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Dallas Wings rookie guard Paige Bueckers reflected on her WNBA debut following the team’s 99-84 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night.
“Room to grow,” Bueckers told reporters after the game (0:15 mark). “You’ve got to have a starting point so you gotta have a foundation to build on. We don’t want to overreact to the loss but we also know there’s a lot of things we have to clean up and get better at.”
Bueckers struggled with her shot, but she showed flashes of the offensive talent that made her the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists while shooting 3-of-10 from the field in just under 30 minutes on the floor.
Bueckers shined throughout her college career at UConn, becoming the first freshman to win the Naismith Women’s College Basketball Player of the Year Award in 2021 and leading the Huskies to a national championship in 2025.
During her senior season, she averaged 19.9 points and 4.6 assists per game on 53.4/41.9/88.9 shooting splits.
A rough shooting performance in Bueckers’ debut shouldn’t cause too much concern regarding her ability to respond over the course of the season. 2024 Rookie of the Year winner Caitlin Clark shot just 5-of-15 from the field in the first game of her inaugural season.
It’s also worth noting that Bueckers and the Wings were battling a Lynx squad coming off a 2024 WNBA Finals appearance and featuring reigning Defensive Player of the Year Napheesa Collier.
Bueckers and her teammates will look to bounce back in their second game of the season, facing off against the Seattle Storm on Monday.
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