UNC women's basketball unable to handle guard Paige Bueckers in loss to No. 2 UConn

GREENSBORO — Following the opening tip, junior center Maria Gakdeng hit a floater to put North Carolina on the board first. 

On the next possession, UConn forward Sarah Strong found Paige Bueckers on the wing for a 3-pointer. With textbook form and no hesitation, the redshirt senior guard found the bottom of the net to push the Huskies ahead, 3-2 — a lead UConn never relinquished. 

This was the first taste of what UNC's entire night looked like: Bueckers one-upping the Tar Heels.

The 2021 Naismith Player of the Year continued her tear for the Huskies, scoring 16 points in the first quarter alone. Bueckers’ season and game-high 29 points led No. 2 UConn to a decisive 69-58 victory over No. 14 North Carolina at First Horizon Coliseum. UNC's inability to contain Bueckers was an issue for North Carolina the entire game.

The UNC coaching staff was aware of the level of difficulty they’d encounter with Bueckers. And head coach Courtney Banghart — who considers the 6-foot guard to be the consensus No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft — had to adjust North Carolina's defense in an attempt to throw Bueckers off her game. 

"She's an exceptional player," Banghart said. "She's unselfish, and we focused our defense on her. I think she doesn't push, she doesn't force, she has teammates she trusts and utilizes them."

In the first half, North Carolina stuck to man-to-man defense. As two of the fastest Tar Heels, graduate guards Lexi Donarski and Grace Townsend shared the majority of the assignment on Bueckers.

It was Townsend guarding the sharpshooter on the final possession of the first quarter. 

With less than six seconds left, Bueckers received the inbound pass and sprinted to the wing of the 3-point line on the opposite end of the court. From well beyond the perimeter and with all 10 of Townsend’s fingers in her face, Bueckers paused before canning an unbalanced 3-pointer. She skipped away in front of the UNC bench.

Something had to change. 

In the second half, North Carolina shifted to a 3-2 zone to throw a different defensive look at the Huskies.  

And with that, UNC showcased half-court pressure.

"We went over some more coverages. We went into our kind of secondary coverages, zone and things like that," Banghart said. "We crowded the middle of the floor. You do what you can to manage [Bueckers], quite honestly, and throughout the game, you're making these adjustments."

As a result, even though North Carolina still couldn’t match the offensive proficiency of UConn, the Huskies shot 41 percent from the field in the second half, down five percent from the first. Bueckers took fewer shots, only connecting on 2-of-5 from the field in the final quarter. 

“It definitely switched things up for us offensively and how we were trying to attack,” Bueckers said. 

The 3-2 zone defense sparked UNC’s 11-3 run, bringing the Tar Heels — who once faced a 21-point deficit at the end of the third quarter — within single digits.

Even then, the Huskies were too shifty and too selfless to be stifled by the defense. And how did they do it? 

“Get the ball in the middle and then pick them apart from there,” Bueckers said.

A simple answer to what could have been a game-altering defensive move by North Carolina. 

“It’s easy to get flustered when things change, they go on a run, they switch up the defense,” Bueckers said. “But just trying to remain calm and have a calming presence can help us get into our offensive flow regardless of what the other team is doing.” 

Bueckers finished the game with zero turnovers. There was no answer that could subdue her for long enough.

“Paige is good," Banghart said. "Paige is really good."

@meganosmithh

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