HARTFORD — Though it was far from the easy, breezy wins their fans were accustomed to seeing in Connecticut, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd were there with the big baskets at the end.
Bueckers scored 25 points, adding seven rebounds and seven assists, to lead the Dallas Wings to a 86-83 victory over the Connecticut Sun before a near sellout crowd of 14,578 at PeoplesBank Arena in a long-anticipated WNBA game Thursday night. Azzi Fudd, Bueckers longtime teammate at UConn, scored only four points, but they all came down the stretch as the Wings (12-8) came back from a 14-point deficit to take down the Sun.
Lu Yueru capped a long Dallas rally with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 78, then after a stop Bueckers completed a three-point play to put the Wings ahead for the first time since the opening minutes. The teams traded the lead down the stretch, Fudd, who had a quiet night, hitting her second basket to put the Wings ahead again, the Sun tied it, then Bueckers made 1 of 2 from the line with 25.9 seconds left.
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Leila Lecan led the Sun (4-16) with 18 points, Charlisse Leger-Walker had 14, Brittney Griner 13, with 11 rebounds, and former Husky Olivia Nelson-Ododa 11.
Though ticket sales seemed to be slow in the days leading up to the game, UConn fans showed up and filled nearly every seat by the tip-off. And the crowd certainly sounded like a majority were rooting for Bueckers, Fudd and the Wings, especially when the former Huskies were introduced.
Fudd missed her first three shots, but picked up a couple of assists as Dallas took an early lead. Bueckers, scored eight in the first quarter, but the Sun, playing better lately, were staying even, then scoring the last seven points of the quarter to take a 22-16 lead, then opened it up to 10 points early in the second.
Bueckers and Fudd, after a respite, checked back into the game and they picked up assists on consecutive possessions, both finding Maddie Siegrist to help Dallas cut into its deficit. Leila Lecan’s 3-pointer restored Connecticut’s lead to 11. By halftime, Fudd was still scoreless, but Bueckers had 12 points, four assists and three rebounds. Still, the Wings trailed by eight.
Connecticut retained the lead, 62-55, through the third quarter, as Fudd remained scoreless but Bueckers, with 14 points, six assists and six rebounds, was threatening a triple double.
Fudd finally scored her first points, on a signature pull-up jumper with 5:08 left in the game, and it pulled the Wings within four points, 72-68. A drive and lay-in by Bueckers made it a two-point game with under 3 minutes to play, then made the kind of play only she could, shooting through contact, ending up on the floor, but sinking the basket and completing the 3-point play.
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