‘Incredible Resolve’: Azzi Fudd Shines In First Start, Jessica Shepard Makes WNBA History As Dallas Wings Stun Las Vegas Aces 95-87

ARLINGTON, Texas — Azzi Fudd scored 22 points in her first career start and Jessica Shepard produced a stat line no player in league history had ever recorded, lifting the Dallas Wings to a 95-87 comeback win over the defending champion Las Vegas Aces on Thursday night in front of a sold-out College Park Center.

Shepard finished with 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists, the first 20-point, 20-rebound triple-double in WNBA history. It was her second triple-double in eight days and the third of her career. Paige Bueckers added 20 points, 6 assists, and 2 blocks, giving Dallas three 20-point scorers on the night.

Dallas erased a 13-point deficit, outscored the Aces 50-34 over the final two quarters, and picked up its first win over Las Vegas since Aug. 27, 2024. The Wings improved to 5-3, a mark they did not reach until their 18th game last season.

Jessica Shepard Authors A WNBA First

Shepard has made a substantial impact for the Wings, and Thursday she did something no WNBA player ever had. The 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists made her the first player ever to put 20 and 20 inside a triple-double. Her first of the year came eight days earlier at Chicago, 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 99-89 win.

The 22 tied her career high, the 20 boards set a new one, and no other player leaguewide has grabbed 20 in a game this season. Only Glory Johnson, with 22 back on July 5, 2016, has had a 20-rebound regular-season game in Wings history. It was her fifth straight double-double, which ties Teaira McCowan and Johnson for fourth-longest in team history, and she’s hit double figures five games running.

Shepard said she didn’t notice the milestone while it was happening. Asked when it hit her, she said, “You know, I didn’t feel it.” Asked how it felt, she replied, “I’m thinking that we won.”

The record didn’t move her.

“For me, these things don’t really matter so much. I came here to help this organization win and kind of take that next step,” Shepard said. “So I’m just proud of this team for being able to come back and beat a team like Las Vegas tonight.”

Aces coach Becky Hammon had compared her to Draymond Green before the game. Shepard ran with it.

“I think he’s a player that’s a champion many times for a reason, and he’s willing to do whatever the team needs to win,” Shepard said. “So in comparisons to that aspect of his game, yes. I think other aspects, maybe I can score a little better than him. But I like you, Draymond.”

Azzi Fudd Delivers In First Career Start

The promotion was not a product of the Wings’ injuries. Head coach Jose Fernandez said before the game that Fudd’s start was set regardless of availability, and that even a fully healthy roster would have opened with her in the backcourt. The No. 1 overall pick played the full closing stretch, logging a career-high 37 minutes, scoring 22 points, two shy of her career best, and adding 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. It was her second straight 20-point outing after a 24-point night at New York, and she is the only rookie this season to score 20 or more points in back-to-back wins. She also joined New York’s Pauline Astier as the only rookies with multiple 20-point games this season, and she has reached 12 points in four of her last five.

Fudd has scored efficiently by letting the game come to her.

“I think just feeling more comfortable each game, being aggressive first of all,” Fudd said. “Not hesitating when I’m open, when Jess and K and them set me great screens, not hesitating to use them. But I think just reading what the game’s given me. Not ever trying to force to score, but just be aggressive.”

Starting was new even for a player who has spent her career in the spotlight.

“Obviously, it’s amazing. Anytime I can step on the floor with this group, it’s an honor, and I don’t take it lightly,” Fudd said. “So again, to be on the floor, whether it’s coming off the bench, starting, I’m super grateful.”

Her impact extended to the defensive end, where she added a steal and a block. Fernandez has pointed to her feel on that side as much as her shooting.

“She has really, really good instincts, whether it’s her touching or walling up,” Fernandez said. “Then also when she’s away from the ball, reading what’s happening in the passing lanes.”

How Dallas Solved Las Vegas On Defense

The first half was a problem. Las Vegas shot 52.5% (21-of-40), poured in a season-high 26 points against Dallas in the opening quarter, and got 23 points from its bench before the break. The fix was schematic, and it started at the point of attack.

Las Vegas came in leading the WNBA in paint scoring, and Dallas had surrendered more points in the paint than any team in the league. Fernandez framed the night around keeping the ball in front and denying A’ja Wilson deep catches.

“She can’t get deep paint touches,” Fernandez said before the game.

The plan leaned on a pick-and-roll approach he had detailed beforehand, one built on tagging the roller with a post defender and rotating out rather than pulling a smaller player into the lane.

