Teammates Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong knock on wood as Paige Bueckers starts talking about her comeback from different injuries

Azzi Fudd, Sarah Strong and Paige Bueckers appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter on Tuesday to talk about the trio's first and only NCAA tournament with Elle Duncan. The players discussed the bracket and also emphasized the importance of trusting each other.

Duncan highlighted that Bueckers' lack of national championship stems from her history of injuries. As she asked the UConn star about entering the 2025 tourney in proper health, Fudd and Strong superstitiously knocked on wood to have luck on their side. While Duncan pointed out that the table they knocked on was fake wood, she jokingly said, "It'll do the trick."

Bueckers reflected on how injuries took a toll on the team in the 2024-25 season, highlighting that the squad is in a better and more promising position moving forward.

"We haven't had the luxury of having the depth we had during the start of the season, what we thought in the offseason we're preparing for the entire summer for a healthy full team run," she said (at 4:10).

"So, very exciting just to have multiple people who can contribute a lot of key factors, depth off the bench, so, it's exciting times."

Paige Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in the middle of the 2021 season, which kept her out of the court for a significant stretch. She returned to action after two months and led the Huskies to the NCAA championship game.

Bueckers then missed the entire 2022-23 season due to an ACL tear she suffered in the offseason.

Paige Bueckers talks about dealing with the pressure of her last NCAA tournament

Being the face of UConn and women's college ball, Paige Bueckers understands the pressure of expectations that can come from her last NCAA tournament run. She plans on dealing with it by simply enjoying the sport she grew up playing and silencing the outside noise.

"There's a lot of pressures that can come with it," she said in an exclusive with PEOPLE. "Win or go home. It's my last one ever. There really is no do-overs, so just trying not to think about that and really just playing with passion, joy and to have fun."

She also shared that she had anticipated the situation last year and began working with a sports psychologist before the start of the 2024-25 season.

Paige Bueckers and the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies begin their tournament run against No. 15 Arkansas State on Saturday.