Paige Bueckers poured in 22 points and dished 11 assists to lead the Dallas Wings to a wire-to-wire, 96-78 win over the Portland Fire on Tuesday in Arlington, Texas, to clinch the WNBA’s eighth and final playoff spot.
Dallas (23-16) won its third straight game and will be in the postseason for the first time since 2023. The Wings broke their record for most wins in a campaign since the franchise moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex from Tulsa before the 2016 campaign.
The Fire (15-23) were officially eliminated from postseason contention their inaugural season.
Dallas was up by 13 points at halftime but blew the game open in the third quarter, when it built its lead to as many as 24 points before settling for a 71-52 edge heading to the final quarter. The Fire never made a serious run in the fourth period and dropped their third consecutive outing.
Jessica Shepard added 21 points, nine boards and six assists in the win. Arike Ogunbowale hit for 17 and Awak Kuier racked up 12 points and 12 rebounds to record her second double-double of the year. Alanna Smith finished with 10 points for Dallas.
Portland had six players in double-figure scoring: Bridget Carleton and Karlie Samuelson with 14 points apiece, Megan DiLeo with 13, Carla Leite and Frieda Buhner each with 10 and Emily Engstler with 12 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.
The Wings built a 21-10 lead after Kuier’s layup at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter. Dallas got a pair of free throws by Bueckers with 0.3 seconds left and held a 27-18 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
Portland clawed back within four points early in the second quarter on three free throws by Samuelson and a layup by Carleton. But Shepard had eight points in the second quarter alone and helped build Dallas’ margin to 41-30 with 3:25 left in the half.
Kuier’s 3-pointer with 1:59 to play in the half made it a 13-point game, and Dallas carried a 50-37 lead into the break.
The Wings lit their afterburners in the middle of the third quarter, scoring 13 straight points to turn a 52-41 lead into a rout. Dallas outshot Portland 55.1% to 37.5% for the game.
–Field Level Media
