Minnesota Lynx leave Paige Bueckers and Dallas Wings behind in WNBA season opener

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – For most of the offseason, the bitter taste of Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA Finals in her mouth, Courtney Williams spent her time working on her game. More, she said, than she ever has before.

For much of training camp, as flowers have begun to truly be thrown in Napheesa Collier’s direction, the talk has been of her ascending to the league MVP.

The Lynx’s season-opening 99-84 victory over the Dallas Wings on Friday was a great start.

For both of them, to start a long season.

“It’s one game,” stressed Williams, after scoring 25 points, getting nine rebounds and hitting all eight of her second-half shots as the Lynx turned a close game into a rout. “In the locker room we said, ‘43 more.’ ”

Collier? “Celebrating the win? Always,” she said after scoring 34 points, including 18 in the decisive third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter of her career. “Getting the win is great. But we see places we need to improve.”

The arena at the University of Texas-Arlington was mostly full, totally loud. It was the WNBA debut for Minnesota native Paige Bueckers, the first overall pick in the league draft after leading UConn to a national championship.

But she wasn’t the best former Huskies player out there.

Actually, without two starters — Alanna Smith (quad) was hurt and Kayla McBride remains away from the team for personal reasons — Collier and Williams were the 1-2 punch that turned a one-point game into a rout.

Up a point with just over five minutes left in the third quarter, the Lynx outscored Dallas 38-18 over the next 13 minutes, until Williams’ midrange shot with 2:51 left in the game put the Lynx up 21.

“We needed that,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Down two starters, we needed those guys to do that.”

Collier (18) and Williams (15) scored 33 of Minnesota’s 35 third-quarter points. Williams didn’t miss a second-half shot, Collier missed only three.

Together they outshone a strong game from backup center Jessica Shepard (15 points, eight rebounds) and a good game off the bench from Diamond Miller (13 points, 4-for-5 shooting).

Arika Ogunbowale led five Wings players in double figures with 16 points. In her debut, Bueckers scored 10 points with seven rebounds and two assists.

BOXSCORE: Lynx 99, Dallas 84

But for all that, it was the defense that made the difference in the third quarter. The Lynx got stops, slowed the Wings’ break. Collier and Williams couldn’t miss, and the Lynx are 1-0 heading to Los Angeles for a Sunday game.

Collier was amazing, better as the game went on. Reeve said Collier was aggressive getting to her spots and the team was relentless in trying to get her the ball.

“It was needed,” Collier said of her game and of Williams’. “When we’re struggling, we need to be the ones taking over. CW was in the midrange, I was in the paint. We needed to start taking over.”

As a result, the fans who came to see a former UConn star shine got just that. But it was Collier.