Paige Bueckers scored 21 points — 16 of them in the first half — and dished out seven assists in her second return to her collegiate home as the Dallas Wings defeated the hapless Connecticut Sun 86-83 on Friday in a contest between the WNBA’s bottom dwellers in Uncasville, Conn.
Dallas (3-11) led by as many as nine points midway through the third quarter but by just one heading into the fourth. The Wings slowly built on that advantage, going up 74-68 on a pair of free throws by Li Yueru with 5:21 left to play.
Connecticut would get no closer than three points the rest of the way in dropping its fifth straight game and falling to the bottom of the league standings.
Aziaha James added 17 points for Dallas, which has won back-to-back games for the first time this season and has taken the first two contests with the Sun (both in Connecticut) this year.
NaLyssa Smith scored 12 points and Yueru had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Wings.
Connecticut’s Tina Charles led all scorers with 26 points while Jacy Sheldon and Aneesah Morrow added 10 apiece for the Sun (2-11).
The Wings led for the majority of the first quarter and forged a 21-15 advantage after 10 minutes of action.
Connecticut swung back, with a bucket and two free throws by Charles leapfrogging the Sun to a 25-24 lead with 6:42 to play in the second period. Bueckers hit a pair of jumpers to give the Wings a 30-27 at the midway mark of the quarter. Her jumper with 33.1 seconds left gave Dallas a 42-40 lead at the break.
Bueckers was 7-for-11 shooting in the half before being held without a made field goal in the second. Charles paced the Sun with 15 points before halftime.
The Wings stretched the margin to nine points after Arike Ogunbowale canned a jumper with 5:35 to play in the third quarter. Dallas led 60-52 at the 3:31 mark of the third quarter but the Sun rallied, drawing to within a bucket when Lindsay Allen made a layup a minute later.
Two free throws by Bria Hartley with 0.9 seconds left in the period brought Connecticut to within 65-64 heading to the final quarter.
–Field Level Media
