Paige Bueckers gets double-double in return to Minnesota, but losses pile up for Dallas Wings

MINNEAPOLIS — Less than a minute remained on the clock as Paige Bueckers held the ball in her hands in an all-too-familiar arena. In the third WNBA game of her budding professional career, Bueckers was shooting and dribbling in a venue that she played in as a high schooler and college athlete. Her star was born less than 10 miles from the Target Center in St. Louis Park and Hopkins High School. She knows how the ball bounces on this floor and she is intimately familiar with how the cheers and boos echo off the walls here.

As her Dallas Wings trailed by five points, Bueckers pivoted and pulled the ball over to her left side and started her dribble. She dashed around a screen, and suddenly three Minnesota Lynx defenders had their eyes locked on her. In a tight game like this, few would have blamed the rookie for going for glory while playing in front of countless friends and family had Bueckers opted to pull-up for a long shot or driven into the teeth of the defense.

But Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft out of UConn, is so much smarter than that. She may be just three games into her professional career, and she may only be 23 years old, but the 6-foot Minnesota native sees the game like a seasoned veteran. And so, she had two choices. Myisha Hines-Allen was rolling to the rim and seemed to have a short head start on Napheesa Collier — who briefly let Hines-Allen go to cut off a driving lane for Bueckers — or she could could dish it to Arike Ogunbowale, who was wide open in 3-point land just a few feet away. Rather than challenge Collier, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Bueckers fed her backcourt mate.

Ogunbowale caught the pass, gathered and fired in a seemingly single fluid motion and the ball fell harmlessly through the net. A suite on the opposite side of the arena, filled with Bueckers’ family and friends clad in Wings’ gear, roared.

Dallas now trailed by just two points with 39.1 seconds left. A victory seemed within reach.

“Just me having the ball in my hands a little bit more, trying to create plays for my teammates, for myself, and just reading what the defense is giving,” Bueckers said after the game. “A lot of times, we’re just making the right play as a team, so whatever that right play looks like on that possession, that’s what we’re looking to do.”

Alas, Collier sank two free throws to put the game on ice for the Lynx in their home-opener, winning 85-81. But Bueckers’ dime in the final minute of the contest was significant because it secured her first double-double as a professional, giving her 10 assists and 12 points in her homecoming game.

“It’s crazy to say I played on this floor at all three levels… I’ve never let Minnesota go,” Bueckers said. “But honestly, if I’m being real, I’m not thinking about that at all when I’m out there playing, I’m just being in the present moment.”

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It’s one of the first major milestones Bueckers has reached in her promising career, and one she’ll likely remember for a while.

“You try to put everything into perspective. To see all the little girls and people in the stands and realize, that was you, like 10 or 15 years ago,” Bueckers said. “So, you never take it for granted, how blessed we are to be able to play in this league, to play at this level and to be in this organization. Just extremely grateful, and you try to reflect that every single time you play with the passion and joy and heart that you play with. So, you take it and you carry it with you wherever you go.”

Those who know Bueckers best though all agree on at least one thing: This isn’t a player that is all that concerned with individual statistics, honors or accolades. She wants to win, and she wants to win often, and she wants to win at the highest level. It’s why few folks ever saw her happier than when she was cutting down a net in Tampa, Florida, about a month ago after leading UConn to a national championship. It’s why when Geno Auriemma subbed her off for the floor for the last time in her final game as a Husky, tears flowed the corners of her eyes as she embraced the longtime UConn coach in an emotional hug.

It was obvious during the postgame press conference that losing has been difficult on Bueckers. While she was in-uniform for UConn, the Huskies never lost back-to-back games, much less three in a row. Heck, UConn only lost three games all season this past campaign.

Between reporters asking questions, Ogunbowale pointed to the box score in front of her, noting different numbers. Bueckers glanced at it, shrugged and gave non-animated responses to her teammate. The only piece of data that mattered, the final score, wasn’t in the Wings’ favor.

“Coming back home is really cool, and it’s a great experience,” Bueckers said. “But what we’re trying to build and what we’re trying to do in the game is more important.”

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People have asked Bueckers over the past few weeks what the most difficult adjustment has been from the college to the pro game. It’s a common question that rookies get and one that Bueckers has answered. But the real answer may have nothing to do with what Bueckers is and isn’t able to do on the court. She’s still a smart passer, a savvy defender, a solid shooter, and someone who plays with a fiery competitiveness.

The difference between playing in Storrs, Connecticut, and Dallas, Texas, is that Bueckers has to grapple with losing quite often. And it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change anytime soon.

Dallas, so far, looks like a disjointed team. In addition to drafting Bueckers, they brought in a lot of new faces to put around the one steady star for the franchise over the past several seasons, Ogunbowale. The Wings don’t play a traditional center, instead opting for a lineup that mostly features three forwards and two guards. They have a first-year head coach and a first-year general manager. It’s an early and small sample size, but the Wings rank in the bottom of the league in most statistical categories.

It’s also not yet clear whether Ogunbowale and Bueckers can be a viable and successful backcourt pairing. Through three games, the former Notre Dame guard is shooting career-lows from the floor (30.4) and from 3-point range (25.1).

This is all to say, things might get worse for Dallas before they get better. And it’ll be worth keeping an eye on if Bueckers can continue to play well even as the losses pile up.

“One day at a time. That’s the motto I’m going with,” Bueckers said. “Just, every single day, I’m trying to grow and get better. As a team and as an organization, we have the same mindset.”

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On Wednesday night back in her home state, Bueckers fulfilled Deion Sanders’ prophecy of how looking good leads to playing good. She showed up to the Target Center and walked through the bowels of the arena in an outfit created by the iconic Harlem fashion designer Dapper Dan. The fit, complete with a custom zip jacket, is the product of a partnership with Sherwin-Williams to highlight their Loneliest Color of 2025: Radiant Lilac SW 0074. The paint manufacturer calls it a “shade that inspires self-expression and color confidence.”

It’s a fitting description and appropriate that it is Bueckers who is leading the campaign to highlight the color. Because this season for her might not be about wins and losses. It could just be about her proving to everyone that she’s destined for stardom in the WNBA, that she’s someone a team can build a championship-contending roster around, and she can be the best player on the floor.

“I think Paige is going to be really good,” Collier said of a fellow UConn alum. “She’s a three-level scorer, she’s a great passer. You know, rookie years are really hard, so I would just tell her that there’s going to be ups and downs. But from what I’ve seen, she’s staying aggressive.”

This season might be about Bueckers maintaining her confidence, no matter how far the Wings fall down in the standings, and it might be about Bueckers fully expressing the type of player she is and can be.