Paige Bueckers highlighted her 25 points with a clutch late 3-pointer as the visiting Dallas Wings held off the Seattle Storm 103-91 on Wednesday in the regular-season finale for both teams.
The Wings (27-17) had little to play for as they were assured the seventh spot in the upcoming playoffs after New York lost to Atlanta earlier on Wednesday to finish eighth in the standings.
Dallas, which earned its seventh win in eight games, will face either the Golden State Valkyries (31-12) or the Las Vegas Aces (30-13) in the first round of the postseason.
Seattle (8-36) closed out a poor season in which it has dropped its final five games and 19 of its last 21 games to finish in last place in the 15-team league. The Storm’s 36 losses are the most by a team in a single season in WNBA history.
The Wings led by 17 points in the first quarter but by just seven at halftime after a spirited rally by the Storm in the second quarter.
In the fourth, Seattle drew within 94-88 after Natisha Hiedeman steal and layup with 2:01 to play, but the Wings’ Awak Kuier replied with a 3-pointer. The Sounders again trailed by six after a Hiedeman three-point play before Bueckers canned a trey with 57.8 seconds left.
Dallas added to its franchise mark for wins in a season.
Arike Ogunbowale put up 23 points for the Wings, while Jessica Shepard had 20 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for her league-leading sixth triple-double of the season. Kuier and Maddy Siegrist tallied 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Dominique Malonga scored 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Storm. Awa Fam hit for 22 points, Flau’jae Johnson added 21 and Hiedeman contributed 10 points and 14 assists.
In the first quarter, Shepard muscled into the lane for a layup to push the Wings’ lead to 19 points on the way to a 29-12 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
The Storm drew within 35-31 on Malonga’s layup halfway through the second period. Seattle hit 13 of its 16 shots in the quarter (81.2%) but still trailed 49-42 at the break.
Malonga led all scorers in the half with 16 points, while Bueckers paced Dallas with 15.
Seattle never got closer that five points in the third quarter, which ended with the Wings up 76-63.
–Field Level Media
