Paige Bueckers believes attention to detail and focus will allow UConn to avoid a second-round slip-up

Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies are off to the second round of the NCAA Tournament where they'll face an up-and-coming program in South Dakota State.

With the two programs facing off on a court for the first time in both schools' histories, the two programs are familiar with what will be needed Monday night to advance to Spokane, Washington.

The Minnesota native, Bueckers, is far more familiar with what will be needed against South Dakota State as the mid-major program has been successful since her time growing up in the Midwest.

Buecker said she's always known about the school and how they have run the Summit League conference. She said they are a well-disciplined program who are well-coached and fundamentally sound.

"Growing up, I've always known they're a very successful team, especially in their conference, and they've made a couple tourney runs where they've gotten a couple of wins," Bueckers said. "They have a great offensive tempo and they're very disciplined in their sets and what they want to run. They're just consistent in the way they play and their style of play. "

The second-round matchup will have even more familiarity for Bueckers as a high school rivalry will be rekindled and put on the big screen. Bueckers will face fellow Minnesota native redshirt senior Kallie Theisen, the former Summit League Sixth Woman of the Year.

"Hopkins-Wayzata was definitely a rivalry growing up. We used to play each other, I think, almost every year to go to state. So it was always a big match-up in the same conference," Bueckers said. "So there was a lot of good match-ups. It was always a great game when we played."

She added both she and Theisen are living out their childhood dreams and they are both hoping to put on a show on Monday to represent Minnesota basketball in the right light.

"Just to be able to play at the next level where we dreamed of playing as a kid in March Madness, in the tournament, trying to compete for a national title, it's everything you dream of," Bueckers said. "So to continue to play against her, obviously we want to represent Minnesota well. So we hope to do that."

Auriemma embraces player rotation struggles with deep bench

NCAA Womens Basketball: NCAA Tournament First Round-Arkansas St. at Connecticut - Source: Imagn

The UConn Huskies reached the Final Four last season, but ultimately ran out of bodies down the stretch of the tournament. Almost every starter played a full game and averaged above 30 minutes per game.

However, this season, the Huskies have the luxury of having depth and experience on the bench. Both KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade were two starters from last season who have now come off the bench this year.

Auriemma said it's a luxury to have players with the experience of Arnold and Shade leading the second group. He said it benefits the team, having fresher legs throughout the game.

"I've gotten so used to not having a full complement of players that I had forgotten that coaching is hard. A lot of coaches have to make decisions on what's my lineup going to look like. I haven't had to make that decision in four years," Auriemma said. "So finding a right balance between getting players a lot of minutes, getting enough people in the rotation, I think we've managed to do a really good job with that."

Auriemma said something he doesn't like to see in the bracket are teams that play similarly to the way UConn plays. He said he'd rather play someone who he has no idea how they play, but he respects South Dakota State and the way they have built their program.

"They're incredibly disciplined. They've been together a long time, so they're experienced. They know each other. They remind me of the Creighton team in our league where they run their stuff, they execute so well offensively and defensively," Auriemma said. "I just think that playing them is a challenge in that you have to beat them. You can't go in expecting that they're going to make enough mistakes to lose. Teams like that are dangerous in the NCAA Tournament."

Auriemma added South Dakota State is the kind of team that people pick in their sleeper and upset specials. UConn will have a battle on their hands Monday night as they hope to continue their season into the next round.