Bueckers, Stewart and Williams All Named All-Star Game Starters
On Thursday, three former Husky stars, Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart and Gabby Williams, were all named WNBA All-Star game starters for the upcoming Saturday, July 25th event. According to ESPN Insights, at least one UConn player has started in every WNBA All-Star game since 2002. A staggering stat for a program that has consistently sent elite talent to the WNBA.
It is Stewart's eighth All-Star selection, including her sixth consecutive appearance. Bueckers and Williams each earned their second All-Star nod. Paige received the most fan votes (1,045,051) and will start in her second consecutive All-Star Game. Meanwhile, Williams will make her debut in the starting lineup at this year's event.
The 12 reserves will be announced on Tuesday, July 7th.
A Husky Reunion in Hartford
Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Aaliyah Edwards and Olivia Nelson-Ododa were all once teammates at UConn in some capacity with each other from 2020-2025, including when they all led the Huskies to a 2022 Final Four appearance. Edwards and Nelson-Ododa, now with the Connecticut Sun, welcomed Bueckers and Fudd of the Dallas Wings to PeoplesBank Arena in front of an announced crowd of 14,578 fans in downtown Hartford on Thursday night. The fans got what they wished for: a competitive game highlighted by clutch buckets by all four former Huskies. Ultimately, it was Bueckers' game-high 25 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, that fueled the Wings' 14-point comeback 86-83 victory.
Fudd started the game off with two straight assists, zipping a pass to Arike Ogunbowale for a right- wing three-pointer for the first points of the game. Then Fudd found Bueckers for another Wings three-pointer as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Nelson-Ododa converted two layups in the middle of the first quarter to give the Sun a 13-10 lead. Bueckers knocked down her second three-pointer of the quarter, and Edwards immediately answered with a layup to put the Sun back in front, 15–13.
Fast forward to the third quarter, with the Wings trailing by a game-high 14 points, Bueckers scored the first Husky basket by either team in the second half after converting a layup to cut the deficit to 55-43.
The next UConn bucket did not come until six minutes left in the fourth quarter when Nelson-Ododa maneuvered herself around Li Yueru for a two-pointer and extended the Sun lead back to eight, 72-66. She finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Later, Fudd handed it off to Bueckers, who drove to the basket for a layup. Then Fudd scored her first points of the game by hitting a pull-up jumper over Brittany Griner to cut the Wings’ deficit to four, 72-68, with 5:05 remaining. Just over two minutes later, Bueckers turned on the jets to make an easy layup and bring the score to 74-72 Sun.
With just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter, this is where it really picks up for UConn fans. Bueckers received a pass, then darted to the middle of the paint and was cut off by Charlisse Leger-Walker, but Paige used her momentum to hoist up a shot, and it went in, plus she was fouled. She would go on to make the free throw as the Wings now trailed 76-75. On the ensuing Sun possession, Edwards went to work on Jessica Shepard as she made the driving layup to get the Sun lead back up three with 2:02 left.
After a Yueru corner three-pointer tied the game at 78, Bueckers did it again in her old home arena as she nailed a stepback jumper and was once again fouled by Leger-Walker, who played great defense, but Paige’s offense was just a little bit better. Bueckers roared to the fired-up PeoplesBank arena crowd and then calmly made her free throw to give the Wings an 81-78 lead with 1:17 to play, its first lead since 16-15 back in the first quarter.
10 seconds later, Edwards immediately punched back as she dove to the basket, made the layup, and was fouled by Bueckers. Edwards would also make the free throw to tie the game at 81. On the Wings’ next possession, Fudd dribbled around a few perimeter screens, pulled up, and rattled in a jumper to give the Wings the lead again, 83–81. But once again, Edwards had yet another answer as she used a screen from Griner, spun off Yueru and finished the layup to tie the game at 83 with 38.1 seconds remaining.
The Wings’ ensuing possession saw Bueckers get fouled on a potential go-ahead shot attempt. After missing the first free throw, she knocked down the second to give the Wings an 84–83 lead. After a Sun timeout, Edwards set a screen for Leila Lacan, but despite Edwards’ previous clutch baskets, she never touched the ball on this possession, as Lacan missed a layup that was rebounded by Shepard. Shepard then went on to make two free throws as the Wings’ comeback was complete, 86–83.
