Paige Bueckers' 19 Points Not Enough for Wings in WNBA Loss to Skylar Diggins, Storm

The Seattle Storm are in the win column for the 2025 WNBA season.

Seattle defeated the Dallas Wings 79-71 in Monday's showdown at College Park Center to improve to 1-1 on the campaign. Dallas fell to 0-2 in a disappointing start to the year.

Despite the loss, all eyes were on Paige Bueckers in the second game of her career. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 WNBA draft played well and finished with 19 points, eight assists and six rebounds on 7-of-14 shooting from the field.

It was a notable step for the rookie after she posted 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists on 3-of-10 shooting in her first game against the Minnesota Lynx.

Yet the trio of Nneka Ogwumike, Skylar Diggins and Gabby Williams was too much for the Wings.

They were unstoppable and stuffed the stat sheet with Ogwumike tallying a double-double of 23 points and 19 rebounds, Diggins notching 21 points and nine assists, and Williams doing a little bit of everything with 17 points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks.

Bueckers may have been the storyline coming into the game, but the visitors wasted little time setting the tone as they seized a commanding 15-point halftime lead. Seattle poured in 56 points by intermission with Diggins leading the show with a combination of outside shooting and crisp passing when defenders collapsed on her.

It wasn't just her, though, as Williams caught fire from deep while Ogwumike was unstoppable inside the lane and when attacking the boards.

There was a silver lining for the Wings with Bueckers impressing for stretches as she connected from well beyond the arc, found NaLyssa Smith with a full-court assist and even swatted a shot from Diggins on the defensive end.

Perhaps building on some of the momentum Bueckers created, Dallas dialed up the defense to get back into the game. It forced a handful of turnovers and held the Storm to just 10 points in the third quarter to trim the deficit to five heading into the fourth.

Maddy Siegrist also provided a boost with her outside shooting off the bench, which helped put the Wings in position to challenge for their first win of the season.

However, both offenses went ice cold down the stretch.

While that is a testament to the physical defense on both sides, the Wings needed more firepower to fully close the gap. Without enough offense from the home team and with Arike Ogunbowale struggling at 2-of-14 from the field, every Seattle basket felt monumental.

That was especially the case when Ogwumike's putback extended the lead to seven in the final 30 seconds and all but ended Dallas' comeback chances.

The Wings are still searching for their first win as a result and will attempt to find it Wednesday against the Lynx.