“I think the one worry about that low tag is who you’re tagging with. If you’re tagging with a small perimeter player, that causes some issues,” Fernandez said. “So tagging from a post and exiting out and rotating, I think our pick-and-roll defense has gotten a lot better since the Minnesota game.”

At halftime, down 53-45, Dallas recommitted to the basics. Shepard reduced the turnaround to two words.

“Defense and rebounding. The first half they were kind of getting whatever they wanted on the offensive end, and that makes it hard on our offense,” Shepard said. “So I think in the second half we just did a better job of taking away where they wanted to get to.”

Fernandez tied the stops to transition in his halftime message.

“I told our guys if we can come out at halftime and put up the points that we put up in the first half and just do some things differently defensively and just go one and out,” Fernandez said. “I think the biggest thing is when we got rebounds, we got out in transition. When we got some cuts and some open threes, that was big.”

Dallas moved its bigs higher in ball-screen coverage in the second half, trading drop and depth for pressure at the level of the screen.

“Our bigs did a great job. We adjusted in the second half of being more up to touch and being more up in the ball screens,” Bueckers said. “And especially with K, she just is so long that she can guard two at times. So to play between whoever’s in the ball screen, whether it be Jackie or Chelsea and probably A’ja setting it, that’s huge.”

That length belonged to Awak Kuier, whose reach let Dallas defend the screener and the ball-handler with one player and avoid the early-rotation breakdowns that fueled the Aces’ first half. Behind it, the Wings switched on the backside and committed to multiple-effort rotations against A’ja Wilson, who led Las Vegas with 21 points but cooled after her first-half surge.

“We switch it on the backside. It’s a credit to talking about that in timeouts,” Fernandez said. “Because when they have guards that can get you on their hip and start to get downhill while holding you with shooters, the rotation becomes a multiple-effort rotation. And they did that.”

Containing Chennedy Carter was a stated pregame priority. Fernandez had pointed to meeting her at the point of attack and accounting for her improved 3-point shooting, and she scored 12 of her 14 points in the first half before Dallas walled her off.

“We just had to keep her in front of us. I thought she was getting down the hill too many times,” Fernandez said. “When she got going, we’re down eight at half. I believe their bench had 22 points at halftime. That was the separator.”

Bueckers, who called paint defense the team’s “kryptonite” a day earlier, said the answer was connectivity over individual matchups.

“Just being connected and less worried about our man and less worried about what our player’s going to do, but guarding the ball,” Bueckers said. “To shrink the floor, to build a wall, to be in gaps, to try to make everything tough and take tough twos, mid-range twos, some contested threes, and just contesting the paint.”

Bueckers gave the Aces’ backcourt its due even as Dallas slowed it.

“First of all, those are elite scorers. And sometimes in this league it’s a make-or-miss, so they hit really tough shots. We just try to do our best to make them as tough as possible,” Bueckers said. “They use screens really well. They get you on your back, and they play to that advantage.”

The result was a smothering 20 minutes. Dallas held Las Vegas to 35.7% (15-of-42) in the second half and limited Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young to 9-of-30 shooting on the night. Las Vegas still scored 48 points in the paint, true to its league-leading identity inside, but Dallas forced the Aces to earn them and won the closing two quarters by 16.

Shepard And The Spacing Game Unlock The Offense

If the defense won the game, Shepard’s playmaking organized everything on the other end. Fernandez has built the offense around a 6-foot-4 forward who can grab a rebound and immediately initiate, a wrinkle most teams reserve for guards.

“Makes things easier because she’s a big that can handle the basketball and get you into things. Especially when she gets it off the glass,” Fernandez said. “We kept telling our guys, ‘When Jess gets it off the glass, let’s get a great rim run. Let’s fill the corners. Let’s fill the slots.’ Usually you want your bigs to rim run so defenses have to defend from inside to outside. But her starting and initiating things, she’s special.”

When Las Vegas overplayed the Wings’ shooters, Shepard punished it with backdoor reads.

“When you have great scorers and great shooters, you kind of have to pick what you’re going to give away as a defense,” Shepard said. “So obviously they didn’t want them to be able to come off and shoot, and Paige was doing a great job of just reading that and getting the backdoor cut. And then when you have Azzi or Arike coming off that pin, it puts the defense in a really difficult situation.”

Shepard, who has adjusted to a guard-heavy rotation, said the volume of perimeter scorers is what makes her screens so hard to defend.

