Paige Bueckers steps onto WNBA playoff stage as next step in growth of Dallas Wings star

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Paige Bueckers put her arms in the air with her hands together, a smile accompanying the prayer-like motion when the Dallas Wings star finally made a shot after a rare scoreless first half.

The reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year knew she had missed her first seven shots in a random mid-August game against a team on a nine-game losing streak.

It illustrated the self-awareness Bueckers has shown as a pro, from the rookie No. 1 overall pick learning how to cope with losing in much larger doses to the second-year leader helping navigate the ups and downs for a contender.

Now she's ready for her WNBA playoff debut Sunday against the Golden State Valkyries.

“Very excited,” Bueckers said. “It’s what you play for to be able to play in the postseason, to play for something that means so much. To be able to do it with this squad, I'm looking forward to it.”

In that 94-88 victory over Toronto last month, Bueckers made all four shots in a 13-point third quarter and ended up leading the Wings with 22 points. Dallas ended a three-game losing streak that was part of the most challenging stretch of the season, with eight losses in 11 games.

On either side of that funk, the Wings had six-game winning streaks that are the longest since the club moved to the Dallas area 10 years ago.

Those two streaks alone gave the Wings more than the 10 victories they had while Bueckers was on her way to top rookie honors last year for a team that tied for the league's worst record.

The 34 losses a year ago were twice as many as the combined number of her four seasons at UConn, where she won the 2025 national championship before Dallas drafted her No. 1 overall.

“Every season has its journeys and its ups and downs and the waves of success and the waves of failure,” Bueckers said. “I think it’s so easy throughout a season to lose confidence or let that waver. Continue to stay dedicated on getting better every single day and not be result-driven, as I’ve learned last year and I learned throughout my entire life. It’s just staying steady throughout the season as well.”

Bueckers led all rookies in scoring at 19.2 points per game and assists at 5.4. Both of those numbers are up this year, to 20.9 and 5.9.

That's good news and bad news for first-year coach Jose Fernandez, who hoped to let the versatile Bueckers play off the ball more but instead had to lean on her to run the offense.

Bueckers also pushed her rebounding average over four and is one of just three players in league history to average at least 20 points, four rebounds and five assists per game in a season. Diana Taurasi did it 13 years ago, and Arika Ogunbowale did it for Dallas in 2024, the year before she became Bueckers' teammate.

“She plays with so much energy and vigor and love for the game,” Fernandez said. “She just makes everybody around her better, and you can tell how much she cares about winning. She's just special. She wants to win at everything.”

Bueckers lost so much as a rookie, the Wings ended up with the No. 1 pick again and drafted her former UConn teammate, Azzi Fudd. Their reconnection was cut short when a sore knee sidelined Fudd and she ended up having season-ending surgery.

Fudd played 30 games, the first six off the bench before she joined Bueckers in the starting lineup for good.

“We had a good sample size this season,” Bueckers said. “Of course, it’s a missing piece that we’re gonna have moving forward (in the playoffs). Can’t really replicate her shooting ability, her spacing ability, but also what she does defensively for us. Looking forward to her getting healthy and being back healthy on the floor next year, but just staying present right now.”

The Wings won seven of eight to finish the regular season, a hot streak interrupted by a nearly three-week break when Bueckers played her first major tournament with the senior national team.

The U.S. won gold at the FIBA World Cup in Berlin, and Bueckers played all four games in eight days once the season resumed.

“Things like that have pros and cons,” Bueckers said. “We’ve been able to stay in shape and stay in game-ready shape, but mentally wise, we didn’t really get a break. So we’ve constantly been in game flow. But also finding rest, finding ways to recover, getting back into the routine, my body’s feeling good.”

General manager Curt Miller, who has been on the Team USA staff in the past, didn't have any doubt Bueckers could handle the hectic finish because he saw how she prepared for the start. Bueckers worked on building strength in the offseason, and Miller thought it showed during the fourth quarters of games.

“She really does have the keys to this franchise now,” Miller said. “And it’s fun. I know we all are greedy and we want to be as good as we can quickly, but it takes steps. Really pleased with Paige’s growth between year one and year two. Some of it is very obvious, but a lot of it is subtle.”

Growth in the playoffs is the next step.

See AP’s full WNBA coverage here