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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Kristen Wong

Paige Bueckers Joins Caitlin Clark in Elite Group After Making History in Wings’ Loss

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) is seen during the first half against the Chicago Sky at the Wintrust Arena. | Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images

The Dallas Wings lost to the previously win-less Chicago Sky on Thursday night in a game that pitted Paige Bueckers against Angel Reese for the first time in their young careers.

While Reese ultimately came away with the hard-fought victory, making a few clutch buckets down the stretch during the Sky's 97-92 win, Bueckers enjoyed an impressive outing as well. The Wings rookie finished with 15 points, five rebounds and eight assists while also adding three steals and three blocks on the defensive side of the ball.

Bueckers joined none other than Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark in an elite group of WNBA players who have ever posted that statline in a single game, according to StatHead.

Three-time WNBA champ Candace Parker accomplished the feat on the Los Angeles Sparks in 2013, the same season five-time All-Star Angel McCoughtry also did it on the Atlanta Dream.

Clark put up similar numbers (though she had 29 points and 13 assists) in a game against the Washington Mystics in her rookie campaign in 2024. The Fever went on to lose, 89-84.

There's still plenty of basketball left to be played this year, and no one's necessarily demanding to compare Bueckers's rookie stats with that of Clark's at this point in the young season. They're different talents in their own right and should be treated as such. Still, it's pretty cool for the Wings guard to follow in the reigning Rookie of the Year's footsteps and make a special piece of WNBA history just a year after Clark did the same thing.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paige Bueckers Joins Caitlin Clark in Elite Group After Making History in Wings’ Loss.

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