Bueckers in Tears as Valkyries End Wings' Season 77-73 in Game 3
The short version
- The No. 7 seed Wings fell 77-73 to Golden State in Game 3 on Friday at Chase Center after a 16-point second-half lead slipped away.
- Bueckers shot 3-of-14 with no fourth-quarter points but still had 17 points, six assists, two steals, two blocks and 10-for-10 free-throw shooting.
- Arike Ogunbowale scored 30 points to lead Dallas and comforted Bueckers during the tearful postgame interview.
- Coach Jose Fernandez defended Bueckers against critics, calling her a first-team All-WNBA player who takes ownership in carrying the load.
- Golden State hosts Las Vegas on Sunday, October 4 at 4:00 PM EDT on NBC.
Dallas dropped a 16-point second-half lead in a 77-73 Game 3 loss to Golden State at Chase Center, and Paige Bueckers grew emotional afterward.
The Dallas Wings' season came to a close Friday night with a 77-73 defeat against the Golden State Valkyries in Game 3 of their opening-round WNBA playoff series at Chase Center. The seventh-seeded Wings watched a 16-point advantage in the second half slip away, and the result ended their postseason run while moving Golden State deeper into the bracket.
An emotional scene followed inside the arena. Paige Bueckers fought back tears while meeting with reporters and at one point covered her face with a towel as Arike Ogunbowale stepped in to console her. Ogunbowale had topped Dallas with 30 points in the defeat.
It was an uncharacteristically rough shooting night for Bueckers, a two-time WNBA All-Star. She converted only three of her 14 field-goal attempts and did not score in the fourth quarter. Even so, she still accumulated 17 points, six assists, two steals and two blocks while going 10-for-10 at the foul line.
Bueckers had been the engine behind Dallas' rise all season, and her workload grew larger after rookie standout Azzi Fudd was lost for the year with a knee injury in August. From that point forward, Bueckers handled the bulk of the offensive responsibility for the Wings.
During the postgame news conference, a question came about the Wings authoring the largest one-year improvement in WNBA history, a climb from 10-34 last season to 27-17 this year. "I think just our selfless nature and how much we enjoyed coming to work," Bueckers answered before her emotions took over.
The game represented the first playoff experience of Bueckers' career. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft and the league's reigning Rookie of the Year, she helped first-year head coach Jose Fernandez steer the franchise to a team-record 27 victories and its first trip back to the playoffs since 2023.
Footage of the tearful interview spread rapidly online and brought an outpouring of encouragement for the young guard. "She really is a sweetheart & I love her game," one fan wrote, while others remarked that it is easy to forget the human side of the game, told her not to be too hard on herself and predicted she would return even stronger next season.
The dip in her shooting had also drawn criticism from some corners online, and Fernandez confronted it head-on after the final buzzer. "We only get to this point because of Paige," the coach said. "She's a first-team All-WNBA player. She takes ownership in carrying the load. The great ones do." He acknowledged that Bueckers felt the defeat deeply but stressed that one rough series could not diminish what she built this season.
Up next at Chase Center, the Valkyries host the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, October 4, at 4:00 PM EDT, with the game airing on NBC.
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