Skip to main content
Sunday, November 15, 2026Nov 15
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

Wings denied win as top pick Paige Bueckers tips off pro career

AP photo by Richard W. Rodriguez / Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers drives past Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton during the season opener for both teams Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
AP photo by Richard W. Rodriguez / Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers drives past Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton during the season opener for both teams Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

By SCHUYLER DIXON / The Associated Press 4 min read

ARLINGTON, Texas — Paige Bueckers’ hometown in Minnesota took on her name for a day as a tribute to her WNBA debut.

The team from her home state wasn’t quite as accommodating.

Bueckers scored the first points of the season for the Dallas Wings and finished with 10, while fellow University of Connecticut alum Napheesa Collier finished with 34 points for Minnesota as the Lynx won 99-84 on Friday night.

All important details, but maybe the biggest is that the first one is out of the way for the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

“The first one’s always the hardest, usually,” Bueckers said. “Not to say that it won’t get harder, but just being able to have a starting point and continuing to build off that. And then there’s no more questions about what is it going to be like for your first WNBA game. Now you have to move on past that.”