How to watch Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings vs Connecticut Sun

6 days agoLast Updated: May 27, 2025

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UNCASVILLE — Over five seasons with the UConn women’s basketball team, superstar guard Paige Bueckers never lost a single game at Mohegan Sun Arena. But over her first four games in the WNBA, she has yet to earn a win.

One of those streaks will come to an end this week when Bueckers steps on the floor in Connecticut for the first time as a member of the Dallas Wings. The Wings (0-4), who drafted the former UConn star No. 1 overall in 2025, face the Connecticut Sun (0-4) on Tuesday (7 p.m., NBC Sports Boston) in a battle to escape last place in the WNBA standings. There’s comfort in the homecoming for Bueckers amid the overwhelming newness of beginning her professional career, especially because the Sun’s home court carries a slew of positive memories for her.

“I feel like Mohegan is like my second home to Gampel (Pavilion) in Connecticut, so it’s great to be back,” Bueckers said after practice Monday. “It’s definitely different. It’ll be weird stepping on the court, I think, not in a UConn uniform, but it’ll be something that I’ll enjoy with a new experience and a new team and new organization. It’s just another step in the new journey, and I’ll definitely enjoy being back here in the state I love so much … I don’t think we lost in my UConn career at Mohegan, so we’re trying to carry those vibes over to this game, just approach it with a winning mentality and trying to conquer the next game in front of us.”

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) talk during the second half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, May 21, 2025, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Bueckers went 15-0 with the Huskies at Mohegan Sun during her legendary college career, headlined by four Big East Tournament championship runs. She averaged 22.3 points on 59% shooting plus 4.6 rebounds and four assists across three wins on the way to another conference trophy in 2025 before leading UConn to its 12th NCAA Tournament title.

But for perhaps the first time in her life, Bueckers isn’t on a team with championship expectations in her debut WNBA season. The Wings underwent a massive rebuild during the 2024-25 offseason, hiring new general manager Curt Miller and first-time head coach Chris Koclanes to lead a roster that includes four rookies and just three returners from last year.

Former UConn star Paige Bueckers logs first WNBA double-double in homecoming vs. Minnesota Lynx

It’s not particularly surprising that Dallas has struggled early on, but the Wings are also loaded with ultracompetitive personalities who are used to success. Including Bueckers, the roster features four players that won NCAA championship in college and eight who appeared in at least one Final Four. Starting guard DiJonai Carrington never missed the playoffs in her first four seasons with the Sun, and forward Myisha Hines-Allen finished the 2024 season helping the Minnesota Lynx to a runner-up finish in the WNBA Finals. Bueckers, averaging 13 points, 6.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals over her first four professional games, has lost more in the past two weeks than she did in her entire senior year at UConn.

“What’s delayed is not denied,” Bueckers said. “We’re not setting any expectations for ourselves, because we’re just taking it day-by-day, and I think setting expectations limits you to what you can accomplish, so we’re just trying to grow in the film room, grow in a weight room, grow on the court, grow with our chemistry and stick to it and stay optimistic, stay positive, stay looking ahead. Like, no former game can affect our next game, no former possession can affect our next possession.

“So just trying to go possession by possession, game by game, learn from the past, but not let it dictate you or affect you in any negative way and just let it motivate you to be better, so I think that’s the approach that we’re all trying to take right now.”

The matchup in Connecticut is a perfect opportunity for the Wings to find some momentum against a Sun squad that is also trying to put pieces together. Carrington and Dallas guard Tyasha Harris, who both started for the Sun in 2024, were part of a mass exodus of veterans from the franchise last offseason, and Connecticut is having its worst start since 2020 under first-year coach Rachid Meziane.

Former UConn center Olivia Nelson-Ododa is taking on a starting role for the first time in her career as one of just two returners on the Sun’s 2025 roster, and Bueckers said she’s looking forward to competing against her former teammate; the pair played together in Storrs from 2020-22.

“I know she going to try to block one of my shots. We smack-talked about that in practice back then, so we’ll see how that goes,” Bueckers said with a grin. “She’s playing extremely great with the new role that she has, and I’m super proud of her. I got to talk to her the other night when we were both in Atlanta, so I’m just super happy for her.”