Paige Bueckers has long been ready for the moment. Whether at Hopkins High School or the University of Connecticut, Bueckers always has been a winning player who shines when the lights are brightest. For example, as a freshman at UConn in 2021, she scored 28 points in an Elite Eight game against Baylor to lead her team to the Final Four.
After guiding the Huskies to a national championship in April, Bueckers entered the WNBA as the first overall pick in the 2025 draft. It placed Bueckers in an unusual spot -- joining a Dallas Wings team in the early stages of a rebuild.
But on Monday night against the New York Liberty, Bueckers proved once more that she is heading for the WNBA mountaintop, sooner rather than later.
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Bueckers stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Wings surged to a 27-point halftime lead before hanging on to defeat the defending champion Liberty at College Park Center. The 92-82 win saw Dallas win for only the eighth time this season, but it provided further insight into Bueckers' overall impact just 21 games into her professional career.
Bueckers this season is the only player, rookie or otherwise, to rank in the WNBA's top 10 in points, assists and steals per game -- something not even Caitlin Clark did as a rookie in 2024. The 23-year-old is eighth in the league with 18.2 points per game, eighth in assists at 5.5 and tied for second in steals at 1.9.
Already an All-Star, Bueckers' statistical dominance at this early stage portends greater things in her future -- as well as the Wings' -- as she continues to adapt to the intensity of professional basketball.
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