Edwards finished with 11 points, three rebounds and four assists. Fudd was held to four points on just 2-of-7 shooting, but both field goals came in the fourth quarter.
Bueckers had nothing but love on her return to Basketball Capital of the World, “It felt like a home game… I love Connecticut down.”
Paige Bueckers/Azzi Fudd at Kia Nurse
On Sunday, the Dallas Wings made it back-to-back wins after defeating the Toronto Tempo 89-76 in Canada. All three former Huskies featured in this matchup scored in double-figures as Paige Bueckers scored 22 points on 9-of-16 shooting with seven assists; Azzi Fudd netted 17 points behind five three-pointers. Kia Nurse scored 12 points for the third straight game after connecting on three of her own triples.
Bueckers snapped her four-game streak of 25-point games, and Nurse is shooting 8-of-18 from three over her last three games (44.4%).
Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart made her first seven shots, all in the first quarter, leading to a season-high 36 points on 14-of-19 from the field, 2-of-4 from three and 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the New York Liberty’s 99-86 victory against the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night. She also finished with seven rebounds and two blocks in 36 minutes. Stewie is now third all-time in WNBA history with 33 30-point games in her career, surpassing Angel McCoughty’s 32. The two-time MVP now trails only Aja Wilson (43) and former Husky star Diana Taurasi (54) on the all-time 30-point game list.
Stewart went on a personal 7-0 run just a few minutes into the first quarter, knocking down a three-pointer off a skip pass from Pauline Astier, followed by back-to-back transition baskets to give the Liberty a 9-4 lead with 6:20 left in the opening frame.
Stewie’s teammate Sabrina Ionescu hit a three-pointer, and then the three-time Naismith Player of the Year scored eight of the next 10 Liberty points. First, Stewart slipped a screen, received a bounce pass from Astier, and made the layup while being fouled. Stewie made the free throw to extend the Liberty lead to 15-9. Her next three baskets also came in the paint, as she posted up former South Florida star Courtney Williams, bullied her way through multiple defenders, and scored on a pick-and-roll to give the Liberty a 23-11 advantage.
After she scored just two points on two free throw attempts in the second quarter, Stewart dialed it back up in the third quarter. New York’s first bucket of the second half came off great ball movement and a three-pointer by Stewart on the right wing, giving the Liberty a 62-49 lead. Stewie’s mission continued as she rattled off 11 of her team’s first 13 points to start the second half, thanks to her ability to get out ahead of the Lynx defense in transition.
The former Husky star finished off her night with seven more points in the fourth quarter, including an and-one off a pick-and-roll.
Stewie’s previous season-high was when she scored 31 points against the Connecticut Sun in both team’s season-openers.
In some positive Lynx news, Napheesa Collier was seen getting up shots before the Lynx's matchup against the Liberty. However, the timetable for her return remains unknown.
Gabby Williams and Golden State “Huskies”
The Golden State Valkyries extended their win streak to four games after defeating the Atlanta Dream 88-83 on America’s 250th birthday. It marks the Valkyries' second win over the Dream in six days after a 78-75 victory on Friday June 26th.
Gabby Williams scored 19 points behind 7-of-14 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three. It’s the fourth time this season Williams has made four triples in a game; the previous three all came during the month of May. Kiah Stokes scored five points with seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks (both in the fourth quarter) in 22 minutes of action. While Tiffany Hayes contributed five points and two steals in 13 minutes, and Kaityln Chen added 4 points and two assists in nine minutes of action.
Hayes' lone three-pointer came with 8:48 remaining in the fourth quarter, as she knocked down the shot off a Stokes assist in front of her own bench to tie the game at 62. On the Valkyries’ next possession, Chen received a backdoor pass from Kalia Charles and converted the layup to put her team up 64-62 and force Atlanta to call a timeout.
