In their season home opener, the Dallas Wings welcomed the Minnesota Lynx with a revamped lineup, a full house, and the anticipated debut of rookie Paige Bueckers. The Lynx, minus Kayla McBride and Alanna Smith, saw newcomer Karlie Samuelson and returnee Jessica Shepard get the start. Dallas also had a new starting lineup, with Bueckers, Myisha Hines-Allen, NaLyssa Smith and DiJonai Carrington, with Arike Ogunbowale the only return starter. Tiera McCowan started on the bench.
Of course, a win for the Wings would have sealed the debut for Bueckers, but not tonight. However, Bueckers did score the first basket of the game to the delight of the crowd. Shepard put the Lynx up with a layup and free throw, and after that the ball started to find the hoop. The Lynx pulled out to a 15 – 8 lead, but Dallas fought back to go ahead 19 -17 on a Carrington floater which Shepard responded to with a lay-up. Tyasha Harris put the Wings up 2 points with 2.2. seconds left end the quarter 21 – 19.
The second quarter was much the same as the first in terms of scoring, but Napheesa Collier began to find her groove, scoring 9 of her game leading 34 points in the quarter. Diamond Miller, who has been plagued with injuries, brought some spark off the bench, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the quarter, something coach Cheryl Reeves is going to want to continually see from Miller.
Collier and Williams Took Over Late For the Lynx
To say that Collier and Courtney Williams owned the third quarter would be an understatement. Williams, who ended up with 25 points, second only to Collier, had an outstanding game, hitting her mid-range and the three. Up until the 5 minute mark the game stayed fairly close, but after a layup by Collier and a jumper from Williams, the Lynx began to pull ahead, and eventually outscored Dallas 35 – 20, holding a 15 point lead going into the fourth.
Minnesota continued their push, ballooning their lead to 21 points on an 18 foot jumper from Williams with just under three minutes remaining. After a timeout, both teams put their bench players in, and Dallas managed to bring the deficit back to 15, but no closer. The game ended at 99 -84 in favor of Minnesota, a good start to the season.
starting the season off right. pic.twitter.com/vPm3qm6pbH
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) May 17, 2025
The Lynx managed to hold Ogunbowale to 16 points, with Carrington scoring 15, Hines-Allen 11, and Bueckers 10. Maddy Siegrist came off the bench and scored 11 as well. With Collier scoring 34 and Williams 25, , Shepard added 15 and Diamond Miller 13, off the bench.
What’s Next For The Lynx and Wings?
Dallas looks as though they need some more playing time together, and with each team playing one more game before they meet again next week at Target Center, we could see a different game. It will be the home opener for Minnesota, but there will be a substantial portion of the crowd cheering on hometown player Bueckers. But first, Dallas will welcome in the Seattle Storm on Monday, and Minnesota will travel to Los Angeles for a Sunday game versus the revamped Sparks.
Overall, a very good start for the Lynx, and even in a loss, a lot of positives for Dallas. The Wings have a lot of fresh talent in Bueckers, Smith, Carrington, and Hines-Allen. Let’s see what happens.
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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