'I'm a Living Testimony': UConn Star Paige Bueckers Credits God for Big Win, Huge Comeback from Injury
The University of Connecticut women's basketball team is heading to the NCAA's Final Four Friday after beating the University of Southern California 80-73.
Point-guard Paige Bueckers put a spotlight on Jesus after Monday night's win.
"I'm a living testimony. I give all glory to God. He sent me trials and tribulations, but it was to build my character. I kept on believing. I did all I could so God could do all I can't," she told ESPN.
“I’m a living testimony. I give all glory to God.”@UConnWBB’s @paigebueckers1 giving thanks Monday night after clinching another trip to the Final Four.
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) April 2, 2024
( ESPN) pic.twitter.com/kYU67g6Sax
In 2020, Bueckers ended her senior year at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, as one of the most touted recruits in the nation, USA Today reports.
And her first two years at UConn did not disappoint.
During her freshman year, the Associated Press named her a first-team All-American, and she won AP Player of the Year, Naismith College Player of the Year, and the Wooden Award as the nation's best player.
However, ankle injuries and a torn ACL left her on the bench during her junior year.
"I'm still learning how to give myself grace," Bueckers said after the game, according to CT Insider. "I'm not ignorant enough to think that it's going to be a linear trajectory this whole time and I'm just going to be on the up and up and be the old Paige, and have a great game every game. This is a process, coming back from a major injury, getting my lungs, getting the rhythm and flow back."
The 22-year-old admitted it was difficult watching her teammates play each game while she had to recover, but she said she took to heart Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
When the season kicked off in November, it had been 19 months since Bueckers stepped onto the court.
But she soon became unstoppable.
She started the season averaging 18 points per game.
The outspoken Christian said on Instagram she is "blessed beyond measure," to be playing.
In that post, she also included a snippet from her daily devotional: "Your breakthrough could be just around the corner or a long way down the road. Either way, victory is yours. You will see God work through the hard paths and bring good out of it. You will sense his presence during the long wait, see his victorious hand in your battles, and experience sweet joy in seeing his touch upon your life. In the meantime, trust him with every detail of your life - big and small, worry about nothing but pray about everything and cling to hope at all costs."
Bueckers is UConn's leading scorer this season at 22 points per game.
She believes God used the season when she sat on the bench as a time to grow her faith.
"Part of me thinks it was God calling me to use this. I feel like I'm just gonna have a great story to tell by the end of it," she told ESPN.
She added, "Just being able to look at [my injury] not as an obstacle but just a wave of adversity — just something that I can get through. And God, He didn't promise that there wouldn't be obstacles but He did promise that He would be there every step of the way."
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