– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT — Though Thursday night’s game took place before the All-Star Break, you’d be hard-pressed to not think the fans in the stands in Connecticut were also part of a homecoming-turned-farewell. A couple of the state’s favorite daughters, former University of Connecticut stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, were back in the Nutmeg State again, and the former put on a show just in the nick of time to lead the Dallas Wings to victory … and, possibly, leave the fans with one last shining memory of those exploits in New England.
Bueckers scored 11 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-point play with 78 seconds remaining as the Wings stormed back from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Connecticut Sun 86-83 inside PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford on Thursday evening. Jessica Shepard added 14 points as Dallas snapped a two-game losing streak.
Earlier in the day, Bueckers was announced as one of the starters for the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago later this month, with the second-year guard ending as the leading vote-getter. A good chunk of those votes surely came from those in the stands of PeoplesBank Arena tonight, who came to Hartford to see her and Fudd play in Connecticut one last time before the Sun franchise moves to Houston after the end of the season.
For three quarters, the Wings could not get out of their own way. But then in the fourth, Dallas literally could not miss; the Wings went 11-for-13 from the field, with Bueckers, Fudd and Shepard combining to go a perfect 9-for-9 in the final stanza. Bueckers, who also had seven rebounds and seven assists, has now scored at least 25 points in four consecutive games.
Despite the Wings’ near-perfect fourth, the Sun stayed in the game and were level after Aaliyah Edwards, another former UConn Husky, answered Bueckers’ three-point play with one of her own to tie it at 81-all.
Down by one with less than 30 seconds left, Sun guard Leila Lacan dribbled down the clock before driving into the lane for a shot that rolled off the rim. Shepard secured the defensive rebound and made two free throws to give Dallas an 86-83 lead with 2.9 seconds remaining.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday evening’s game, with photos taken by A Lot of Sports Talk photo editor Erica Denhoff. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 31 pictures in total.
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