Paige Bueckers #5 of the Connecticut Huskies against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the championship game of the 2022 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Target Center on April 03, 2022 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team announced its 2023-24 non-conference schedule on Thursday, and it includes a homecoming for Paige Bueckers.
The former Hopkins star and McDonald’s All-American will be back in Minneapolis as the Gophers host UConn on Sunday, Nov. 19 at Williams Arena. The Gophers will open the regular season under first-year head coach Dawn Plitzuweit on Nov. 8 against Long Island University.
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Minnesota’s non-conference schedule features 11 of its 12 games at Williams Arena, and has three NCAA Tournament teams from last season. Bueckers missed all of last season after suffering a torn ACL during summer workouts. She missed the first half of her sophomore season and played 17 games after suffering a leg injury. Bueckers averaged 14.6 points, four rebounds and 3.9 assists per game as a sophomore after returning from injury.
Bueckers made 29 starts as a freshman and became the first Wooden Award winner in her first season. She led the Huskies to the NCAA Final Four in her freshman season, then to the NCAA title game as a sophomore when the Final Four was at Target Center in Minneapolis.
It’ll be the fourth time the Gophers will have played the Huskies. Minnesota will also host Drake, and their lone non-conference road game will be at Kentucky.
Plitzuweit was named the new Gophers’ coach back in March, replacing Lindsay Whalen, who stepped down after five seasons.