Bueckers, back in Connecticut, wins 1st with Wings

UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- Paige Bueckers returned to a acquainted spot to get the archetypal triumph of her WNBA career.

The No. 1 prime successful the draught by the Dallas Wings had mislaid the archetypal 4 games arsenic a pro and couldn't retrieve a longer losing streak successful her storied hoops career. She wouldn't fto it get to five.

Bueckers scored a season-best 21 points successful the Wings' 109-87 victory implicit Connecticut connected Tuesday night.

"Felt large conscionable to play similar that arsenic a squad and evidently that situation is peculiar to me," the erstwhile UConn prima said. "To play similar that arsenic a squad and enactment a afloat 40 minutes together. ... It felt bully to beryllium retired there."

It's been a week of homecomings for Bueckers arsenic the erstwhile UConn prima played successful the authorities of Connecticut for the archetypal clip since helping the Huskies triumph the school's 12th nationalist title astir 2 months ago. Six days earlier the crippled successful Connecticut, she played successful Minnesota, wherever she grew up.

With the victory, Bueckers remained unbeaten astatine Mohegan Sun Arena, wherever the Sun play their location games. She went 15-0 astatine the arena, including winning 4 Big East championships portion playing for UConn.

"I don't deliberation I ever mislaid here. I was trying to transportation that into tonight," Bueckers said.

Tuesday nighttime was similar a location crippled for Buckers, who received a large ovation from the sellout assemblage erstwhile introduced earlier the game. Many fans were wearing her No. 5 jersey from UConn and Dallas, cheering everything she did. The St. Teresa's hoops squad was sitting connected the seat pregame and screamed with jubilation erstwhile Bueckers ran onto the court.

Bueckers gave them and the remainder of the assemblage -- which included a fewer of her erstwhile Huskies teammates -- a batch to cheer about. She got Dallas (1-4) going aboriginal with 7 points and 4 assists successful the opening 4th arsenic she was aggressively attacking for baskets oregon uncovering opening teammates. She finished the fractional with 15 points arsenic the Wings took control, going up by 14 points astatine the break.

"She conscionable continues to bash things that should beryllium astonishing but aren't," Wings manager Chris Koclanes said. "I instrumentality a measurement backmost to conscionable appreciate, the benignant of subordinate and adjacent much truthful the benignant of idiosyncratic that she is."

A time earlier, Bueckers posted connected Instagram a video of a astonishment gathering that Verizon enactment unneurotic of radical who had benefitted from a nutrient information task that the defender started successful Minnesota successful 2022. As Chegg's archetypal student-athlete marque ambassador, Bueckers worked to rise consciousness astir pupil hunger, an contented that had worsened owed to the pandemic.

"It was a total, implicit astonishment conscionable for them to bring successful those radical who person been a portion of my communicative and been a portion of my journey.," Bueckers said. "It means truthful overmuch to springiness back, to spot the interaction firsthand. It's genuinely inspiring. I was highly grateful for that."

Koclanes has been impressed with Bueckers intelligence attack to the crippled connected and disconnected the tribunal and however overmuch she invests into it.

"She wants to truly beryllium a large person and is committing clip into processing those skills to assistance this civilization and her teammates arsenic a rookie." helium said. "So that's been truly awesome connected the floor. I deliberation you instrumentality for granted immoderate of the things she's capable to do. But highly precocious IQ, she's picked up, you know, concepts and reads, precise early. And past it's just, you know, she'll accommodate to the physicality."

Dallas returns connected June 20 to play astatine Connecticut for a 2nd and last clip this season.