Paige Bueckers Scores 11 as Wings Lose to Dream, Fall to 0-4 in WNBA Standings

Paige Bueckers is still searching for the first win of her WNBA career.

Bueckers and the Dallas Wings fell short in Saturday's 83-75 loss to the Atlanta Dream at Gateway Center Arena and dropped to 0-4 in the process. Atlanta improved to 2-2 thanks to strong showings from Allisha Gray, Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner.

The trio stuffed the stat sheet with Gray leading from the backcourt on her way to 27 points, six assists and five rebounds, while Jones (11 points, 15 rebounds and two steals) and Griner (15 points and eight rebounds) impressed in the frontcourt.

Bueckers did a little bit of everything with 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals, but she (4-of-15 shooting) and Arike Ogunbowale (five points on 2-of-10 shooting) struggled from the field in defeat.

It was a disappointing result for the Wings since there had been notable signs of progress following a blowout loss to the Minnesota Lynx in the opener. They hung with the Seattle Storm in the second game and then lost by just four points on the road against the same Lynx team the last time out.

Perhaps most importantly, Bueckers notched her first career double-double in that second game against Minnesota. It hasn't taken her long to start controlling the pace of games, setting up teammates in ideal scoring positions and attacking the rim when opportunities present themselves.

There were more of those positive signs in the early going Saturday, as the UConn product converted a four-point play and showed off her defensive abilities with multiple steals before halftime.

However, Dallas had no answer for Griner on the inside. The nine-time All-Star helped the home team build a seven-point halftime advantage with an array of post moves against an overmatched Wings frontcourt.

The interior play from Griner and Jones was all the more important because guard Te-Hina Paopao did not play in the second half after she suffered a face injury. So was the play of Gray as the Dream seized full control of the contest in the third quarter.

She hit from deep, drove into the lane and assisted on multiple baskets for Jones when the defense started to collapse. By the time Griner hit her first three-pointer of the season late in the quarter, it seemed like the fourth was largely going to be a formality.

That proved to not be the case, as Dallas started the final quarter on an 11-0 run to climb well within striking distance.

Gray stopped the bleeding with two critical baskets inside the lane before she hit a late three to push the lead back to double digits as the home team put the finishing touches on the victory.

Perhaps the Wings will get into the win column Tuesday when Bueckers returns to Connecticut to take on the Sun.