With just over two minutes left, Williams created space against Angel Reese with a spin move, finished the layup, and drew the foul for a three-point play. Williams made the free throw to tie the game at 77. After a Veronica Burton layup put the Valkyries ahead by two, Williams found Charles for an open three-pointer to extend Golden State's lead to 82-79 with 1:04 remaining. Moments later, with the shot clock winding down, Williams drove to the basket and banked in a layup to give the Valkyries an 84-80 lead with 37.7 seconds remaining.
The Dream turned it over on the next possession as Golden State picked up their fourth road win of the season.
Tarris Reed Jr.
Eight days after being selected 26th overall in the 2026 NBA Draft, Tarris Reed Jr. made his professional debut on Friday in the NBA Summer League. The Spurs, who traded up nine slots and gave up two second-round picks to select the former Husky, started and scored 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-1 from three and 3-of-3 from the free throw line, with seven rebounds in 27 minutes. The Spurs fell to the Heat 88-87 in the opening game of the California Classic.
The NBA Summer League is experimenting with the "One Free Throw Rule," which replaces multiple free throw attempts with a single shot worth the total value of the original foul (one, two or three points). The rule is in effect until the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. During the final two minutes of regulation and throughout overtime, standard free throw rules apply.
The NBA G League has been using this same rule since the 2019-2020 season.
Reed Jr. did not suit up for the Spurs’ second California Classic game on Sunday against the Golden State Warriors. It is reportedly not injury related per Matt Guzman of San Antonio Spurs on SI.
Alex Karaban
Unfortunately, Husky fans will have to wait to see Alex Karaban’s professional debut after suffering a right ankle injury sprain during a Kings’ team practice on Thursday per Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento. The two-time national champion has been ruled out for the California Classic and will be re-elevaluated in a week.
The good news is the Kings seem hopeful that Karaban might be able to return during the team’s Las Vegas Summer League schedule. Sacramento is set to play five games from Thursday, July 9th-Sunday July 19th in Sin City.
Andre Drummond
After playing with the Philadelphia 76ers over the last two seasons, Andre Drummond has signed a deal with the New York Knicks. On Friday night, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the former one-and-done Husky signed a one-year contract worth $3.9 million.
The Knicks were in need of a backup center after losing Mitchell Robinson in free agency to the Boston Celtics, so Drummond should have an opportunity to play meaningful minutes for the defending NBA champions. Drummond and Robinson’s production was extremely similar to one another last season. Robinson averaged 5.7 points and 8.8 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game. While Drummond recorded 6.4 points, 8.4 rebounds in 19.6 minutes per game. The former Husky star also had a surprising renaissance from beyond the arc, knocking down a career-high 32 three-pointers on 35.6% shooting. His previous single-season high was just five made threes, which he reached in two separate seasons.
In 25 starts, Drummond posted 8.3 points and 10.3 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game, including 11 of his 17 double-doubles coming as a starter.
Azura Stevens (Chicago Sky)
- FRIDAY: 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-3 FT), 2 rebounds, 2 steals in 26 minutes. The Sky lost in overtime to the Las Vegas Aces 98-80 in OT.
Stefanie Dolson (Seattle Storm)
- THURSDAY: at Mercury: 0 points (0-2 3-FG), 1 rebound in 12 minutes. The Storm fell to the Phoenix Mercury 90-67.
- SATURDAY: vs Fire: 2 points (1-2 FG, 0-1 3-FG), 1 rebound, 1 steal in 9 minutes. The Storm fell to the Portland Fire 77-72.
Katie Lou Samuelson (Seattle Storm)
- THURSDAY: at Mercury: 0 points (0-1 3-FG), 2 rebounds, 1 block in 8 minutes. The Storm fell to the Phoenix Mercury 90-67.
- SATURDAY: vs Fire: 5 points (1-3 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 1 rebound, 2 steals in 18 minutes. The Storm fell to the Portland Fire 77-72.
Serah Williams (Portland Fire)
- SATURDAY: at Storm: 0 points (0-1 FG), 2 rebounds in 13 minutes. The Fire defeated the Seattle Storm 77-72.
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