Huskies in the Pros: Bueckers Reaches 1,000 Points, Fudd Sets Career High
Paige Bueckers/Azzi Fudd vs Stefanie Dolson/Katie Lou Samuelson
In arguably the best game of the 2026 WNBA season thus far, Paige Bueckers scored eight straight points in the final 72 seconds of regulation, while also registering her 1,000th career WNBA point. Azzi Fudd scored a career-high 26 points, capped off by the go-ahead game-winning layup with 13.5 seconds left in overtime, as the Dallas Wings won an overtime thriller over the Seattle Storm 112-110 in the Emerald City on Monday night.
After a Natasha Heidman jumper put the Storm up 94-88 with 1:24 left in regulation, that’s when Bueckers flipped the switch. On the ensuing Wings possession, Bueckers sank a fadeaway three-pointer from the right wing to cut the deficit to three. Moments later, Bueckers knocked down her second straight three-pointer from the same spot to tie the game at 94 with 38.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Following a Storm timeout, Dominique Malonga, the second overall pick of the 2025 WNBA draft, converted a layup to give Seattle a 96-94 lead. After that bucket, the Wings called a timeout to draw up a play. The play, get the ball into Paige Bueckers hands. And that is exactly what happened, as the second-year guard drove into the paint and connected on a turnaround jumper for her eighth consecutive point, once again tying the game at 96–96 with 5.6 seconds left in regulation.
Malonga missed a layup with just under one second left, sending the game into overtime.
In the Wings’ first overtime game of the season, Bueckers hit three straight go-ahead buckets in a 96-second span. First, she made a step-back jumper over Heidman for a Wings’ 102-100 lead with just under three minutes remaining. Next, she sank another jumper to give Dallas a 104-103 lead. Then, the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year drilled a three-pointer to put the Wings ahead 107-105 with 1:22 left to play.
The Storm retook the lead after Malonga made one of two free throws, Bueckers missed a three-pointer, and former South Carolina star Zia Cooke came through with a jumper to give Seattle a 108-107 lead with 39.6 seconds to go. On the ensuing Wings possession, Bueckers got a step on rookie Flau’jae Johnson and cashed in another jumper to swing the lead back to the Wings, 109-108. The basket also marked the 1,000th career WNBA point for Bueckers.
The Storm responded yet again as Malonga converted another layup; she finished with a career-high 37 points to put the Storm back on top, 110-109. On the next Wings possession, Bueckers inbounded the ball underneath the Storm basket and passed it to Fudd, who backed down Cooke on the low block to reclaim the lead for Dallas, 111-110.
After a Storm timeout, Malonga threw an errant pass, and it was stolen by Jessica Shepard with 5.7 seconds left. A few moments later, Aziah James was fouled and then went one of two from the free throw line to give Dallas a 112-110 lead with 1.6 seconds left. Following a Storm timeout, Heidman missed a potential game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
Bueckers finished the game with 27 points (17 in the final 6:12 of the game) with five rebounds, five assists, and just two turnovers in 38 minutes. She is tied for the fourth-fastest player in league history to reach the milestone, matching former UConn commit Elena Delle Donne, who reached it in 52 games.
Fudd played a career-high 41 minutes in her career-best 26-point performance. She shot 11-of-17 from the field, including 2-of-5 from three and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. Azzi also recorded a game-high four steals.
It’s the second straight one-possession win for the Wings after completing a 17-point comeback this past Saturday against Azura Stevens and the Chicago Sky.
The Wings are now 11-6 on the season, while the Storm dropped their 11th straight game and are now 3-15.
Stefanie Dolson grabbed one rebound, while Katie Lou Samuelson finished with three points, two rebounds, and two steals in her first start of the season for the Storm.
Breanna Stewart
The New York Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces have participated in a combined four consecutive WNBA Finals, including a head-to-head matchup in 2023, when the Aces won their second straight WNBA title in franchise history. These two teams clashed for the first time in 2026 on Tuesday night in Las Vegas, and Breanna Stewart led the charge in the 87-76 Liberty victory by scoring 20 points with six rebounds, four assists, and three blocks in 36 minutes.
Stewart shot 2-of-3 from long range, just the second time this season the former Husky star has made multiple three-pointers in the same game. The other time was back on May 25th, when she connected on two three-pointers against the Portland Fire. Stewie is currently shooting a career-low 20.4% from three so far this season, but she remains confident with her outside shot, “Listen, my percentage isn’t where I want it to be, but I know obviously what I’m capable of, and that’s why I’m going to continue to keep shooting.”
Stewie shot a career-high 37.5% from three back in 2022 and followed that up by shooting 35.5% in 2023. However, she has shot below 30% from behind the arc in each of the last three seasons. 29.5% in 2024, 24.1% in 2025 and currently 20.4% this season.
These two teams will meet again next Tuesday, June 30th in Brooklyn for the 2026 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship.
Gabby Williams
Gabby Williams posted her fifth 20+ point game after scoring a game-high 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three and 2-of-2 at the free throw line in the Golden State Valkyries’ 77-66 home win against the Atlanta Dream on Wednesday night. The 2x National Champion also recorded five rebounds, five assists, one steal, and one block in 32 minutes. It’s the eighth time this season that Williams has made at least three triples in a single game.
Tiffany Hayes and Kaityln Chen were both held scoreless off the bench. Kiah Stokes scored 1 point with five rebounds and a game-high three blocks.
Golden State snapped its two-game losing streak and now has a record of 11-7.
Azura Stevens vs Olivia Nelson-Ododa/Aaliyah Edwards
Thanks to Olivia Nelson-Ododa’s first double-double of the season and Aaliyah Edwards scoring in double-digits for the sixth time of the year, the Connecticut Sun snapped its seven-game losing streak after handily beating the Chicago Sky, 92-63 on Monday Night in Uncasville, Connecticut. The 29-point margin was the largest victory of the season for the Sun and the biggest loss of the year for the Sky.
Nelson-Ododa scored 11 points with 15 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in a season-high 27 minutes. Edwards also scored 11 points with five rebounds, one steal, and one block. She knocked down a first-quarter three-pointer and has now hit her last three shots from beyond the arc over the past five games after beginning her career 0-for-19 from three-point range in her first three-plus seasons.
Azura Stevens was the third former Husky to score 11 points while grabbing three rebounds for the Sky. Chicago, which started the season 3-1, has lost six games straight and is just 4-12 on the season. Their last four losses have been in overtime, a one-point loss to Stewart and the Liberty, a one-point loss to Bueckers/Fudd and the Wings and a near 30-point defeat to the now 3-15 and Sun.
Serah Williams vs Azura Stevens
Fast forward two days later, and the Chicago Sky finally snapped its season-long six-game losing streak after taking down the Portland Fire 101-78 on Wednesday night in Chicago. Azura Stevens posted her third double-double of the season after scoring 11 points with 11 rebounds in the 23-point win. She also added a season-high five assists in 27 minutes.
Serah Williams recorded six points in just seven minutes of action. The former Husky shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field with three rebounds.
The Sky improved to 5-12 on the season while the Portland Fire fell to 8-10.
Kia Nurse (Toronto Tempo)
- MONDAY: 4 points (1-4 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 1-1 FT), 4 assists, 1 steal in 15 minutes. The Atlanta Dream defeated the Tempo 94-87.
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