked Paige Bueckers about the disappearance of her classic braids after the win against Butler. The guard immediately joked about the attention that her hairstyle pulled by mentioning the surprising NBA trade involving Luka Doncic.

"See, like, the world woke up to Luka getting traded to the Lakers, so, crazier things have happened," she said.

However, Bueckers revealed that she intends to bring back the braids, as it is just a temporary fix:

"This is like a one-time thing. My friend Kayla was sick. Jana got a little under the weather. So, I think this is just a one-time thing."

In an exclusive interview with Allure in August 2024, Paige Bueckers revealed that she does not know how to braid. Her friend Kayla regularly helps her achieve the game-day classic look, which she locks in with a hair gel wax. The entire process takes nearly 20 minutes.