STORRS, Conn. — With 3:38 left in the fourth quarter of UConn‘s second-round NCAA tournament win over South Dakota State, Huskies star Paige Bueckers checked out of the game for the final time at Gampel Pavilion to a standing ovation from 10,000-plus.

The three-time All-American and presumptive No. 1 overall pick in next month’s WNBA draft had made her final game on UConn’s campus one to remember.

Bueckers lifted the Huskies to a 91-57 win over the 10-seed Jackrabbits, finishing with 34 points, tying her career high and marking a career-best for the NCAA tournament. She joined Maya Moore as the only players in UConn history to tally multiple 30-pieces in the NCAA tournament, and the effort helped ensure UConn’s spot in its 31st consecutive Sweet 16, extending the program’s NCAA record.

It was a fitting Storrs finale for Bueckers, who started her college career during the pandemic-hampered 2020-21 campaign and didn’t get to experience a packed Gampel full of fans.

Monday was a 180 from those lackluster days, an “amazing atmosphere,” Bueckers described, that even made it hard at times for the Huskies to hear timeouts and whistles. After she subbed out toward the end of the third quarter with the game comfortably in hand, coach Geno Auriemma made sure she got one final curtain call, putting her back in for a few minutes in the fourth so she could get a proper send-off.

Bueckers took a moment to address the crowd postgame and thank the Husky faithful before running off into the tunnel and waving to fans as she left the floor.

“I’ve had the time of my life here,” Bueckers said. “It’s been the five years I’ve dreamt of as a kid.”

“Paige was Paige and it’s a great way to finish your career at home,” Auriemma said. “There’s no better way than with a game like that, a performance like that.”

It wasn’t simply Bueckers’ scoring output that stuck out. It was her understanding of when her team needed her to take over. The Huskies struggled early on offensively, trailing 10-6 with about three minutes left in the first quarter.

Bueckers put an end to it. She scored 12 straight points for UConn to close the period, including a stepback 3-pointer at the buzzer that prompted her to pound her chest as she made her way back to the UConn bench.

The onslaught didn’t stop there. Bueckers ultimately made eight straight shots across the end of the first and beginning of the second, her 21 first-half points helping the Huskies take an 18-point advantage into the break.

“It’s incredible to watch, but you almost feel sorry for the other team because you know when Paige is locked in, there’s nothing you can do to stop her,” graduate guard Azzi Fudd said. “We have all the trust in the world in her so just got to sit back and enjoy the Paige show.”

“[We wanted to] just give her the ball and move out of the way,” freshman Sarah Strong said.

The 2021 national player of the year made 14 of her 21 shots, converting 7 of 8 from the midrange and 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. She also reached the 50-40-90 threshold for the season (50% shooting from the field, 40% shooting from 3, 90% shooting from the free-throw line) as she sank all three of her free-throw attempts in the game.

“Everything that you all have said about her, that everybody’s written about her, it’s all true,” Auriemma said. “Every part of it. I wouldn’t be able to sit here and add anything to that. Her game and what she does speaks for itself and it’s a testament to her, to her work, to her love of basketball, love of being in the gym. She’s being rewarded and that in itself is just fulfilling. It is for me and I hope it is for her.”

It wasn’t just Bueckers that impressed. Spurred by sophomore reserve KK Arnold, Huskies’ collective defensive effort gave the Jackrabbits fits, helping force 14 turnovers in the first half that led to 25 points on the other end. South Dakota State finished with 25 miscues on the night and shot 41% from the field to UConn’s 57%.

The No. 2 seed Huskies will face No. 3 seed Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 on Saturday, in hopes of getting one step closer to their 16th Final Four appearance in 17 years and 12th overall national title.