ARLINGTON, TX — Paige Bueckers’ rookie-season stretch of 30 straight games of double-digit scoring finally came to an end in the Dallas Wings’ 90-81 loss to the Golden State Valkyries (19-18) at College Park Center. Bueckers shot just 3-of-11 from the field, but she did dish nine assists, in the Wings’ 16th loss in their last 19 games since that June stretch of five wins in seven games. Remember that?
Dallas (9-29) found spurts of offense from some unexpected faces, but the Wings couldn’t sustain
much of anything until yet another frantic fourth-quarter comeback attempt came up predictably short against Golden State. The Valkyries outscored Dallas 48-29 in the first and third quarters and shot 16-of-38 (42.1%) from 3-point range on their way to a win that keeps them in the hunt for one of the last spots in the WNBA Playoffs.
“We weren’t really good at the point of attack,” forward Myisha Hines-Allen said after the loss. “Credit to them — we knew what they wanted to do and we were just unable to take it away for a whole game.”
The Wings missed their first seven attempts from the field before Hines-Allen grabbed the loose ball when Aziaha James’ 3-point attempt was blocked midway through the first quarter. She made a little space for herself inside and put an end to the Valkyries’ 12-2 run to open the game. The next time down, Hines-Allen used her position inside for another easy bucket, this time from Paige Bueckers, to keep Dallas within eight again. The Wings couldn’t manufacture scoring opportunities with ball movement within an offensive system. They scored mainly from the free throw line or on broken plays early on.
The latest rash of injuries, including season-enders for Li Yueru and JJ Quinerly and the recent tendonitis diagnosis for Arike Ogunbowale, have left the Wings searching for answers in shot creation and playmaking. As head coach Chris Koclanes opts to give Bueckers more and more rest as the season winds down (and rightfully so), it’s not always going to be pretty down the stretch run.
Just hours before Sunday’s game, the team announced that rookie guard JJ Quinerly suffered a sprained ACL in Wednesday’s 81-80 loss at the Los Angeles Sparks and would miss the last seven games of the season.
Somebody’s got to put the ball in the bucket — anyone. The Wings, at different points this season, have welcomed emergency assistance from new faces, mid-season signees and even hardship contract players along the way. Haley Jones and Grace Berger have worked their way into starting roles after initially signing hardship contracts with the Wings, but on Sunday it was Amy Okonkwo, who played at nearby TCU in college and has found success at the international level for her home country Nigeria, who finally provided Dallas a spark when she entered the game with 1:55 left in the first.
Okonwko drove to the hoop on a nice find from Berger to make it 20-12 with 43 seconds left in the first before knocking down two 3-pointers early in the second. Then Hines-Allen scored seven more points, including a 3-pointer from near the top of the key, in the first three-plus minutes of the second quarter to keep the Dallas bench momentum going. Later in the second, Berger and Maddie Siegrist chimed in to pull the Wings’ MASH unit ahead. Siegrist scored on back-to-back trips down the floor with four minutes to play before halftime to give Dallas a brief 34-32 lead.
Bueckers found Okonkwo along the baseline on the final possession of the first half as the seconds ticked down. She gave her defender a pump fake and spun to the basket to score the final bucket of the half and put the Wings back up, 38-36, with a scooping lay-in that fell just as time expired. Hines-Allen led Dallas with 13 points at the break, while Okonkwo added 10 more in just her second game with the team. To continue with the theme of finding offense from unexpected sources, former Dallas Wing Kaila Charles, who played on three seven-day hardship contracts with the Valkyries before signing a rest-of-season deal with the team on Friday, led Golden State with nine points at the half. The Wings released Charles as a corresponding move after trading NaLyssa Smith to the Las Vegas Aces on June 30.
Bueckers finally made it into the scoring column when her teardrop in the lane bounced home on the Wings’ first possession of the third quarter. She’s always allowed the game to come to her, but she’s also been dealing with a sore back for the last handful of games, and with Dallas missing more and more key offensive pieces recently, opposing defenses have been able to stay at home on her more than ever lately. Bueckers scored just 11 points in Friday’s 95-60 blowout loss to the Seattle Storm, playing just 22 minutes before sitting the entire fourth quarter. She was back to her usual load of playing time against the Valkyries but was bothered by the varied matchups and physical treatment Golden State gave her on Sunday.
“It was extremely physical out there,” Koclanes said. “When she’s attacking the rim and playing in the paint downhill like she was [on Sunday], for her to only go to the free throw line two times — something’s off there. With all the fouls in the game and all the physicality, for her to only go two times, I don’t agree with that. Credit to Paige for continuing to stick with it. She just has a next-play mentality.”
Koclanes came all the way out onto the court early in the fourth quarter to argue a non-call when Bueckers was shoved while battling for rebounding position and was called for a technical foul, his first of the year.
Jones scored on back-to-back drives to the bucket midway through the third. She picked up a steal along the Golden State baseline and took it coast to coast with only Janelle Salaun between her and a fastbreak hoop. Salaun collided with Jones mid-air, but Jones scooped the ball home anyway while falling away from the contact to put the Wings up 47-45 and create a 3-point opportunity with 5:53 left in the third.
Golden State outscored Dallas 16-6 to end the third quarter to take a 61-55 lead into the fourth. Another little 8-2 spurt to open the fourth was all the Valks needed to put enough space between themselves and the ailing Wings to secure the win. Dallas just isn’t equipped for big comebacks as the Wings limp toward the end of the season.
Charles tied her career-high scoring mark of 16 points for the Valkyries in the win, while Veronica Burton led all scorers with 25 points, 13 assists and four blocked shots for Golden State. Siegrist led the Wings’ half-hearted comeback attempt in the fourth and led the team with 16 points, five rebounds and three steals in the loss. Hines-Allen and Jones each chipped in 15.
“We have a great group of women in the locker room and coaches around us that continue to pour into us and give us energy,” Hines-Allen said. “We could hate coming into work because things aren’t going our way, but there are people in that locker room that care for one another. We want to see each other do well. We want more wins, but we have to start somewhere.”
