The most anticipated individual WNBA debut took place on the opening night of the WNBA, as Paige Bueckers took center stage in Dallas. This day is massive for Bueckers and her hometown of Hopkins, Minn., as the town where the superstar grew up changed its name to “Paige Bueckers” for a day to honor her debut.
How did the former UConn Huskies standout do in her first regular-season WNBA outing?
Dallas Wings Fall Short in Home Opener vs. Minnesota Lynx
Her hometown, her new town, and sports fans were excited to see Bueckers, Arike Ogunbawale, and the Dallas Wings face off against the 2024 runner-up Minnesota Lynx.
This game was close early, and the score was knotted at 46 at halftime. Coming out of the half, the Wings competed, but Minnesota showed why they were one of the best teams in the league last season.
Napheesa Collier (34 points) and Courtney Williams (25 points, nine assists) took over the game, and the Lynx pulled away from the Wings, beating them 99-84.
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In her debut, Bueckers had some good moments and struggled a bit from the floor, but overall, there was plenty of good to come out of Game 1.
The guard’s first bucket was off her own miss, as she wiggled her way into the lane after a beautiful right-to-left crossover. This was one of the few times she called her own number during the game. Bueckers did not look uncomfortable with the heightened physicality of the WNBA — she couldn’t move with the freedom she could in college, but she held her own.
Dallas, for the most part, did a good job helping Bueckers whenever she got switched on to a big, but one of the things that the UConn great struggled with was defending size on the low block. Many times in college, you saw Bueckers play down low and even center for the Huskies, but these athletes are bigger, faster, and stronger in the WNBA, and she could not guard with the same success.
Paige Bueckers Stats: Wings Rookie Makes Her WNBA Debut
As we expected, Bueckers’ vision and playmaking ability transitioned. Multiple times, she could find her teammates with nice passes and put them in position to score, even though she only had two assists on the night.
The Hopkins kid scored 10 points against her hometown team, but she wasn’t as efficient as the typical “Paige Buckets.” Bueckers only shot 3-for-10 from the floor and 0-for-2 from the 3-point line. The Lynx are one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA, and they did a good job of making Bueckers feel bodies and doing their best to push her off her spot.
The biggest standout attribute from her rookie debut was her rebounding. She grabbed seven rebounds on the night, which led her team. If Bueckers can continue to rebound like she did, this will bode well for her and her teammates because she can kickstart fast breaks and transition opportunities.
Overall, Bueckers had a debut grade of a B-. There were many things that she did well, a few that she will need to improve upon, but mostly, she is just adjusting to the speed and physicality of the WNBA. We saw last year’s No. 1 pick, Caitlin Clark, struggle early; she made the All-WNBA First Team by the end of the year.
Though the Wings lost, Dallas has much to look forward to in the future. The Wings’ next game is on Monday, May 19, against the Seattle Storm.