Storm top Wings, but Paige Bueckers shines in second WNBA game
Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings hosted the Seattle Storm on Monday night.
Skylar Diggins and the Storm were coming off a season-opening loss to the Phoenix Mercury on the road. Meanwhile, the Wings looked to bounce back from a season-opening loss to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday.
Bueckers, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, had 10 points and seven rebounds in her pro debut against the Lynx. She did even better Monday in Arlington, Texas, in her second game, but the Storm got the better of the Wings, with a 79-71 road victory. Bueckers looked nothing like a rookie, scoring a team-high 19 points, while adding eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.
For a lot of this game, Dallas actually looked like the superior team, but the second and fourth quarters were not kind to the Wings. Seattle won those quarters by a combined score of 44-25.
Nneka Ogwumike led the Storm with a monster double-double of 23 points and 18 rebounds. Diggins tallied 21 points and nine assists, and Gabby Williams added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.
USA TODAY Sports provided updates and highlights throughout the game. Scroll below for the full recap of Storm vs. Wings:
Storm vs. Wings highlights
Final: Storm 79, Wings 71
The fourth quarter got off to a slow start. With both teams playing to prevent three-pointers, it took over two minutes for the first bucket of the quarter, when after a Bueckers missed jump shot, Kaila Charles was able to grab the rebound and shovel a quick pass to Maddie Siegrist for an easy layup.
After that bucket though, it was all Seattle. The Storm scored eight points before the Wings could record another bucket. Arike Ogunbowale particularly struggled, shooting just 2-of-14 on the night and just 1-of-8 from three. Ogunbowale has earned a little leeway given her strong career, but her poor shooting definitely contributed to Seattle’s loss.
End of Q3: Storm 66, Wings 61
It’s been a back-and-forth affair. Even though the Storm have been leading for most of this game, the push-and-pull from Dallas has been unforgiving. Every time the Storm think they have figured something out, the Wings storm back to make it interesting, outscoring the Storm 20-10 in the third.
Bueckers improved drastically with her ball control between the second and third quarters, recording three assists, a huge part of Dallas’ comeback attempt. Although Bueckers only had four points, she had two rebounds and two steals as well, creating opportunities on both ends of the floor, while Seattle has continued to rely on the Nneka Ogwumike (15 points), Gabby Williams (17), and Skylar Diggins (18) to provide almost all of the scoring. In fact, the rest of the Storm combined only have 14 points. Seattle will need someone else to step up in the final 10 minutes if they want to prevent Dallas from coming back.
End of Q2: Storm 56, Wings 41
Well, if you thought Dallas’ offensive outburst at the end of the first quarter would carry into the second, you’d be dead wrong. It was Seattle that stormed back (buh dum tss), almost furious at their performance at the end of the first.
The Storm outscored their opponents 31-15. Seattle shot 9-of-11 from beyond the arc.
Bueckers especially struggled in this quarter, tallying only five points (only three through the first 9.5 minutes) while recording some unfortunate turnovers in transition that led to points for Seattle. With about three minutes left in the quarter, there was one instance where a missed shot from the Storm led to a counterattack for Dallas. Bueckers tried threading the needle to her teammate who was out in front, but the pass was intercepted by Alysha Clark. On the ensuing defensive possession, Bueckers jumped in the air anticipating a pass, but Gabby Williams just drove past her instead and kicked the ball out to the corner, leading to a three-pointer from Skylar Diggins.
Bueckers has taken some big steps forward in between her first game and tonight. After all, she’s already set a career-high with 11 points, but plays like the one above will make it tough for Dallas to come back in the second half.
End of Q1: Wings 26, Storm 25
It’s been a close game through 10 minutes, with the Storm out in front of the Wings. Dallas’ Paige Bueckers had seven points in the first quarter, including a clutch three-pointer with under a minute to go to give Dallas the lead. The Wings ended the quarter on a 15-7 run.
Dallas’ passing also played a massive role in their comeback in the quarter. The team tallied seven assists on their first eight baskets and nine assists throughout the whole quarter. Myisha Hines-Allen had four of those assists for Dallas. However, Seattle’s Skylar Diggins leads all hoopers with five assists through the first.
Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike leads all scorers with eight, but Dallas’ Bueckers and McCowan are close behind with seven and six respectively.
What time is Storm vs. Wings WNBA game?
The Seattle Storm will play the Dallas Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Monday, May 19, 2025. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET.
How to watch Storm vs. Wings WNBA game: TV, stream
- Time: 8 p.m. ET
- Location: College Park Center (Arlington, Texas)
- TV: NBATV, KFAA (Dallas), CW (Seattle)
- Stream: WNBA League Pass
Predictions for Storm vs. Wings:
Tyree writes, ‘Bueckers paced all Dallas Wings starters with 30 minutes in her debut and amassed 10 points alongside seven rebounds and a pair of assists. She wasn’t far off 22.5 despite shooting just 3-for-10 from the field against Minnesota. The WNBA is a step up from college but Bueckers shot better than 52% from the field in all four of her campaigns at UConn and only fell short of 41.0% from three in 2021-22.’
Dewey writes, ‘Seattle’s offense was stuck in mud in its season opener, while the Wings put up a cool 84 points in a loss to the Minnesota Lynx – who were one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA last season. Trading away Loyd for draft capital signaled to me that the Storm were willing to take a step back, and they lack proven scoring options after Skylar Diggins and Nneka Ogwumike.’
Edgington writes, ‘Paige Bueckers did score 10 points in her first WNBA game, but did so on only 30% shooting and zero made threes, along with four free throws. Hopefully, having first-game jitters out of the way, she has a more efficient shooting night against the Storm.’
