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SPOKANE, Wash. — When Kaitlyn Chen committed to the UConn women’s basketball team out of the transfer portal after graduating from Princeton in 2024, it was for moments like Monday night.
In the first Elite Eight appearance of her college career, going up against No. 1 seed USC in front of more than 10,000 fans at Spokane Arena, the senior point guard looked utterly fearless. Behind superstars Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong, she was the only player to score for UConn in the first quarter, and she finished with a postseason-high 15 points to help lift the Huskies to a 78-64 victory.
“I was like, I have my Princeton degree, so I just wanted to do what was best for me basketball-wise and put me in the best position to win a national championship. That’s why I came here,” Chen said, grinning in her Final Four hat and t-shirt in the postgame locker room. “I just felt like I had an adrenaline rush sort of. Honestly, it was just my teammates that found me in transition. I did the easy part and just ran up the court.”
Coach Geno Auriemma was confident in what he was getting when he signed Chen as his first transfer since 2022-23 this season, but he was as animated as he has been all season watching her talent come to fruition on the NCAA Tournament stage. The 71-year-old coach doubled over punching the air in a rare show of celebration late in the second quarter when Chen drove left-handed to the rim and hooked in a layup, drawing a foul against USC freshman Avery Howell and hitting her free throw to boot.
“Somebody else has to step up, and I thought Kaitlyn was fantastic tonight,” Auriemma said. “Probably more than anything I’m really proud of her because she left college, took a chance, (said) I want to go to the Final Four, I want to try to play for a national championship, I’m glad that we’re able to provide the opportunity for her.”
Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong lead UConn women’s basketball back to Final Four with 78-64 win over USC
Sixth-year forward Aubrey Griffin also unexpectedly rose to the occasion when the Huskies needed her most against the Trojans’ loaded front court. Griffin has appeared in just 14 games after spending the first several months of the season recovering from an ACL tear, and she also sat out the Big East Tournament due to lingering knee soreness. She hadn’t played since a brief six-minute appearance in the Huskies’ second-round win over South Dakota State before Auriemma pulled her off the bench to start the fourth.
“They were really taking advantage of our lack of size in the lane, and they got to the rim really easy a couple times with a couple offensive rebounds,” Auriemma said. “I thought, maybe we can get a little more size in there, a little more quickness, and I thought it kind of sort of stemmed the tide a little bit. I also knew there it would be a big help on the other end, because she’s good at getting us another possession, getting us an offensive rebound … It was like yeah, this is the right moment.”
USC cut UConn’s lead from 19 points down to five at the end of the third, and the longtime Huskies coach knew he needed to throw a different look at the Trojans. Griffin played eight minutes in the final quarter, and though her stats were limited, they were all impactful as UConn fought to reopen its lead. She stripped the steal from Trojans center Rayah Marshall that resulted in a 3-pointer for Bueckers to put the Huskies back in front by double digits, then helped set the textbook elevator screen with Strong that got Azzi Fudd her first three of the game. Griffin also brought down a pair of rebounds, and USC made a single field goal when she was on the floor.
“In any game I just go out there and stick to the things I know I can do best,” Griffin said. “I just had the mindset of, I’m gonna go out there and play my ass off. That was really all that was going through my head, because I’m a senior, so this is it for me. It’s different when you know this could potentially be your last game ever playing.”
At the heart of it all was Bueckers, who did exactly what Auriemma has come to expect over five years coaching the superstar guard. The redshirt senior logged 31 points for her third-straight game scoring 30-plus, and her combined 105 points over UConn’s last three tournament wins are the most by any Huskies player over any three game stretch in the history of the program. She surpassed Napheesa Collier to take over No. 3 on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list, and she became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to score at least 25 points in each of her four career Elite Eight appearances.
“I trust Paige to do the right thing. Ever since her freshman year, I trust her to always do the right thing,” Auriemma said. “I trust that she believes in herself so much. She just is the most incredibly positive human being I’ve ever been around.”
Bueckers’ impact, as it almost always does, went well beyond her spectacular stat line. After USC’s 11-0 run to the end the third quarter, it was her who got real with the team in the huddle heading into the fourth.
“We knew that we had to really lock in defensively and had to stop fouling, get some stops, but Paige sort of just reminded us that we’re up,” Chen said. “They should be the ones who have all the pressure on them. We’re the ones who are leading, and we need to act like it.”
The eclectic trio of seniors — a fifth-year, a sixth-year and a first-year transfer — fittingly lifted the Spokane 4 regional championship trophy together at the center of UConn’s postgame celebration. And though the job is still far from finished with a Final Four matchup against No. 1 overall seed UCLA looming, Griffin was holding back tears as she reflected on the opportunity to share the court with Bueckers and Chen in the last Elite Eight win of their careers.
“Last year I was watching from the side, so it’s so much different. I’m just so grateful to be back playing and back to celebrate the win with my team,” Griffin said. “This was very special, and I don’t take any moment for granted. This team is very special, the people here, the coaches, my teammates, everything. It’s just a different feeling overall this year, and I’m super grateful to be able to experience it with Paige and Kaitlyn.”
