For the third time in history, the University of Connecticut Huskies women’s basketball team has a three-time AP First Team All-American. This comes in fifth-year star Paige Bueckers’s magical season. However, Bueckers wasn’t the only one to make All-American status from UConn.
Joining her is freshman Sarah Strong. Strong was named Second-Team AP All-American and Third-Team United States Basketball Writers Association All-American. This comes after UConn’s Bueckers and Strong had magical seasons.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong Receive All-American Recognition
Bueckers was named an AP First Team All-American in 2021 and 2024. She joins legendary Huskies players Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart as the only three UConn players to earn AP Honors three times or more. Moore earned this accomplishment four times in every year she played college basketball.
After injuries derailed her sophomore and junior years, Bueckers played her third complete season with the Huskies in 2024-25. In her 32 games, she averaged 19.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists. She was also a ball thief, averaging 2.0 steals and 29.0 minutes per game.
The guard will move up to the next level as she’s expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft. On this AP’s 2025 First Team All-American list, joining UConn’s Bueckers, were USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, UCLA’s Lauren Betts, and Texas’ Madison Booker.
Bueckers wasn’t the only UConn player to receive All-American recognition. Teammate Strong was also picked to be a Second-Team All-American and a Third-Team USBWA All-American. This comes after an incredibly strong freshman campaign for Strong.
Strong averaged 16.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game in her 28.1 minutes. She shot the ball well, shooting over 55% from the field. Perhaps most impressively, Strong accomplish all of this as a freshman. Still so young in her career, this may not be her final time with All-American honors.
Strong becomes the first Husky freshman to earn AP All-American honors since Bueckers in 2021. She also became the first player from UConn to be named AP Second Team since Gabby Williams in 2018. This puts Strong in an elite company.
The AP also named LSU’s Aneesah Morrow, Florida State’s Ta’niya Latson, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles, and Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore to its Second Team.
Joining Strong on the USBWA Third Team were Iowa State’s Audi Crooks, USC’s Kiki Iriafen, LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson, and TCU’s Hailey Van Lith.
KEEP READING: Is Paige Bueckers Playing in March Madness? Latest Updates on UConn’s Star
The Huskies begin the NCAA Tournament Saturday as the No. 2 seed in the Spokane 4 Regional. They will face No. 15 Arkansas State in the first round at 1 p.m. in Storrs.
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