ICYMI: Geno Auriemma goes all in to support former Husky Paige Bueckers during intense Sun vs Wings matchup

Former UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers returned to Connecticut with the Dallas Wings on Friday evening. Bueckers led her new team to a narrow 86-83 win over the Connecticut Sun, tallying 21 points, two rebounds and seven assists.

Buecker's former UConn coach, Geno Auriemma and several players, including KK Arnold and Azzi Fudd, were in attendance at the Mohegan Sun to watch the former Huskies superstar dominate the Sun and notch just the Wings' third victory of the season.

The Mohegan Sun is a familiar venue for the Huskies and during her UConn career under Auriemma, Bueckers managed an astonishing 15-0 record there.

Geno Auriemma and Paige Bueckers share a close relationship and the pair is fresh from finally breaking a nine-year UConn national championship drought in April before the Wings selected the talented guard with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft.

Earlier in the week, the Huskies coach also attended the Wings' 80-71 win over the Golden State Valkyries, pitting Bueckers against former UConn star Kaitlyn Chen.

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Paige Bueckers celebrates homecoming

The Mohegan Sun was sold out for Paige Bueckers' return to Connecticut, where she has a huge following due to her exploits for the UConn Huskies under coach Geno Auriemma. Despite starring for the opposition team on home turf, the crowd occasionally chanted her name and showered her with support throughout the game.

Postgame, Bueckers celebrated her homecoming after the crucial victory over the Sun and praised her teammates.

“It’s fun coming back here every single time, they’ve always shown so much love to me and it’s been a state that’s done a lot for me,” Bueckers said. “It’s always amazing to come back and to get another win here, continue to keep building on what we’ve been doing as a team and keep striving for better. We learned a lot through this game. It was a full team victory, so that was fun to play that way.”

Bueckers is averaging 18.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 5.8 apg and 2.1 spg for the Dallas Wings, and her 20-point effort against the Sun was her fourth 20+ point haul this season.

Paige Bueckers has taken the league by storm and according to the WNBA, she trails only Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark (515,993 votes) in voting for next month's All-Star game (312,920 votes).

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra