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UConn Reacts to Paige Bueckers’ Interaction With Former College Basketball Star

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Robert Marvi | Last updated May 23, 2025 6:30 AM ET

On Wednesday, the Dallas Wings lost on the road by a final score of 85-81 to the Minnesota Lynx, dropping their record to 0-3 to start the new WNBA season.

It was not a productive game for Wings rookie guard Paige Bueckers, who was the No. 1 pick in last month's draft. She shot just 3-of-11 from the field and had only 12 points, although she did manage to dish out 10 assists against two turnovers.

This game, however, was a bright spot for Bueckers, a native of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, in another way. She was seen exchanging pleasantries with Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who is a fellow UConn product.

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— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) May 22, 2025

Bueckers was a big star at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minn., and she then moved on to UConn, where she truly started to make her name. With the Huskies, she averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists a game while shooting 53.1% from the field and 42.3% from 3-point range.

Just several weeks ago, she led them to the women's NCAA championship. She finished the season as the winner of the Wade Trophy, the Nancy Lieberman Award and the Big East Player of the Year award.

Collier put up 16.1 points on 60.1% field-goal shooting and 8.1 rebounds per game in her four years at UConn. She won it all there in 2016 as a freshman.

In Wednesday's game, she scored 28 points on 8-of-13 overall shooting plus eight rebounds. She has been named to the WNBA All-Star team in four of her previous six seasons, and she was named last season's Defensive Player of the Year while taking the Lynx to the brink of the championship.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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