Paige Bueckers' 878 Caps Wings' Record 17-Win Turnaround

Photo: WNBA.com. Official Paige Bueckers headshot.

Seattle cut a 19-point hole to six with 17-4 in the fourth, then Awak Kuier and Paige Bueckers answered with consecutive threes and Dallas closed 103-91 at Climate Pledge Arena.

The Wings finished 27-17 after a 10-win 2025, a 17-win single-season jump that the Associated Press calls the best turnaround in WNBA history, and Bueckers closed the regular season at 878 points, the most by any Wings player in a single year, with the No. 7 seed already booked for Sunday.

Bueckers put up 25 points and seven assists. It was her third straight night at 20-plus points and five-plus assists. Jessica Shepard delivered 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists for her league-leading sixth triple-double. Arike Ogunbowale added 23 and six. Three Wings cleared 20. The Storm, finished at 8-36, got 29 from Dominique Malonga and 22 from Awa Fam, and still could not hold the late run after Kuier and Bueckers killed it from deep. The record lives in the full year. Dallas won 10 games in 2025 and sat with the league's worst tier. The 2026 rewrite starts with Curt Miller hiring Jose Fernandez and landing Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smith in free agency. Dallas also drafted Azzi Fudd No. 1 and kept Ogunbowale after she took less than the supermax so the Wings could add help. Shepard's sixth triple-double is the clearest proof the frontcourt create job is real. Six of those in one season is a different Wings identity than the 10-win tape.

The Dallas relocation ceiling used to sit at 22 wins. Wednesday's 27th win and the 17-game climb past every prior single-season jump put that history in the rearview. Dallas also swept Seattle for the first time in franchise history. Seven of the last eight are in the book. The lone loss in that stretch was Monday in Phoenix, when Bueckers scored 30, pushed her season total to 853, and passed Ogunbowale's 849 from 2023 for the single-season scoring mark before adding 25 more in Seattle to finish at 878.

Playoff math is next. Atlanta's win over New York locked Dallas into the No. 7 seed. Game 1 is on the road against Golden State or Las Vegas, depending on Thursday's finales. Game 2 comes home to College Park Center. Either draw asks Dallas to travel first against a 30-win team after a season spent proving it can outscore almost anyone. The bracket still sees a No. 7 seed built around Shepard dealing triple-doubles. Bueckers just closed a franchise scoring year. Ogunbowale is back at 23-and-6 beside both of them. The 17-win turnaround puts Dallas in the bracket. The next proof is connectivity on a road floor against a 30-win team. Regular-season receipts already stamped sit at 27-17, 17 wins of improvement, 878 from Bueckers, and Shepard's sixth.

Sources

• Associated Press via ABC News. Wings 103-91 over Storm. Bueckers 25. Shepard 20-11-12, WNBA-leading sixth triple-double. 10 wins last season. WNBA-record 17-win single-season turnaround. No. 7 seed. Ogunbowale 23 and 6. Seven of last eight. Monday loss after 14-point lead. 90-71 lead at 6:55 of fourth, Storm 17-4 to 94-88, Kuier and Bueckers threes. First franchise sweep of Seattle. Malonga 29, Fam 22, Johnson 21, Hiedeman 10-14. Storm 8-36.
• NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth / AP. Bueckers season total 878 for the Wings scoring mark. Best regular season since the 2016 relocation. Never more than 22 wins in Arlington. Playoff path: road Game 1 vs Golden State or Las Vegas; Game 2 at College Park Center.
• Hardwood Heroics. Bueckers 30 vs Phoenix raised total to 853, passed Ogunbowale's 849 from 2023. Wings social confirmed the single-season mark.
• WTOP / AP. Same AP Wings wire confirm alongside Dream finale.
• ESPN / Alexa Philippou. Midseason context on the Fernandez hire. Shepard and Smith arrived in free agency. Fudd went No. 1. Ogunbowale took less than the supermax. Prior year was 10-34.
• ESPN WNBA standings. Dallas final regular-season record 27-17.
• Photos: WNBA.com official Paige Bueckers headshot player ID 1642784.