Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers ends spectacular rookie season with win vs. Phoenix
On fan appreciation night and the final game of their 2025 WNBA season, the Dallas Wings beat the Phoenix Mercury 97-76 on Thursday.
The win snapped a 10-game losing streak, and the Wings finished with a record of 10-34, tied for last in the league.
Paige Bueckers gave one last superstar performance for fans to remember as she wrapped up a record-setting rookie season with a near triple-double, notching 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the season finale at UTA’s College Park Center.
Rookie of the Year coming?
While the Wings did not have the season they’d expected, especially after acquiring players such as NaLyssa Smith and Dijonai Carrington in the offseason, Bueckers was everything the franchise could’ve hoped for.
Head coach Chris Koclanes and his staff wore black shirts that said “Why slow down?” with Rookie of the Year written on the back, and the shirts read more like an eventuality than any desire or hope for Bueckers.
Bueckers, a guard who won WNBA Rookie of the Month in May, July, and August, averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game this season. Among rookies, she leads in points and assists. And among all players, she ranks in the top 10 in both categories.
Bueckers, according to BetMGM, is the overwhelming favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
Koclanes said that he was honored to coach Bueckers and talked about how her mentality and approach as a teammate make her special.
“Grateful for the opportunity to work alongside her and partner with her and collaborate and coach her and challenge her,” Koclanes said. “You know, all of it, but it’s just it’s fun when you get to work with a talent like that. She’s just so special and so unique in her level of care for everybody in that locker room.
“It’s not about her. There are storylines down at the end of that game — it’s not about her, she doesn’t care about the stats, the records. She cares about her teammates, she cares about winning, she cares about doing it the right way, and when you have somebody like that who is so genuine and authentic in that, it’s just contagious, and couldn’t be more proud to be able to coach her.”
Koclanes’ first season with the Wings
Koclanes is ending his first season as head coach.
It was a rough start and finish, as the team lost 11 out of his first 12 games and ended the season winning two out of his final 17 games.
Koclanes was heavily criticized during the season, especially by fans, with some being confronted by Myisha Hines-Allen after a Wings game, saying they needed to stop pushing for assistant coach Nola Henry to become the head coach.
Some have speculated that Koclanes could be fired after a rough first season that started with playoff aspirations. However, it would be the Wings’ second straight season firing their head coach, and with the litany of injuries faced by the team in their first year, the argument could be made to keep the head coach for next season.
Koclanes, in the past, has said he’s his harshest critic and talked about where he’s seen himself grow as a coach this season.
“In the day to day, as far as managing an organization and managing people getting better each day, with feeling out how the players feel, how our staff is feeling, what they need, on a day-to-day basis, on and off the floor ... as you coach from game to game, you just get more and more comfortable, but still never perfect,” Koclanes said.
“With all the injuries you’ve got, all sorts of minute restrictions, and so there’s just lots of people coming at you from different angles with all sorts of information. And so to be able to stay level-headed and show up consistently while taking all that information and then being able to make the best decisions for everybody involved is a growth. It’s just, it’s a process, and I feel, you know, every day, I continue to improve and we’ll just continue to get better, but looking forward to having the off season to continue to reflect and improve.”
Looming CBA negotiations
This offseason will be one of the most important in the history of the WNBA. The massive increase in popularity of the game over the past few seasons has not been matched by a comparable increase in salary and the collective bargaining agreement will expire at the end of the season.
The players association and ownership will have to agree, or the league could face a lockout in late October, when the CBA expires.
The AFL-CIO, in conjunction with the WNBPA, held a protest outside of the arena before Thursday’s game, demanding that players be paid what they are owed, with several speakers, including Tevita Uhatafe, president of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council.
“In a league whose attendance and whose everything has exploded. It’s being covered on every major sports network now, and these players are making all of the wealth, but yet they are still dealing with a stall in contract negotiations,” Uhatafe said. “So, although this is the last day of the regular season ... the real clock start now. Fifty days from now, these players will either go on strike or be locked out, one of the two.”
After the game Bueckers thanked AFL-CIO for coming out and talked about what players are looking for in their newest CBA.
“It means a lot because we’re trying to reach as many voices as we can, have as many people have our backs as we can because we know how important we are to this league,” she said. We’re very grateful for the people who paved the way before us, who have given this opportunity for us to play and continue to make money and continue to help the game grow, and then it’s all about the next generation and what we feel like the ... women in this league deserve.”
The Wings will have the best odds of winning the WNBA draft lottery and getting the No. 1 pick for the second straight year.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM.
