On the heels of her record-breaking 44-point performance, Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings host Seattle Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Bueckers set the record for most points in a game by a WNBA rookie in an 81-80 loss to the LA Sparks Wednesday night. Afterwards, she acknowledged the achievement, but said she would have preferred a victory.
“I have always prided myself and the team on winning, so that’s obviously the main goal,” Bueckers said in the post-game press conference. “Honestly, I think I am just most proud of this team and the way we fight. This team means so much to me.”
Dallas (9-27) has lost eight of its last nine games and has been without standout Arike Ogunbowale with knee tendinitis for the last four games. Bueckers missed several games mid-season with a knee injury. Her 19.7 points per game average ranks fifth in the WNBA.
“People have gotten to see the struggles and injuries and the time I couldn’t play and for me to have that story and have people still follow me and still believe in me means a lot,” Bueckers said. “I am extra grateful for it and I will never take it for granted.”
The Storm (18-18) will be playing the second game of an important five-game road trip. Entering Friday, Seattle has a half-game lead on the Sparks for the last WNBA playoff spot.
Seattle has lost seven of its last nine games, but did overpower the Chicago Sky Tuesday night 94-88. Seattle has its own special rookie in 19-year-old center Dominique Malonga, who has hit double figures in six of her last eight games off the bench.
“There is nothing they can do with her when she decides what she’s going to do,” said Storm star Skylar Diggins about Malonga after the win over the Sky. “Every night she breaks records, like (being) the youngest player in WNBA history with 100 field goals. She is just scratching the surface. I tell her all the time she’s going to be a star for the next 20 years in this league.”
Seattle brought in Brittany Sykes from Washington in a trade August 5, but it hasn’t helped them in the win column. Sykes has averaged 14 points for Seattle since coming over in the deal, but the Storm are just 2-4 with her in the line-up.
Nneka Ogwumike leads the Storm with 18.4 points a game.
This will be the fourth and final meeting of the two teams Friday. Seattle has won two of three.
–Field Level Media