“The advantage of having great guards is it alleviates pressure for the bigs,” Shepard said. “So you know if you set a great screen, they have to pick between the two of you.”

Kuier’s shooting added a second layer. Her two fourth-quarter 3-pointers were not just points but spacing, pulling a rim protector away from the basket.

“For her size and being able to stretch the floor, now she can draw defenders,” Fernandez said. “And with her stretching the floor, it opens up the lane for back cuts and for us to get paint touches off the bounce.”

Fudd’s role within it is to keep moving. Fernandez wants her relocating into pin-down screens rather than holding the ball.

“What I like is when people crowd her, she can get to her spot either going right or left,” Fernandez said. “We just have to sometimes be a little more patient and let her relocate to get back to a pin-down screen so we can get her in space again.”

The ball found the open man all night. Dallas read switches, hunted mismatches, and assisted on most of its made baskets.

“I think on the floor they did a really, really good job reading switches and getting the mismatches that we wanted,” Fernandez said. “We got 33 made field goals. How many of those were assisted? Probably 23, right?”

Bueckers said the design is built to stress defenses deeper into the clock, with misdirection and second-side actions forcing opponents to guard multiple efforts on a single possession.

“We have a lot of plays where we get to second action, so we change sides of the floor and get deeper into the shot clock to make teams guard us for longer,” Bueckers said.

It all flowed from the open court, where Dallas wants to live.

“I think you guys saw down the stretch the pace that we want to play,” Fernandez said. “When we get out and run, and we space the floor and get to our spots, we’re tough to defend.”

Paige Bueckers Fuels The Fourth-Quarter Surge

Bueckers recorded her fifth 20-point game of the season, and she set the tempo as the building came alive down the stretch. She knocked down a 3-pointer during a 14-6 run that produced Dallas’s largest lead at 93-81.

“I feel like we really moved the ball. We got in transition, got a lot of buckets that way,” Bueckers said. “And we wanted to use our endurance and how well of shape we think that we’re in to push through the fourth quarter.”

She spread the credit across the roster.

“When you have playmakers like this on the floor sitting next to me, and scorers, and people that can bring the ball up, alleviate some pressure, and just make plays, and then Azzi made plays,” Bueckers said. “Everybody came in and contributed to this win.”

The crowd fed the surge.

“I can’t really remember a time where it’s gotten that loud and that electric,” Bueckers said. “But to feel that momentum and to feel the crowd behind us like that, it gave us a lot of energy and it gave us a boost.”

Bueckers kept finding Shepard in transition, including a full-court pass for a layup, and said she owed her teammate a few more after missing some easy looks.

“It’s hard for us as guards to get rebounds because she steals them all,” Bueckers said. “She does so much for this team, so to be able to get her an easy one when she runs the floor like that, it’s rewarding.”

Milestones And A Short-Handed Supporting Cast

Dallas pulled it off without one rotation forward and with another playing through illness. Alanna Smith was out sick, and Arike Ogunbowale, upgraded shortly before tip-off after dealing with an illness of her own, started but was limited to 18 minutes.

Smith’s absence was significant. Shepard noted she earned Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors last season, and Fernandez asked for patience with a player who has been managing a medical issue and playing in a protective mask.

“I think she needs to be shown some grace,” Fernandez said.

Shepard framed the response as a group effort rather than a one-for-one replacement.

“It’s not an individual that needs to fill in for another individual. It’s just a collective picking up the pieces that are missing that night,” Shepard said.

Maddy Siegrist stepped into the opening lineup for her first start of 2026, which also marked her 100th career WNBA game. She opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and finished with 8 points, a season-high 7 rebounds, and 1 assist. Alysha Clark delivered a season-high 6 points and 1 assist while finishing a plus-11 in a season-high 17 minutes, hitting a corner 3-pointer and a pair of late free throws.

“I think her headiness, her basketball IQ. She does the right things and gets in the right spots. It’s almost like having another coach on the floor,” Fernandez said of Clark.

Kuier rounded out Dallas’s double-digit scorers with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 21 minutes off the bench, her third consecutive game in double figures and the longest such streak of her WNBA career.

Shepard said the locker room has made the early chemistry possible.

“I think we have good people in the locker room. When you have a group of good people, it’s easy to connect off the court, and then that kind of carries on on the court as well,” Shepard said.

