San Antonio — Paige Bueckers was asked as the postseason began if there was anything that had surprised her as a freshman at UConn.

"I think me just having to step into a bigger leadership role was kind of new for me," Bueckers said. "I mean, coach had put it into my head when I was a senior in high school about how he needed me to come in and be a leader right away, but that's definitely something different.

"It's easier said than done. It was a learning experience. It was a growth experience, too."

Bueckers capped what was an emotional week for her Saturday by being named the recipient of the Naismith Trophy as national player of the year. Bueckers, the top-ranked high school player in the country as she arrived at UConn, became the first freshman to earn that honor in the 39-year history of the award.

She was also named one of 10 Women's Basketball Coaches' Association All-Americans on Saturday, just hours after top-ranked UConn was overwhelmed in the national semifinals by a staunch Arizona defense, ending the season with a 69-59 loss in the Final Four.

Bueckers, who had 18 points against Arizona, finished with 108 points in the NCAA tournament, the third most by a freshman after legends Tamika Catchings in 1998 (111) and Cheryl Miller in 1983 (109).

So much of what Bueckers has done at UConn has been groundbreaking. She scored 30-or-more points in three straight games, the first player in program history to do so, and on Feb. 27 at Butler she registered 14 assists, breaking the Huskies' single-game mark.

Former UConn greats Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi concurred earlier in the week that if Bueckers was eligible for the WNBA Draft right now, she'd go first as an investment.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma has been more complimentary of Bueckers than anyone in a long while, and tougher on her than anyone.

From one conversation on Wednesday of this week, after Bueckers also became the first freshman to win the Associated Press National Player of the Year award, Auriemma said:

"Somebody told her she's the best player in America because they voted on it and gave her an award. And I'm happy for her. But until I tell her she's the best player in America and that's she got nothing to learn and I don't have to coach her, then I got no problem and she's got lots of problems. Her problems are just beginning."

Later, asked why he chose to surprise Bueckers with the AP award in front of her teammates, a presentation in which she broke down in tears, Auriemma softened, explaining his reasoning.

"I wanted to do it front of the whole team," the Hall of Fame coach said. "I know how much Paige values her teammates. I know that she's so appreciative of everything her teammates have done for her. I wanted her to be able to stand there and verbalize that to them, how much that award means to our team and to them as much as it meant to her."

And the give and take between Auriemma and the personable Bueckers is just getting started, with Bueckers, the 5-foot-11 guard from Hopkins, Minnesota, returning for three more seasons.

Bueckers led UConn with 20.0 points per game this season, plus 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals, shooting 52.4% overall and 46.4% from 3-point range.

She was the Big East Conference Player of the Year, Big East Freshman of the Year, Big East tournament MVP and NCAA tournament River Walk Region MVP.

"The players I've had that are on Paige's level, they know they're good and they embrace the struggle part of it," Auriemma said during the season. "They don't shy away from it. They don't complain about it. They don't want it to be easy. She's one of these kids that if you did make it too easy, she would lose respect for you and think that, 'You're not really trying to help me be the best player I can be.'"

"I learned a lot on the court, off the court," Bueckers said late Friday night at the Alamodome of her historic freshman season. "Just the details of the game, the little things of the game I never thought about in high school. Whether that's off-ball movement, defensive movements. Just how to play the game the right way. It's a lot harder in college, so just getting under coach Geno's wing and learning all the little details of what makes a great player ... I feel like I took steps. Obviously we're just pushing forward and trying to continue to get better on and off the court."

v.fulkerson@theday.com