Paige Bueckers has looked like a rising star in her 2nd WNBA season after winning Rookie of the Year in 2025. But somehow, she opened this game just 0-for-7 in the first quarter, raising fresh questions after the All-Star break, with her HC commenting on the matter.

Head coach Jose Fernandez pointed to the obstacles Bueckers and the team have faced since the break when the 0-for-7 start was brought up.

"Everybody remembers when we go into a break with 18 wins...she kept playing. She was playing well, but that's no excuse to her," the head coach revealed in the post-game conference.

Bueckers couldn’t buy a bucket before halftime, missing all seven of her field-goal attempts and heading into the break scoreless.

Then came the turnaround. She erupted for a 7-of-11 shooting after halftime, knocked down all seven free throws, and finished with 22 points, eight assists, and three steals.

"You can see we're trying to run her on a lot of actions away from the ball. She's up high on some open stuff, some wide stuff. Coming off of isolating on the single side, but we're shorthanded today. I was very, very proud with what this group did," the HC further added, as per journalist Drake Keeler's X post.

The Dallas Wings’ playoff push has been fueled by Paige Bueckers’ stellar play. At 20–14, Dallas sits seventh in the WNBA standings and comfortably inside the top-eight playoff picture, with Bueckers emerging as a key driver of their success.

As the head coach pointed out, the Wings entered the All-Star break riding high with an impressive 18 wins.

But the momentum quickly disappeared after the break, as Dallas stumbled to a 1–5 record in its first six games before finally bouncing back against the Toronto Tempo. In his post-game presser, he also spoke about what fueled this win.

Head Coach Fernandez reveals what fueled a comeback win

While the game didn't go quite as planned, it still ended in a 98-94 victory.

In the same clip posted by journalist Drake Keeler on X, the head coach also spoke about what helped them win and what he would have liked to see.

"Today was about effort, energy, enthusiasm, and competitive spirit every possession," the head coach revealed. "I would have liked that we closed the game a lot better. But when you look at the statistics in the first half, the way that we took care of the ball, and the way that we shared it, that was a really, really good first half."

The Wings found another gear in the third quarter, pushing their lead to 18 points at 60–42 as Paige Bueckers caught fire with 13 points in the period alone.

Toronto refused to go quietly, launching a late run to close the gap. But Dallas held firm down the stretch, finally snapping its three-game losing streak.

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Written by

Aadesh Dhote

Edited by

Rudra Dubey