Paige

Bueckers

While there’s been a recent trend for the WNBA to look to the NBA assistant coaching ranks to fill head coaching vacancies, the Wings have chosen the college route for the franchise’s next head coach. Fernandez moves to the professional ranks after a highly successful run at the University of South Florida, leading the Bulls to 11 NCAA tournament appearances in 25 seasons. USF has won at least 19 games in 14 consecutive seasons, and Fernandez led the program to 12 20-win seasons. He’ll now be asked to lead a rebuild in Dallas featuring WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers, and the Wings will also have a high lottery pick in the 2026 draft.

While her team struggled, Bueckers had an exceptional rookie campaign. The Wings guard averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 47.4 percent from the field and 88.8 percent from the foul line. Bueckers, who led all rookies in points and assists (totals and averages), was named an All-Star Game starter and won three WNBA Rookie of the Month awards. She received 70 of the 72 first-place votes, with Washington’s Sonia Citron receiving the other two. Bueckers is the third Rookie of the Year winner in Shock/Wings franchise history, with Cheryl Ford winning in 2003 and Allisha Gray in 2017.

Bueckers led her team in scoring for the Wings’ final game of the season. She shot over 50% from the field in her fourth straight game, hitting a pair of three-pointers in addition to eight shots in the paint all within 10 feet of the basket. She created her offense on and off the ball, including off the dribble driving the ball while cutting off the ball and scoring. Bueckers dished out seven assists in her second straight game. On Thursday night she dished out passes to four different teammates for scores including hitting a cutting Haley Jones on pick-and-rolls, getting the ball out to Aziaha James and Amy Okonkwo in transition and finding Myisha Hines-Allen to exploit a mismatch.

Despite only attempting eight shots and not recording a made three-pointer, Bueckers nearly reached 20 points and finished as the Wings’ top scorer against the Sparks. She shot an uber-efficient 75 percent from the floor and utilized the free-throw line to produce offensively. She also contributed as a passer, with her assists total tying a team-high on Sunday. While the rookie sensation had a far different stat line than in the 44-point performance against the Sparks during their last meeting in Los Angeles, she was productive on Sunday and will have a chance to close her rookie season strongly on Thursday against the Mercury.

While Bueckers has shot a combined 0-of-6 from three in her last three games, the rookie guard had been excellent in the mid-range and the paint. Against the Valkyries, she shot 11-of-17 from inside the arc and entered Thursday connecting on 50.6 percent of her two-point attempts. Bueckers was also impactful as a distributor of the basketball, and she’s recorded at least six assists in three of her last four outings. On Thursday, she also matched her season-high in steals, adding another impressive stat line to what’s likely to be a résumé worthy of winning Rookie of the Year honors.

Bueckers had an unspectacular final stat line but still put up solid scoring numbers in the loss to the Lynx. The rookie guard led her team in points and extended her streak of double-digit scoring performances to two games. She failed to make a three-point shot, however, and did not record any defensive statistics. As a result, her limited contributions as a passer and rebounder left most of her fantasy production on Monday to come from her scoring. She’ll have a chance to find more production on Thursday against the Valkyries.

Initially questionable for Monday’s game, Bueckers has been cleared to play. She’ll take on her usual role as the focal point of the Wings’ offense, especially as Arike Ogunbowale remains out with a knee injury.

Siegrist led her team in scoring with high efficiency. She leaked out in transition to get on the board early and took different defenders on the dribble. Siegrist scored 11 of her total 23 points in the first quarter, which gave the Wings a lift especially when Paige Bueckers clearly was the main focus of the Dream on their scouting report. While Siegrist cooled down scoring in the remainder of the game following the first quarter, she still got on the board. She took Naz Hillmon and Te-Hina Paopao off the dribble, hit a couple of three-pointers and hit a one-legged fadeaway with Rhyne Howard guarding her. She matched her career high in scoring, a personal record she set on August 17 against the Aces.

Bueckers matched her career high in assists on Friday night, recording 10 of them in addition to earning her second career points-assists double-double. Bueckers found four different teammates including Maddy Siegrist, Myisha Hines-Allen, Amy Okonkwo and Grace Berger. She found Siegrist in transition, which has become par for the course. Okonkwo, Hines-Allen and Berger had open driving lanes that Bueckers was able to find. When it came to her scoring, Bueckers attacked the basket and scored most of her points inside the paint, although she hit two shots in the mid-range, her speciality as a scorer. She scored both on and off the ball, driving with the ball in her hands while running around with Rhyne Howard trailing her during Wings quarter court possessions.

Geiselsoder finished the third quarter of Wednesday’s game but was replaced by Aziaha James to begin the fourth quarter before later being ruled out. Her injury is just the latest in what has been a rough past few weeks for the Wings, who were already playing on Wednesday without Paige Bueckers (illness), Arike Ogunbowale (knee), JJ Quinerly (knee) and Li Yueru Knee). With Dallas’ season coming to an end soon, it’ll be interesting to see what the injury diagnosis is and how long it potentially keeps Geiselsoder on the sideline, if at all.