SerpApi.Org
Paige Bueckers has been the best story in the WNBA for six straight games. On Sunday, that story took a scary turn, and now the Dallas Wings have to face the defending champions without her.
Bueckers is out for Monday’s game against the New York Liberty after a hard collision with Nneka Ogwumike left her holding her head on the floor of College Park Center. The two-time All-Star was in the middle of a monster night when it happened, and Dallas will need someone else to fill that void as it opens its first back-to-back of the season.
The play happened with 3:33 left in the fourth quarter of Dallas’ 90-82 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. Azzi Fudd tripped Ogwumike as she tried to draw a charge, sending the Sparks veteran crashing into Bueckers’ knee on the way down. Bueckers hit the back of her head hard on the court and stayed down for several minutes before getting up on her own and walking to the locker room.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez didn’t have a firm update in his postgame press conference, but he did share one detail that got a laugh out of a tense moment.
“She’s upset at Azzi because she said Azzi tripped her [Nneka] and took away P’s charge,” Fernandez said, relaying Bueckers’ half-joking reaction to her own rookie teammate.
Before the injury, Bueckers was putting together one of her best games of the season. She finished with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, five assists and four rebounds, scoring nine of those points in the fourth quarter alone to help Dallas hold off a late Sparks push. The win pushed the Wings to 17-8 and extended their winning streak to six games, a new franchise record.
Arike Ogunbowale closed the door once Bueckers was gone, scoring six of Dallas’ final ten points to seal the win and finishing with 20 points overall. Jessica Shepard added 11 points and 14 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the season, setting a new single-season franchise record of her own.
Ogunbowale And Fudd Have To Carry The Load Monday After Paige Bueckers’ Injury
With Bueckers sidelined, the burden shifts squarely onto Ogunbowale, who already showed down the stretch Sunday that she can take over a game on her own. Fudd, who reached double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals against the Sparks, will also need to be a bigger part of the offense against a Liberty defense that doesn’t give up easy looks.
The timing makes it harder. Monday’s game against New York was originally scheduled for last Thursday but got pushed back after mechanical issues grounded the Liberty’s charter flight. That means Dallas is now playing its first back-to-back of the season without its leading scorer, and without the benefit of a shootaround to sort out how the rotation will look.
Both Bueckers and Ogwumike are still expected to play in next weekend’s All-Star Game in Chicago. Bueckers earned the most fan votes at her position and was named a starter for her second straight All-Star appearance, while Ogwumike is heading to her 11th All-Star Game, tying Diana Taurasi for the second-most appearances in league history.
Dallas still has to get through Monday against the Liberty and a Wednesday matchup with Portland before that break arrives. How the Wings handle a night without Paige Bueckers, and how quickly she’s able to get back on the floor, will say a lot about whether this six-game streak turns into something bigger before the season resumes.
