Paige Bueckers scores 21 points, Aziaha James posts career high as Dallas Wings beat Connecticut Sun 86-83
Paige Bueckers had 21 points and seven assists in the former UConn star's return to Connecticut, fellow rookie Aziaha James scored all of her season-high 17 points in the second half, and the Dallas Wings beat the Connecticut Sun 86-83 on Friday night.
Bueckers and James are the lone rookies this season to record a 15-point, 5-rebound, 5-assist game, with Bueckers doing so three times.
NaLyssa Smith scored 12 points and Li Yueru added 11 points and nine rebounds, both season highs, for the Wings.
The game featured 12 lead changes and 10 ties, the last of which came when the Sun's Aneesah Morrow scored in the lane to make it 62-62 with 1:18 left in the third quarter. James answered 26 seconds later with a floater that gave Dallas the lead for good.
Aziaha James posted a career-high 17 points against the Sun on June 20.
Dallas Wings
Morrow made a driving layup that trimmed Connecticut's deficit to 76-73 with three minutes to play, but Arike Ogunbowale hit a 3-pointer and then made two free throws before DiJonai Carrington made a layup with 45.8 seconds left that gave the Wings a 83-76 lead.
The Wings shot just 36% (11 of 31) in the second half but made 21 of 26 (81%) from the free-throw line, where Connecticut made 12 of 15.
The Sun (2-11) have lost five straight.
Dallas (3-11), which won its first home game of the season and snapped a seven-game skid Tuesday with an 80-71 victory over Golden State, won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
The Wings beat Connecticut 109-87 on May 27, the Wings' first win of the season.
"It's fun coming back here every single time," Bueckers said during the post-game press conference about returning to Connecticut, where she secured an NCAA Championship with the UConn Huskies. "They've always shown so much love to me, and it's been a state that's done a lot for me. It's always amazing to come back and get another win here."
Up next
The Wings play Sunday, June 22, at Washington.
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