Team Paige Bueckers or Team Caitlin Clark?

This year, women's college basketball has been breaking new records left and right thanks to new star players Paige Bueckers, Nika Muhl, Caitlin Clark, and many more. The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) recently announced that it was the first conference to reach over 1.5 million people in attendance for a women's basketball tournament. New fans are tuning in everywhere, making women's college basketball more popular than ever. Because of this newfound popularity, there are players gaining popularity, leading fans to compare players from different teams, trying to guess which one of these players will take their team to win March Madness. 

Two of these players are Paige Bueckers on the UConn Huskies, and Caitlin Clark on the Iowa Hawkeyes team. While the NCAA Women’s Basketball March Madness is over, and neither the Huskies nor Hawkeyes made it to the end, as the Huskies lost at the final four and the Hawkeyes lost in the finals, people are still comparing Clark and Bueckers as to who is really the better player. This debate was heightened by the rising tensions between the two players after Clark's final play where she bounced the ball off of Bueckers’ back with only a few seconds of the game to prevent UConn from gaining possession of the ball. The two players used to be close as they played for the same team in 2017 and 2019, often seen hugging after games; however, after their most recent game against each other rumors have been spread that they aren't as close as before. 

Caitlin Clark and the lucky #22

Caitlin Clark was born on January 22, 2002, in Des Moines, Iowa. As a freshman Clark led the NCAA Division 1 in scoring and earned All-American Honors. In Clark’s sophomore year, she became a first-team All-American (high league in basketball) and became the first women’s player to lead Division 1 in points and assists in a single season. As a junior, Clark was the National Player of the Year and helped Iowa return to the national title games. In her senior year, she represented the National Player of the Year and again helped Iowa return to national title games.

Caitlin Clark vs Paige Bueckers

Besides being known for her achievements in basketball and likable personality, Caitlin Clark is also known for her “rivalry” with Paige Bueckers, another popular player in the women’s college basketball league. Many compare stats of Caitlin to the stats of Paige. Though both of these players are very advanced in their own ways Caitlin has proved her worth and ability of making up plays and shooting! 

Paige Bueckers #5

Paige Bueckers was born on October 20, 2001, in Edina, Minnesota. She joined her high school basketball team in 2016 and went on to join the UConn Huskies basketball team in 2020. In just her freshman year of college, she became the first freshman to earn a major National Women's Basketball Player of the Year award. However, in 2022 Paige tore her ACL while playing a pick-up game at UConn on August 1st, and had to undergo surgery on August 5th. Although she had to miss a season, she came back better than ever this year, averaging 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. Although she has faced some major challenges this season, she was able to overcome all obstacles and will be playing for UConn again next year!

After a tough season of women’s basketball, Caitlin Clark was drafted by the Indiana Fever as the number one overall selection in the 2024 WNBA draft. And Paige will be returning to the UCONN Huskies to play one more year! No matter which team you root for, we can all see the talent of these young women who are making waves in the basketball community and learn that anything is possible when you put your heart and mind into it! Congratulations to both Paige and Caitlin for their incredible performance and achievements!