All eyes were on No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers as she made her [WNBA](https://www.swishappeal.com) debut Friday against the Minnesota Lynx. The College Park Center crowd cheered after every point, rebound, and assist for the young star’s introduction to the league.
Unfortunately, it was not enough. Dallas fell to the Lynx, 99-84, in front of a sold-out crowd of 6251 in Arlington, Texas. Bueckers finished her debut with 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
“We don’t want to overreact to the loss but we also know there’s a lot of things we have to clean up and get better at,” Bueckers said.
Friday’s game was the start of Dallas’ 10th — and final — season at College Park Center on UT-Arlington’s campus. The team may be moving to a new arena next season, but they began making major changes this offseason, returning just three players from a 2024 team that went 9-31 and was decimated by injuries.
That performance, good for the second-worst record in the league, earned them the No. 1 pick, which they used to draft Bueckers in the WNBA Draft in April. Bueckers highlights a cast of nine newcomers to the team that are also led by a new head coach, Chris Koclanes.
Koclanes had worked in the WNBA as an assistant from 2016-2023 for the Connecticut Sun and Los Angeles Sparks before taking an assistant job at USC. Friday was his WNBA head coaching debut.
“I’m going to improve each and every day,” he said after the game.
Dallas drew a tough opening day game for their new core, facing off against a Lynx team that made the WNBA Finals seven months ago and came one game short of winning it all. Napheesa Collier led the team to its success last year and showed she’s still one of the league’s best players Friday with a 34-pojnt, 4-rebound, 3-assist performance.
With a new team comes new offensive and defensive looks and Koclanes threw the kitchen sink at Minnesota Friday. Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, and Myisha Hines-Allen took turns bringing the ball up the court, showing their willingness to let their star backcourt play off the ball of each other as well as both play off the ball at the same time. Defensively, Bueckers matched up with Collier at times and seemed to hold her own against the All-WNBA star.
“The feel is going to develop,” Koclanes said. “I liked our lineups. People got opportunities...we have lots of options and lots of very good players.”
Dallas’ scheme worked in the first half, as Minnesota struggled to find a rhythm outside of Collier. The teams went into the locker room knotted at 46, but Minnesota came out firing in the third quarter. The Lynx opened the quarter on a 27-13 run to build a 14-point lead in under eight minutes. Dallas fought back at the end of the quarter, but Minnesota had shifted the momentum and carried a 15-point lead, 81-66, into the 4th period. The Lynx coasted from there.
“The slippage just continued and we didn’t have enough to really get it back under control,” Koclanes said. “So, again, it’s a growth opportunity and a learning moment for all of us.”
The Wings will look to bounce back Monday when they host the Seattle Storm at CPC. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on NBA TV.