Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers drove into the teeth of the Las Vegas Aces defense during the first quarter of her WNBA preseason debut. Launching from the left side, Bueckers connected on a left-handed floater from 5 feet, and then fell hard to the baseline.
It was a welcome-to-the-league moment that might have left a bruise.
Bueckers, the first overall selection in the 2025 WNBA Draft after leading UConn to a national title a month ago, scored 10 points in 23 minutes on Notre Dame‘s home floor as the rebuilding Wings lost 112-78 to the perennially title-contending Aces.
Jackie Young scored 28 points for Las Vegas. She was one of three former Notre Dame players in the game, joined by teammate Jewell Loyd and Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale.
Bueckers is hoping to turn around a franchise that went 9-31 in 2024. She averaged 24.8 points in the women’s NCAA Tournament for UConn, finally delivering the title that she’d been chasing since her sensational freshman season.
Now she’s trying to reset after grinding her way through a 40-game college season that ended a month ago.
“It’s super surreal in terms of the turnaround from where I was two weeks ago to where I am today,” Bueckers said. “I’m just soaking it up and enjoying every moment, getting used to new routines, traditions, new…
