Paige Bueckers demonstrated a powerful lesson in taking the high road after a controversial moving screen call robbed herself of a chance to give the UConn Huskies the lead late in the Final Four loss to Iowa on Friday night at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Ohio.
It would be easy for Bueckers, who had an open shot coming off of an Aaliyah Edwards screen before the whistle blew with just four seconds left in the game, to feel like the officials took one away from the Huskies.
But that’s not the attitude that the UConn star took into her postgame press conference. Quite the opposite. Bueckers took the high road, blaming mistakes she made prior to the foul call that were too much for the Huskies to overcome.
“Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game. I feel like there were a lot of mistakes that I made that could’ve prevented that play from even being that big.”
– Paige Bueckers pic.twitter.com/9w8iiSnXlc
— UConn on SNY (@SNYUConn) April 6, 2024
“Everybody can make a big deal of that one single play, but not one single play wins a basketball game or loses a basketball game. I feel like there were a lot of mistakes that I made that could’ve prevented that play from even being that big.”
Bueckers, who scored just 17 points-her lowest output of the NCAA Tournament-decided to take responsibility for the loss, regardless of whether she believes the correct call was made.
That’s what a true leader does.
Source : Sports Illustrated