The Guru’s WNBA Roundup: Minnesota Mars Dallas’ Bueckers’ Homecoming as Collier Stays Hot While Golden State Clips Washington for First Franchise Win and Phoenix Edges L.A.

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

Minnesota stayed perfect keeping Dallas winless Wednesday night and following ruining No. 1 draft pick Paige Bueckers’ pro debut in Texas Friday night the WNBA runner-up Lynx (3-0) with their 85-81 narrow victory over the Wings (0-3) at the Target Center in Minneapolis also marred the former UConn standout’s first homecoming beyond college.

All three games on the league slate had slim outcomes, Dallas fell in its closest result, the expansion Golden State Valkyries at home at the Chase Center in San Francisco quickly reached .500 at 1-1 edging Washington 76-74 for the first loss by the Mystics (2-1) while Phoenix’s new tandem of Satou Sabally and Alyssa Thomas enabled the Mercury (2-0) to slip past Los Angeles 89-86 at the PHX Arena before a crowd of 8,000 against the Sparks (1-2).

Napheesa Collier, also a former Connecticut sensation, continued to light the scoreboard for Minnesota, scoring 28 points with eight boards, while Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams each scored 13 points.

Last October in Brooklyn the Lynx fell narrowly to New York in overtime in a decisive Game 5 finals giving the Liberty, one of the WNBA’s eight charter teams in 1997, their first championship in the team’s 29 seasons of existence.

Bueckers, who led the Huskies to their 12th NCAA title in April dethroning South Carolina, scored 12 points, dealt 10 assists and had three steals, but has struggled from the field in her young pro career shooting 13-35 to date.

She was 3-11 against the Lynx Wednesday, including 2-5 on three-point attempts.

Bueckers did become only the third player in WNBA history with a points/assist double double in her first three games after Shoni Schimmel in 2014 and former Penn State star Suzie McConnell Serio in 1998, then being 31 years old.

The latest loss came in the arena she grew up cheering for the Lynx in the same place Bueckers also won a state title with nearby Hopkins High.

“Coming back home is really cool and it’s a great experience, but what we’re trying to build and what we’re trying to do from game to game is more important,” she said.

Bueckers in her sophomore season at Connecticut after being sideline a large portion, played in the Target Center in 2022 when the Huskies lost to Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad in the NCAA championship.

Two nights earlier in the semifinals the team upset defending champion Stanford.

“You try to put everything in perspective,” Bueckers said prior to the game. “You see all the little girls and people in the stands and realize that was you about 10 or 15 years ago, you never take it for granted how blessed you are to be able to play in this league.”

Meanwhile, former Notre Dame great Arike Ogunbowale finally got untracked for Dallas with 21 points and went 5-13 from deep enabling her to tie recently retired WNBA super star Diana Taurasi as the two fastest in the league reaching 500 three-pointers coming in 198 games in their careers.

In this one Dallas streaked to a 15-5 lead before the Lynx reeled off a 12-0 run to regain control most of the night until the Wings got back into it near the end taking advantage of a Lynx scoring slump.

Collier was a perfect 12-12 from the line, her last two sealing the win following the Wings moving within a bucket with 39 seconds left in regulation before Williams’ offensive board on a missed shot forced Dallas to commit the foul.

“I think Paige is going to be really good,” Collier said of her sister alum on the other side. “She’s a three-level scorer. She’s a great passer. Rookie year is really hard so I’ll just tell her there’s going to be up and down but from what I’ve seen, she’s playing aggressive these first couple of games, so I’ll tell her to keep doing that, and lead the team.

“Point guard is a hard position, especially when you’re young, but take advantage of the position she’s in. So really excited for her.”

Former Villanova star Maddy Siegriest off the bench scored seven for the Wings in 19 minutes shooting 3-8 with a 3-pointer.

“It's crazy, the one that I made and the ones that I missed,” Becker said after the game of her 3-pointers. “But I'm just focusing on the next shot and just trying to contribute to winning, whether made or missed shots, trying to impact the game in different ways.”

The Lynx have been on fire ever since longtime coach Cheryl Reeve, the former La Salle star out of South Jersey, who coached USA to its eighth straight Olympic gold medal in Paris last summer, ended practice early a week ago and sent the team home several days before the opener in Dallas.

