Paige Bueckers returned to a familiar place to get the first win of her WNBA career.
The No. 1 pick in the draft by the Dallas Wings had lost the first four games as a pro and couldn't remember a longer losing streak in her storied basketball career. She wouldn't let it get to five.
Bueckers scored a season-best 21 points in the Wings' 109-87 victory over Connecticut on Tuesday night.
“Felt great just to play like that as a team and obviously that environment is special to me,” the former UConn star said. “To play like that as a team and put a full 40 minutes together. ... It felt good to be out there.”
It's been a week of homecomings for Bueckers as the former UConn star played in the state of Connecticut for the first time since helping the Huskies win the school's 12th national championship nearly two months ago. Six days before the game in Connecticut, she played in Minnesota, where she grew up.
With the victory, Bueckers remained unbeaten at Mohegan Sun Arena, where the Sun plays their home games. She went 15-0 at the arena, including winning four Big East championships while playing for UConn.
“I don’t think I ever lost here. I was trying to carry that into tonight,” Bueckers said.
Tuesday night was like a home game for Buckers, who received a loud ovation from the sellout crowd when introduced before the game. Many fans were wearing her No. 5 jersey from UConn and Dallas, cheering everything she did. The St. Teresa's basketball team was sitting on the bench pregame and screamed with jubilation when Bueckers ran onto the court.
Bueckers gave them and the rest of the crowd — which included a few of her former Huskies teammates — a lot to cheer about. She got Dallas (1-4) going early with seven points and four assists in the opening quarter as she was aggressively attacking for baskets or finding opening teammates. She finished the half with 15 points as the Wings took control, going up by 14 points at the break.
“She just continues to do things that should be surprising but aren’t,” Wings coach Chris Koclanes said. “I take a step back to just appreciate, the type of player and even more so the type of person that she is.”
A day earlier, Bueckers posted on Instagram a video of a surprise meeting that Verizon put together of people who had benefitted from a food security project that the guard started in Minnesota in 2022. As Chegg’s first student-athlete brand ambassador, Bueckers worked to raise awareness about student hunger, an issue that had worsened due to the pandemic.
“It was a total, complete surprise just for them to bring in those people who have been a part of my story and been a part of my journey.,” Bueckers said. “It means so much to give back, to see the impact firsthand. It’s truly inspiring. I was extremely grateful for that.”
Koclanes has been impressed with Bueckers mental approach to the game on and off the court and how much she invests into it.
“She wants to really be a great leader and is committing time into developing those skills to help this culture and her teammates as a rookie.” he said. “So that’s been really impressive on the floor. I think you take for granted some of the things she’s able to do. But extremely high IQ, she’s picked up, you know, concepts and reads, very early. And then it’s just, you know, she’ll adapt to the physicality.”
Dallas returns on June 20 to play at Connecticut for a second and final time this season.
