Bueckers was selected as number 1 by the Dallas Wings on April 14th.<\/p>\n\n
Despite playing against a rival university team, Bueckers received a standing ovation at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion when introduced as a starter.<\/p>\n\n
WNBA reigning MVP A’ja Wilson greeted Bueckers after a foul, and Bueckers sat on the bench alongside Wings All-Star and former Notre Dame standout Arike Ogunbowale.<\/p>\n\n
Bueckers scored her first professional basket with a left-handed layup midway through the first quarter, and finished with 10 points in 23 minutes, in a game that the Wings lost to the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n\n
It’s very surreal the change from two weeks ago to today. But I am enjoying every moment, getting used to new routines, traditions, teammates and organization, and I am excited to play basketball again with this new group.<\/p>Paige Bueckers<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n
Wings’ new coach, Chris Koclanes, told Bueckers before the game to “play the present and not perfect,” as it will take time to adapt to a team with new faces. Koclanes has been impressed by Bueckers’ composure in the face of media attention, as possibly the next big superstar in the sport.<\/p>\n\n
I don’t see myself as a celebrity, I’m just a basketball player.<\/p>Paige Bueckers<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n
Bueckers played most of the first half and then opened the third quarter with a three-pointer from the side. Bueckers committed three fouls, but finished with four rebounds and an assist. In addition to a faster pace, Bueckers pointed to “screen navigation” as a challenge, especially against an Aces team with “five Olympic-level players.”<\/p>\n\n
Notre Dame’s former guard, Jackie Young, scored a game-high 28 points, making all 13 free throws in her return to the college court.<\/p>\n\n
The crowd cheered for Bueckers, even lamenting some of his missed shots.<\/p>\n\n
It wasn’t UConn playing against Notre Dame, so you expect a little different energy from the crowd, but this environment, I thought it was a great idea to come back and have preseason games on college campuses. Hopefully, we can do one at UConn.<\/p>Paige Bueckers<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n
Despite being the favorite for the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, Bueckers is focused on adapting to her new team and a higher level of competition. The Wings’ next game is on May 10 against the Toyota Antelopes, a professional team from Japan.<\/p>\n\n
No expectations. I feel like that comes from an outside source, so I’m just building with the team here, trying to get better every day and not worrying about expectations. Don’t put a ceiling on what you can achieve, but try to be better and win the day.<\/p>Paige Bueckers<\/cite><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOUTH BEND, Ind. \u2013 Paige Bueckers made her preseason WNBA debut, shortly after leading UConn to the national title. Bueckers was selected as number 1 by the Dallas Wings on April 14th. Despite playing against a rival university team, Bueckers received a standing ovation at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion when introduced as a starter. WNBA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[377,680,129,382],"class_list":{"0":"post-4170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-dallas-wings","9":"tag-debut","10":"tag-paige-bueckers","11":"tag-wnba"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}