Women’s basketball phenoms Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark played each other for the first time as professionals on Sunday, which ended in a 102-83 Indiana Fever win over the Dallas Wings.
Wings guard Bueckers and Fever guard Clark each performed well in the highly anticipated matchup at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, their first meeting since Clark’s Iowa defeated Bueckers’ UConn 71-69 in the 2024 Final Four.
Bueckers, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft, scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The rookie added four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Clark, the top pick in the 2024 draft, recorded a 14-point, 13-assist double-double. She shot 4-of-12 from the floor in her third game back from a groin injury that sidelined her for the Fever’s June 27 contest with the Wings at American Airlines Center.
“It’s fun any time we can compete against each other,” Bueckers said. “We’re two competitors who just want to win.”
Comparisons have been made between the two 23-year-olds, who, as No. 1 picks and popular figures in the sport, were both tasked with lifting their organizations. Bueckers, the WNBA’s Rookie of the Month for June and a WNBA All-Star game starter, has certainly raised the profile of the Wings. But even her stellar performance on Sunday couldn’t make up for Dallas’ on-court product that resulted in the team falling to 6-16 and 2-10 on the road.
Unlike the Wings’ last matchup with the Fever, Dallas started fast, trailing Indiana by one point to end the first quarter. But the Fever outscored the Wings 29-11 over the last seven minutes of the second quarter to take a 64-42 halftime lead. The Fever’s 64 points were the most a team has scored in a half this season and the most points in a half in franchise history.
Dallas couldn’t overcome that surge.
“Their physicality in general got into us and made our lives hard,” Wings coach Chris Koclanes said. “But then again, no excuse for not getting back. I think we could have had greater effort more consistently in transition.”
Wings center Li Yueru recorded 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added five rebounds, while rookie guard JJ Quinerly posted 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and four assists. But they, along with Bueckers, didn’t have much help from the other two Wings starters.
Guard Arike Ogunbowale, who made her return to competition after missing time with a left thumb injury, shot 0-of-10 from the floor, scoring her only two points at the free throw line. Center Luisa Geiselsöder finished 3-of-6 from the field with seven rebounds, but most of her seven points came late.
Dallas has been hit hard with injuries and has played the majority of its games this season with 10 or fewer players. The Wings have also navigated several roster transactions that have made consistency a challenge.
Fans and observers will likely compare Bueckers and Clark after their first WNBA matchup, but basketball is a team sport. Indiana was the better team. While Bueckers played incredibly on Sunday, she and the Wings remain in the losing column.
In her mind, that’s probably the most significant stat. But Bueckers, who won a state championship in high school and a national championship at UConn, is keeping the losses in perspective.
“There’s no skipping steps to building what we want to build here,” Bueckers said. “It’s early and this is just part of the journey that we have here and we are going to stick together through it.”
Twitter: @t_myah
