Monday marked an epic Storrs finale for UConn star guard Paige Bueckers, who helped lift the No. 2 Huskies to a dominant 91-57 win over No. 10 South Dakota State in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Bueckers tied a career-high with 34 points in her final game at Gampel Pavillion, and she checked out of the game in the fourth quarter to a standing ovation having helped the Huskies make an NCAA-record 31st straight Sweet 16 appearance.
After Bueckers's big showing, UConn coach Geno Auriemma was all smiles as he joined ESPN's Rebecca Lobo for a postgame interview. But Auriemma also gave an awesome shoutout to another player at the top of her game, USC's JuJu Watkins, who was set to take on Mississippi State later that day.
Auriemma was asked to answer a question in one minute so ESPN could switch over to Watkins and the Trojans.
"Oh get off me right now and get to her! I want to watch her play!” Auriemma said.
Geno Auriemma was asked to answer a question in one minute so ESPN could “get to JuJu”
— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) March 25, 2025
Geno: “oh get off me right now and get to her! I want to watch her play!” 😭😭 pic.twitter.com/5wJeSaro2q
Too sweet.
Following his interview, Auriemma adorably counted down the broadcast before tossing it to Watkins and telling her to "take over."
Ahead of a highly anticipated rematch between Watkins and Bueckers in the Elite Eight, USC got unfortunate news about their star guard Monday evening. Watkins suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of No. 1 USC's 96–59 win over No. 9 Mississippi State and will miss the rest of the 2025 season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as UConn’s Geno Auriemma Had Sweet Line About JuJu Watkins After Huskies Win.
