ARLINGTON, TX — As the final buzzer sounded in College Park Center, Paige Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale rose from the bench, with the second-year star throwing her arm around her veteran backcourt partner.
The two Dallas Wings guards might’ve envisioned something like this coming a season ago. Ogunbowale surely hoped for it the past two seasons. But those campaigns fell well short with last-place league finishes and fired coaches.
Tuesday’s win over the Portland Fire solidified a much different season. The Wings clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2023 and also earned their most wins in a season since moving to North Texas.
“It means a lot, just in terms of all that we’ve overcame throughout this season, and how we did it together, and how much we love and appreciate each other, how connected we are,” Bueckers said postgame. “We really have fun coming to work together. So honestly, as far as we can extend this season, that’s what we want to do.”
Bueckers has been the team’s superstar since she was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2025. It was a 9-31 campaign that landed Dallas that top pick, and an All-WNBA-caliber rookie season from Bueckers wasn’t enough to prevent another rough season that ended 10-34.
The team went through meaningful changes in the offseason, bringing back Awak Kuier after a few years overseas and adding former Lynx bigs Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard. In the backcourt, the Wings used their second consecutive top selection on UConn’s Azzi Fudd.
Dallas selected longtime South Florida head coach Jose Fernandez to lead the team, and the first-year WNBA head coach has delivered on his assertion that observers wouldn’t see “the same old Dallas Wings.”
“The one thing that we talked about was, what do we have to do to get to the playoffs and be a top-eight team? Because once you get into the playoffs, now anything can happen. You can play for a championship,” Fernandez said after Tuesday’s win. “This doesn’t happen (without) the incredible support from so many people involved in this. … But the credit goes to the players, right? Continuing to believe in what we do each day and believe in each other and support each other.”
With a significant gap — now seven-and-a-half games — between the eighth and ninth spots in the standings, it had long been improbable for Dallas to fall completely out of the playoffs.
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The 18-9 start to the year, led by all-stars Bueckers and Shepard, gave the team plenty of breathing room. The Wings lost seven of nine games coming out of the All-Star break, however, and key starter Fudd was ruled out for the season on Aug. 19 (Fernandez relayed postgame that the procedure on her knee went well).
Fernandez was glad to see his team clinch on its own terms against Portland, rather than wait for the Fire’s next loss. It’s now been three straight wins for Dallas, with five games against non-playoff squads remaining.
Part of the resurgence has been the team’s new starting lineup, featuring Bueckers, Ogunbowale, Kuier, Smith and Shepard. Fernandez had played a three-guard lineup for most of the season, but he responded to the team’s injuries by inserting the 6-foot-6 Kuier next to his primary frontcourt pair.
Kuier has impressed in that time. Against Indiana, she had 11 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks. In the playoff-clinching win over Portland, she put up a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double while collecting five blocks and three steals.
“She’s just played with so much passion and energy, and she’s so assertive on the defensive end to go ahead and change shots,” Fernandez said. “Offensively, she’s still doing the same thing with how we played her at the four. … I’m looking for her to play her best basketball right now and do what she’s doing. That’s what we’re going to need down the stretch.”
Kuier said postgame that the coaches have challenged her to be tougher and more of a rim-protector, and she “took that personally.”
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The forward is one of four players who were with the team for its most recent playoff appearance, along with Ogunbowale, Odyssey Sims and Maddy Siegrist. Ogunbowale was the team’s leading scorer in that 2023 semifinals run, and has had her fair share of struggles since. She re-signed with the team in the offseason, and her recent play has also been key in helping the team stack wins.
“Everybody doesn’t see the conversations and what’s going on, but just the conversations I had with the team. Me and (Bueckers) had conversations before we came to training camp. Like, it just felt good and felt right,” Ogunbowale said of her return to Dallas. “And I definitely think last year it could have been better. I’m just happy that I was able to give it another chance.”
Even with the celebratory vibe after the win, the team still feels it has plenty of work to do. The Wings remain the eighth seed, but possibilities remain wide open with a four-game gap between second and eighth place.
Dallas will fight for better positioning in its final five games, four of them coming after the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup that will put the WNBA season on hold for the first half of September.
When the playoffs do begin next month, Dallas will hope to continue its historic season for as long as possible.
“We don’t want to just make playoffs. We want to make a run, and I think we have the players to do so,” Ogunbowale said. “Whoever we have is what we need. Obviously, we’re missing some, and we love our teammates, but what we have on the court is what we have, and we’re going to try to do what we can with what we have.”
