University of Connecticut All-American sophomore Paige Bueckers is soon to return from the injury list

Despite missing the Paige that contains each and every key ingredient, the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team just rolls along as was the case in Sunday morning‘s 75-56 shellacking of visiting 7th-ranked Tennessee.

Paige is 5-foot-11 sophomore two-way guard Paige Bueckers, the All-America phenom who comes off Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, and has been sidelined for eight weeks after surgery for an injury when her left knee collapsed in the final minutes of the win over Notre Dame.

But she has been in recovery while the 10th-ranked Huskies piece things together and are now 16-4 since losing Bueckers. This impressive victory over their long-time rival Volunteers was the third straight after the two resumed things in 2000.

“Paige has looked fabulous,” said legendary head coach Geno Auriemma, owner of a record 11 national championships. “Its been eight weeks now as scheduled, she’s been doing everything asked of her, and on Monday she hopes to get her knee braces removed when she sees her main doctor. Hopefully, she will then be back on the court.”

Well, Bueckers and Auriemma did have a fine time at their XL Center court in nearby Hartford versus the Vols. It was close early on as UConn led 15-13  after one quarter and increased it to 32-25 at halftime.

But after the intermission, the Huskies got behind sophomore guard Nika Muhl and senior guard Christyn Williams to share all the points via a 14-0 run that brought a 21-point lead, the largest so far of the contest.

Also paving the way was 5-11 freshman Azzi Fudd, another one of Auriemma’s national high school players of the year, and after missing the early games with a foot injury, came off a 15-point effort on 60 percent shooting to score a career-high with 25 tossed in versus Tennessee that included a marksmanship 5-of-7 3s.

With 8:17 left in the third quarter, the lead climbed to 46-25 and the Volunteers (16-5) responded with a pair of quick time outs. But back came the Huskies with back-to-back 3s from Fudd and 6-3 sophomore Aaliyan Edwards controlling the boards. She finished with 10 rebounds and nine points.

Defensively, UConn was also on the top of its game as it bounced back from from back-to-back close games on the road versus Providence and Creighton. But on this day, it held Tennessee to just 25.9 percent from the floor, and 14.3 from the 3. The Vols did convert 9-of-15 foul shots in the second quarter, but were otherwise searching for baskets and slowing down the home team as its fans showed their applause.

In addition, 6-5 senior Olivia Nelson-Ododa blocked three shots and came away with the game-high 13 rebounds. She was often challenged by Tennessee orange’s 6-3 senior Jordan Horston and 6-6 junior Kamara Key, but held her own in another strong effort.

With 2:51 remaining in regulation, the Huskies upped their advantage to 70-50 after Tennessee trimmed the deficit from 24 points to 59-46 with 5:35 left. Along with Bueckers, UConn had a few other injured players on the bench, so Auriemma, who missed the game against Creighton when he felt ill the day of the game, stayed with the lineup he had on the floor.

Williams, also one of his national players of the year, and when Bueckers comes back, will have three on the roster, tallied 18 points and handed out four assists, and the 5-7 Muhl added a pair from beyond the arch, made good on 6-of-6 freebies, and had four steals.

This was a non-conference game, but in the Big East the Huskies are 9-0 and sure to move up in the national rankings after this triumph. Soon, they get their main Paige back and who knows, with her there might be no limit for Geno the genius’ team down the stretch.

Who would have thought it, UConn fans of course. When the final buzzer sounded, they rose and rang out with loud applause for their Huskies.