Onto the Final Four: UConn women enjoy the moment, then it’s back to work
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In the first Elite Eight appearance of her college career, going up against No. 1 seed USC in front of more than 10,000 fans at Spokane Arena, the senior point guard looked utterly fearless. Behind superstars Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong, she was the only player to score for UConn in the first quarter, and she finished with a postseason-high 15 points to help lift the Huskies to a 78-64 victory.
“I was like, I have my Princeton degree, so I just wanted to do what was best for me basketball-wise and put me in the best position to win a national championship. That’s why I came here,” Chen said, grinning in her Final Four hat and t-shirt in the postgame locker room. “I just felt like I had an adrenaline rush sort of. Honestly, it was just my teammates that found me in transition. I did the easy part and just ran up the court.”
Coach Geno Auriemma was confident in what he was getting when he signed Chen as his first transfer since 2022-23 this season, but he was as animated as he has been all season watching her talent come to fruition on the NCAA Tournament stage. The 71-year-old coach doubled over punching the air in a rare show of celebration late in the second quarter when Chen drove left-handed to the rim and hooked in a layup, drawing a foul against USC freshman Avery Howell and hitting her free throw to boot.
“Somebody else has to step up, and I thought Kaitlyn was fantastic tonight,” Auriemma said. “Probably more than anything I’m really proud of her because she left college, took a chance, (said) I want to go to the Final Four, I want to try to play for a national championship, I’m glad that we’re able to provide the opportunity for her.”
Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong lead UConn women’s basketball back to Final Four with 78-64 win over USC
Sixth-year forward Aubrey Griffin also unexpectedly rose to the occasion when the Huskies needed her most against the Trojans’ loaded front court. Griffin has appeared in just 14 games after spending the first several months of the season recovering from an ACL tear, and she also sat out the Big East Tournament due to lingering knee soreness. She hadn’t played since a brief six-minute appearance in the Huskies’ second-round win over South Dakota State before Auriemma pulled her off the bench to start the fourth.
“They were really taking advantage of our lack of size in the lane, and they got to the rim really easy a couple times with a couple offensive rebounds,” Auriemma said. “I thought, maybe we can get a little more size in there, a little more quickness, and I thought it kind of sort of stemmed the tide a little bit. I also knew there it would be a big help on the other end, because she’s good at getting us another possession, getting us an offensive rebound … It was like yeah, this is the right moment.”
USC cut UConn’s lead from 19 points down to five at the end of the third, and the longtime Huskies coach knew he needed to throw a different look at the Trojans. Griffin played eight minutes in the final quarter, and though her stats were limited, they were all impactful as UConn fought to reopen its lead. She stripped the steal from Trojans center Rayah Marshall that resulted in a 3-pointer for Bueckers to put the Huskies back in front by double digits, then helped set the textbook elevator screen with Strong that got Azzi Fudd her first three of the game. Griffin also brought down a pair of rebounds, and USC made a single field goal when she was on the floor.
“In any game I just go out there and stick to the things I know I can do best,” Griffin said. “I just had the mindset of, I’m gonna go out there and play my ass off. That was really all that was going through my head, because I’m a senior, so this is it for me. It’s different when you know this could potentially be your last game ever playing.”
At the heart of it all was Bueckers, who did exactly what Auriemma has come to expect over five years coaching the superstar guard. The redshirt senior logged 31 points for her third-straight game scoring 30-plus, and her combined 105 points over UConn’s last three tournament wins are the most by any Huskies player over any three game stretch in the history of the program. She surpassed Napheesa Collier to take over No. 3 on the Huskies’ all-time scoring list, and she became the first player in NCAA Tournament history to score at least 25 points in each of her four career Elite Eight appearances.
“I trust Paige to do the right thing. Ever since her freshman year, I trust her to always do the right thing,” Auriemma said. “I trust that she believes in herself so much. She just is the most incredibly positive human being I’ve ever been around.”
Bueckers’ impact, as it almost always does, went well beyond her spectacular stat line. After USC’s 11-0 run to the end the third quarter, it was her who got real with the team in the huddle heading into the fourth.
“We knew that we had to really lock in defensively and had to stop fouling, get some stops, but Paige sort of just reminded us that we’re up,” Chen said. “They should be the ones who have all the pressure on them. We’re the ones who are leading, and we need to act like it.”
The eclectic trio of seniors — a fifth-year, a sixth-year and a first-year transfer — fittingly lifted the Spokane 4 regional championship trophy together at the center of UConn’s postgame celebration. And though the job is still far from finished with a Final Four matchup against No. 1 overall seed UCLA looming, Griffin was holding back tears as she reflected on the opportunity to share the court with Bueckers and Chen in the last Elite Eight win of their careers.
“Last year I was watching from the side, so it’s so much different. I’m just so grateful to be back playing and back to celebrate the win with my team,” Griffin said. “This was very special, and I don’t take any moment for granted. This team is very special, the people here, the coaches, my teammates, everything. It’s just a different feeling overall this year, and I’m super grateful to be able to experience it with Paige and Kaitlyn.”
Onto the Final Four: UConn women enjoy the moment, then it’s back to work
Continue reading...
