TAMPA, Fla. — It took a full minute of game action for Paige Bueckers to make her way down the Connecticut bench. First, she embraced head coach Geno Auriemma near the scorer’s table as play continued behind her. She carried on down through coaches and teammates and personnel, attempting to encapsulate entire relationships into five-second hugs. The family and friends stood rows deep behind them, as they had for most of the second half. The arena was deep into a celebration nearly a decade in waiting.
It is a championship of destiny and God’s perfect plan, Bueckers said.