Here’s to a few more classic WNBA welterweight bouts between The Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers and the Washington Mystics’ Sonia Citron in the coming years. Late heroics from both rookie guards provided a bit of late theater in the Mystics’ 91-88 overtime win over the Wings on Sunday at CareFirst Arena. Or, Into the Mystics’ 91-88 overtime win over the Wings, for all the Van Morrison fans out there.
Bueckers didn’t hit her first shot until the 5:40 mark of the second quarter in the Wings’ overtime loss at the Mystics (6-8) on Sunday. She didn’t hit her first 3-pointer until the final 11 seconds of regulation, but it was a monumental make — her first long-range connection tied the game, 84-84, and sent the game into overtime.
The rookie superstar went on a personal 7-0 run that started with that crucial 3-pointer to put the Wings in position to win it late. But Dallas (3-12) didn’t score over the final 2:42 of overtime and the Wings let another win slip through their fingers on the road.
Citron, Bueckers’ counterpart in the Washington backcourt, scored eight points on two made 3-pointers in the first quarter to help ignite Washington’s offense early on. She hit the winning 3-pointer with just 12 ticks left in overtime and scored a career-high 27 points for the Mystics on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range.
Dallas connected on just 1-of-13 from the field to open the game and suffered through a stretch of over seven minutes without a basket before Azaiah James nailed a contested 3-pointer from the left wing with one tick left in the first quarter to regroup, down 27-14 after one.
The Wings reverted to prior factory settings as they dug that early hole for themselves, missing shots in the lane and allowing the Washington offense to run in transition off those missed bunnies. The Wings’ dribble handoffs along the perimeter seemed to cause more traffic congestion than opening driving lanes.
Dallas responded with a 26-9 run starting with James’ 3-pointer late in the first that was capped by Arike Ogunbowale’s open 3-ball with 3:41 left in the first half. Ogunbowale, as she has often done this year, bounced back after her seven-point outing on 2-of-9 shooting on Friday at the Connecticut Sun by going off for 16 in Sunday’s first half to pace the Wings. She scored on a wild, high-arcing 3-point play from near the free-throw line three minutes into the second quarter before nailing two 3-pointers as part of the pivotal run to help pull Dallas from the clutches of certain defeat.
Dallas Wings v Washington Mystics Paige Bueckers #5 of the Dallas Wings scores the game tying three point basket during the game against the Washington Mystics on June 22, 2025 at Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
Photo by Stephen Goslings/NBAE via Getty Images
Rookie backup JJ Quinerly provided a boost late in the first half with a couple of dynamic drives to the rack to give the Wings a 45-36 lead with 1:07 left in the second as well. Dallas took a 45-40 lead into halftime, somehow, some way. The 31 points the Wings scored in the second quarter on Sunday were the most they’ve scored in any game outside of the team’s 109-87 win at Connecticut on May 27, when they scored 33 in the second quarter and 32 in the third.
The third quarter devolved into a rock fight as the two teams piled up 45 fouls through the game’s first 29 minutes. Dallas absorbed the Mystics’ body blows and took a 69-62 lead into the fourth after Quinerly’s mid-range jumper rattled home as the buzzer sounded at the end of the frame.
Washington made a point to get the ball out of Bueckers’ hands all afternoon, and shutting down Dallas’ playmaking hub finally started to pay dividends for the Mystics down the stretch. Ogunbowale hit a long 3-pointer early in the fourth, then drove for a reverse layup along the baseline to give the Wings a 73-68 lead with seven minutes and change left to play. But Citron, Austin and Kiki Iriafen provided the rebuttal for Washington in the clutch minutes. Iriafen’s post-up over NaLyssa Smith with two minutes left in the game gave the Mystics their first lead, up 81-79, since midway through the second quarter.
Ogunbowale missed a free throw that could have tied the game on the Wings’ next possession, and Brittney Sykes made her two on the other end with 1:20 left to put Washington up 83-80 five seconds later.
That’s when Bueckers popped open near the top of the key on a rare blown assignment on an inbounds pass for her first 3-pointer of the game with 11 seconds to play. The clutch jumper tied the game, 84-84, after Citron made just 1-of-2 from the line seconds earlier. The Wings had life once again in overtime. Bueckers found a way to impact the game, pressure defense from a the long arms of the Mystics’ defense be damned.
Her downhill drive to the cup with four minutes left in the overtime period gave Dallas back an 86-84 lead, and just like that, Bueckers and her scoring prowess were back, front-and-center. She scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds and dished seven assists in the loss. She forced a Washington turnover with three minutes left in the game, then made a great cut to the bucket the next time down to give the Wings an 88-84 lead on a personal 7-0 run.
But with the game tied, 88-88, in the final minute of overtime, Citron popped open for her fourth 3-pointer of the game along the baseline after a broken play for Washington. Austin found her after a scrum for the ball under the basket, and the Wings couldn’t pull the rabbit out of the hat again in the final 12 seconds of the overtime period. Austin added 21 points and seven boards for the Mystics, while Ogunbowale led the Wings with 27 points in the loss.
DiJonai Carrington was held out of Sunday’s loss with a rib injury. Carrington was replaced in the Wings’ starting lineup by James in her last two games on the floor.