Napheesa Collier scored 34 points on 12-for-21 shooting as the Minnesota Lynx took control in the third quarter for a 99-84 win over the Dallas Wings that spoiled Paige Bueckers’ WNBA debut Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Courtney Williams scored 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting with a game-high nine assists for Minnesota, which started strong after reaching the WNBA finals a season ago. Jessica Shepard scored 15 points and Diamond Miller chipped in 13 points off the bench.
Bueckers, a three-time All-American at UConn who was the No. 1 pick in last month’s WNBA draft, hit just 3-of-10 shots as she finished with 10 points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes. Arike Ogunbowale paced the Wings with 16 points and DiJonai Carrington finished with 15 points.
Minnesota outscored Dallas 53-38 in the second half.
Bueckers scored the game’s first basket to begin her Wings career. The Minnesota native missed a runner in the lane, then grabbed the rebound and banked it in from close range.
The Lynx led 81-66 at the end of the third quarter. They outscored the Wings 35-20 during the quarter to seize control.
Dallas had no answer for Collier, who scored 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting during the third quarter. She buried a 3-pointer and made a driving layup in a 28-second span to give Minnesota a 78-64 lead late in the quarter.
Myisha Hines-Allen made a layup to cut the Wings’ deficit to 12 points with 53.3 seconds left in the third quarter, but Williams answered with a 3-pointer on the other end to put the Lynx on top by 15 points.
The Lynx maintained a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter. Williams provided a flurry of scoring, including back-to-back jump shots to put Minnesota ahead 96-75 with 2:51 remaining.
The score was 46-46 at halftime.
Dallas scored the final four points of the first half to pull even. Ogunbowale made a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left, then Maddy Siegrist made a layup off an assist from Carrington with 1.2 seconds to go.
The Wings led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter.
–Field Level Media
