One of the WNBA's two unbeatens lost their first game, plus Caitlin Clark is back, the Dallas Wings are a hot mess and the games you won't want to miss this week.
3 highlights from the WNBA this week:
Seattle Storm end the Minnesota Lynx party: The Minnesota Lynx went into their Wednesday night against the Seattle Storm on a 9-0 undefeated streak to start their 2025 season. The Storm have been up and down this season, but when they are up, they are a strong team. Seattle took advantage of the energy from the home crowd to help boost them to a victory over the Minnesota Lynx, handing them their first loss of the season. Erica Wheeler won the game for the Storm, adding to a 20-point scoring night and continuing a fantastic season for the veteran guard. There was a bit of a scuffle at the end of the game when Wheeler decided to score on the last possession, but as this was a Commissioner's Cup game (where point differential matters), scoring was the right thing to do. Especially since Seattle and Minnesota are the top two teams in the West, and Seattle now has the tiebreaker over the Lynx with this win.
Paige Bueckers scores 35 points in return game: Paige Bueckers missed four games over the past few weeks, three with a concussion she sustained in-game, and a fourth due to illness. She made her return to the Dallas Wings' lineup on Wednesday as the team travelled to Phoenix to play the Mercury. Bueckers ended up scoring a career-high 35 points in her return, along with 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block — leading all scorers on both teams. Despite that performance, the Wings could not get the win, falling 93-80 to the Mercury, and are now 1-10 on their season. Bueckers scored nearly half of her team's total points.
WNBA All-Star Voting is LIVE: The WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis is next month, and voting has officially opened. Fan votes will account for 50 percent of the decision on which players will participate in the All-Star Game. Fans can head to the WNBA's website to vote. WNBA players and the media will each be able to fill out one All-Star Voting ballot, with the Player votes making up 25 percent and the media the last 25 percent. There will also be the Three-Point contest and the Skills contest this year, but players who will be competing have not been selected. All-Star Weekend is July 18-19, 2025, and voting closes on June 28.
2 Games to Watch:
New York Liberty vs. Indiana Fever: Saturday, June 14, 3:00 p.m.
With Minnesota's loss this week, the New York Liberty are officially the last undefeated team in the WNBA. They are heading to Indiana this weekend for a marquee game against the Fever, with the chance to rise to 10-0 on their season. The Indiana Fever on the other hand are anxiously anticipating the return of Caitlin Clark, who has not played yet in the month of June due to a quadriceps injury that has sidelined her for three weeks now. There has been no confirmation on her status for Saturday's game as of Friday morning, but the Fever would be relieved to have her back for this game against New York. Their last game (ironically, Clark's last game before she was pulled from the lineup) was a tightly contested, close game. If Clark plays, they could end the Liberty's undefeated streak, and re-enter the top-tier of WNBA teams. Without her, the idea of beating the increasingly dominant Liberty becomes a taller task for a Fever team who are struggling to defend the paint.
Phoenix Mercury vs. Las Vegas Aces: Sunday, June 15, 6:00 p.m.
The Las Vegas Aces have struggled this season, and could now go a stretch without their star player, A'ja Wilson. Wilson was taken out of the Aces' last game against Los Angeles near the end of regulation to be treated for a head injury. She is now doubtful for the Aces' Friday night game against the Dallas Wings, and could be out for Sunday's game as well, depending on how bad the injury is. Wilson leads her team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, is the only player who is playing dominant and consistent defense, and one of the few players scoring consistently. Missing her would make this team look extremely different. It's certainly strange to see this Las Vegas Aces team struggle this much, given how dominant they were as they went back-to-back for WNBA Championships in 2022 and 2023.
1 storyline to follow: What in the world is going on in Dallas?
Nobody was saying the Dallas Wings were going to be immediate championship contenders after drafting Paige Bueckers No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft. Yet, there certainly was higher expectations than a 1-10 start and a completely disjointed offence from this team. This writer certainly had questions about the fit between Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale , and those concerns seem to be holding as the Wings get deeper into the season.
Ogunbowale can't seem to figure out how to operate with Paige Bueckers on the floor, given Ogunbowale is the kind of player who prefers to create her out shots instead of being assisted to. Yet, that's the upside of Bueckers: she is an elite playmaker, facilitator and passer. She can also score, proved by her 35-point performance the other night, but she can't win games alone. Ogunbowale went from scoring 26 points against Minnesota (Bueckers was out), to scoring 10 with Bueckers in the lineup the very next game. On top of that, Ogunbowale's shooting percentage is sitting at 38.8 percent, which works out because she is a high-volume shooter — but with Bueckers there, she's not getting as many shots up. Plus, with Paige being more efficient, Arike shouldn't get the ball all the time anyway.
So, what do you do? Stagger Bueckers and Ogunbowale, potentially causing a rift if Arike is the one getting backup minutes under a rookie? Continue to play them together, despite it looking disjointed and being ineffective? Regardless, a 1-10 start is going to start causing some emotions throughout the team, and something will have to give eventually. The idea of trading Arike (and her expiring contract) to fully focus in on Bueckers as your center is there, along with the idea of cleaning house on a rookie coaching staff. Something's gotta give, and soon.