Slow Start Hinders Wings at Las Vegas
Published on June 26, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release
Las Vegas, NV - The Dallas Wings fell at the Las Vegas Aces 99-84 Thursday night at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Paige Bueckers had a team-high 25 points and Jessica Shepard matched her career best with 22 points, but a lopsided first quarter, early turnovers and cold three-point shooting proved too large of obstacles to overcome. Despite the loss, Dallas wins the season series with Las Vegas, 2-1, for the first time since 2018 when the Wings earned the season sweep, 3-0. The Wings move to 11-7 on the year while the Aces improve to 13-5.
Along with her 25 points, Bueckers added a team-best six assists and game-best three steals. It marked the second-year guard's ninth 20-point game of the year - fourth-most in the WNBA this season. Shepard added a game-high 14 rebounds to her 22 points to tie Angel Reese for the WNBA lead in double-doubles on the year with 11. Awak Kuier and Aziaha James added eight points apiece with James adding three assists.
Dallas shot a season-low 9.5-percent from three (2-21) and committed 13 turnovers which resulted in 20 Aces points, including eight first-half miscues for 14 Las Vegas points. The Wings shot .486 overall for their first loss of the year when shooting at least 48-percent. The Aces shot .533 overall and .444 from three, while more than doubling the Wings' free-throw attempts (33 to 16). The Wings had a season-low 24 rebounds to the Aces' 35, with Las Vegas earning the edge in second-chance points (10-7), fast break points (16-8) and bench points (31-18). Dallas outscored Las Vegas in the paint, 52-40. A'ja Wilson led all scorers with 32 points.
Up next, Dallas hosts the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday at College Park Center. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT with the game airing nationally on CBS.
Game Leaders
Points Rebounds Assists
Dallas Bueckers (25) Shepard (14) Bueckers (6)
Las Vegas Wilson (32) Smith (11) Gray (9)
First Quarter: Dallas 17, Las Vegas 28
The starting lineup for the Wings was Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Azzi Fudd, Awak Kuier and Jessica Shepard for the fifth straight game. After five minutes of play, Las Vegas held a 7-4 lead with a combined six turnovers between the two teams keeping both squads off the scoreboard. After the official timeout, the Aces scored eight straight to extend their lead to 11, 15-4, with 3:34 left in the opening quarter. Kuier halted the 15-2 run with the Wings' first bucket since Bueckers' 14-footer at the 7:05 mark with her six-footer at 3:06. Sug Sutton came off the bench to bury Dallas' first three of the game and close the gap to seven, 16-9, with 2:27 left. A 7-2 Vegas run extended the home team's lead to 12, 23-11, with just over a minute left in the quarter. Bueckers scored four of the Wings final five points in the first with Dallas trailing 28-17 after one. Bueckers and A'ja Wilson tied for the game high after 10 minutes with eight points apiece. Dallas shot .467 overall to Las Vegas's .563 clip, which included an Aces' 4-8 mark from three.
Second Quarter: Dallas 22, Las Vegas 21
The Aces lead jumped to 15, 35-20, just over 100 seconds into the second quarter, forcing a Dallas timeout. The Wings went on a 5-0 run out of the timeout, with Shepard and Fudd scoring for Dallas. A 10-3 Aces run gave Las Vegas its largest lead of the game up until that point, 45-28, with under four minutes left in the first half. Dallas closed the half on an 11-4 run, getting as close as eight, to narrow the 17-point deficit down to 10 at the break. Shepard had 11 points in the quarter, going 4-5 from the field while Dallas shot 9-17 overall. Shepard (13) and Bueckers (10) were both in double figures after 20 minutes, while Wilson had a game-high 16 points.
Third Quarter: Dallas 24, Las Vegas 22
The Wings struck first in the third with Shepard's layup followed by Kuier's putback to get Dallas within six, 49-43, the closest they have been since the 4:45 mark in the first quarter. Free-throws got Las Vegas back up eight before Bueckers and Aziaha James got the Wings within four, 53-49, with 6:22 left in the third. The Aces countered by scoring eight of the next 11 points to see their lead grow back to nine, 61-52, forcing a Dallas timeout with 3:01 left in the third. Bueckers finished the and-one out of the timeout to get the Wings back within six, before the teams traded baskets over the final two minutes as Dallas trailed by eight, 71-63, after three. The Wings shot .429 for the quarter but were 0-6 from deep. James led Dallas with eight points.
Fourth Quarter: Dallas 21, Las Vegas 28
Las Vegas opened the fourth on a 7-0 run and held onto a double-digit lead for the remainder, with the Wings getting no closer than 11 the rest of the way. Dallas shot .529 in the quarter but the three-point woes continued, going 0-6 from beyond the arc over the final 10 minutes and 0-12 in the second half. The Aces shot nearly 70-percent from the field in the fourth, including 2-3 from deep. Bueckers had eight points in the fourth en route to a team-high 25 on the night.
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