Minnesota next hosts the Connecticut Sun (0-2) Friday at 7:30 p.m., part of a four-game WNBA slate airing on ION and the WNBA’s League Pass.

Dallas stays on the road to visit Atlanta (1-1) Saturday on CBSSN at 3 p.m.

The Dream first host Indiana (1-1) Thursday night at 7:30 p.m., on Amazon Prime looking to sweep the Fever and Caitlin Clark following Tuesday’s one-point win in Indianapolis.

The continuing Clark effect on Fever road game attendance has Atlanta moving the contest to the larger State Farm Arena.

Thursday’s other game has New York after Saturday’s season and home opening win over Las Vegas visiting Chicago and Angel Reese at 8 p.m. in Wintrust Arena on the WNBA’s streaming League Pass, the host Sky’s first game since the lopsided season-opening loss Saturday at Indiana.

Golden State Gains First-Ever Victory

Another raucous sellout crowd of 18,064 in the NBA Warriors home of Chase Center in San Francisco unlike many fans of brand new or relocated teams in WNBA history did not have a long wait to see their team’s first franchise victory as the expansion Valkyries bounced back from the opening loss to Los Angeles Friday and clip Washington 76-74 handing the Mystics their first setback.

Former Northwestern star Veronica Burton under Northeast Philadelphia’s Joe McKeown shot -11 from the field, including 3-4 from beyond the arc, to score 22 points with nine boards and five assists while Kayla Thornton scored 18 points with a pair of threes and Janelle Salaun and reserve Carla Leite each scored ten points.

Salaun, a rookie, had newly arrived after named MVP as part of an Italian League title.

Burton’s three-ball with 1:38 left in regulation put the home team up and she nailed another with 29 seconds remaining while in between Thornton produced a four-point play with 1:03 on the clock.

Streamers were set off from the rafters following the final buzzer.

The loss wasted another big effort from the Mystics’ Brittney Sykes, the former Syracuse star scoring 30 points while first-round draft picks from last month in Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron and Southern Cal’s Kiki Iriafen, who also played at Stanford, each scored 10 points.

Iriafen’s college coach Lindsay Gottlieb was at the game, tweeting “Kiki’s a pro!!!!!!! So cool to be here.”

Citron hit from deep with five seconds left to make it close but Golden State, which lost Tiffany Hayes to a nose injury in the first half, held on.

Former Iowa star Lucy Olsen, who played most of her collegiate career at Villanova, was 1-4 with a shot from deep and added one more point in 10 minutes as the second round and 23rd overall pick last month.

“We just kept pushing and pushing and fighting and clawing, and they should feel good about that,” said Washington first-year coach Sydney Johnson of his Mystics, who at just over 29 years overall are the youngest in the league.

“I know they don’t right now. Losing stinks. But to put ourselves even in that position (to win) even when we were not our best is impressive.”

Washington is at Las Vegas Friday night while Golden State is at Los Angeles, whose lone win came against the Valkyries in last week’s league opening night.

Phoenix Tops Los Angeles

The Mercury’s new core combined for 41 points, Satou Sabally with 25 and Alyssa Thomas with 19 as Phoenix outlasted the Sparks 89-86.

L.A. trailed by 14 early in the fourth quarter rallying to within a point at 78-77 on a pair of free throws from newcomer Kelsey Plum with 2 minutes, 30 seconds left in regulation.

The former Las Vegas star out of the University of Washington scored the last 11 points of the game as Thomas kept the Mercury in front with their next six.

Plum, who scored 25 points for the Sparks, also reached her 500th career 3-pointer and was 4-9 from deep, besides dealing six assists, while Azura Stevens double doubled with 23 points and 17 boards.

Dearica Hamby also scored in double figures for the visitors with 15 points and seven boards.

Mercury rookie Monique Akoa Makani scored 11 points, shooting 4-8 from the field, including 3-6 from deep.

Trailing by three Plum went long with four seconds left and connected, however her foot was on the line, leaving the Sparks down a point, which became three on Sabally’s two from the line.

Heaving from half-court to tie Plum, who never rested, was way off and the Mercury stayed in the winner’s column.

Phoenix’s defense stood up forcing 17 turnovers, Plum had eight miscues, and the Mercury cashed in with 23 points.

Next up Phoenix heads to Seattle Friday night, the same evening as previously mentioned the Sparks host Golden State.