How It Unfolded

Dallas debuted a new starting five of Bueckers, Fudd, Ogunbowale, Siegrist, and Shepard. Siegrist scored six of the Wings’ first 13 points, and Dallas led 13-9 at the first media timeout. Las Vegas answered with a 17-8 close to take a 26-21 lead into the second, the most points Dallas has surrendered in a first quarter this season.

The Aces stretched the gap to 48-36 in the second quarter before Dallas closed on a 9-5 run to trim the halftime deficit to 53-45. Bueckers led the Wings with 11 points at the break, while Shepard had 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. Dallas shot 45.5% (15-of-33) to Las Vegas’s 52.5% (21-of-40), and the bench gap, 23 points to eight, was the difference.

The third quarter flipped the game. Dallas opened on a 12-8 run, weathered a 6-2 Aces spurt that pushed the lead back to 67-59, then ripped off seven unanswered to make it a two-point game. Shepard scored 11 in the period and Fudd added eight on 3-of-3 shooting as the Wings tied it 72-72 entering the fourth, winning the quarter 27-19.

The flip addressed a season-long sore spot.

“Early on in the season, the third quarter hurt us. That’s something we’ve talked about,” Fernandez said. “The good thing is you want to start correcting those things, and I certainly think we’re headed in the right direction doing that.”

Shepard’s baseline bucket to open the fourth gave Dallas its first lead since the opening minutes, 74-72. After a Cheyenne Parker-Tyus 3-pointer for Las Vegas, a Kuier triple and a Fudd floater pushed the margin to 79-75. Dallas then closed on a 14-6 run, with Bueckers, Kuier, and Fudd all hitting from deep, to build a 93-81 lead with 1:59 to play. The Aces scored six straight to get within 93-87, but Dallas held on.

For the night, the Wings shot 49.3% (33-of-67) to the Aces’ 43.9% (36-of-82) and grabbed a season-high 39 rebounds, outboarding Las Vegas 39-33. Dallas shot 52.9% (18-of-34) in the second half while holding the Aces to 35.7%. Las Vegas still won the paint 48-38, the fast break 7-4, and the bench 32-22, but Dallas edged second-chance points 17-12 and controlled the closing 20 minutes. NaLyssa Smith added 9 points and a team-high 12 rebounds for Las Vegas, and Gray led the Aces with 8 assists.

What’s Next

Fernandez has now seen his team beat New York and Las Vegas in back-to-back outings, and he pointed to resolve as the common thread.

“I think it’s incredible resolve. Coming out of halftime, we didn’t play well, and it’s an eight-point game,” Fernandez said. “It just shows that we’ve done it with a lot of different lineups and with a lot of different people.”

Few expected the start, given the schedule.

“Probably nobody believed that we would have five wins right now and the type of wins that we’ve had,” Fernandez said. “But I think everybody in that locker room and the staff believed that.”

He added that the slate to open the year has been unusually demanding.

“To be at this point 5-3, and considering the schedule we’ve played, I don’t think anyone’s played the type of schedule we’ve played out of the gate and the wins that we’ve collected so far,” Fernandez said.

What stands out to him now is the connection on the floor.

“There’s incredible belief and playing for one another that you see now,” Fernandez said. “You can see the conversations not only on the sideline but on the court, players leading.”

Bueckers kept the focus narrow.

“Our win today isn’t going to carry us to win on Monday,” Bueckers said. “We want to continue to build from game to game, continue to get better, continue to stay humble and hungry.”

The Aces fell to 4-3 and continue a three-game road trip at Golden State on Sunday. Dallas hosts the Seattle Storm on Monday, June 1 at 7 p.m. CT, with the game airing nationally on USA Network and locally on KFAA. The Wings and Aces meet again on Monday, June 15 at 7 p.m. CT at College Park Center.

More Wings Coverage on Dallas Hoops Journal

• ‘Azzi Was Going To Start Regardless Today’: Azzi Fudd Earns Dallas Wings Starting Role vs. Las Vegas Aces
• Arike Ogunbowale Cleared To Play For Dallas Wings Against Las Vegas Aces After Workout
• Maddy Siegrist To Start For Dallas Wings As Alanna Smith Sits vs. Las Vegas Aces
• Paige Bueckers Cleared To Play For Dallas Wings Against Las Vegas Aces
• ‘I Would Not Hesitate Shooting’: Azzi Fudd Details UConn Approach That Unlocked Historic Game vs. New York Liberty
• ‘We’re Guarding Her With Five’: Paige Bueckers, Jose Fernandez Detail A’ja Wilson Matchup
• Dallas Wings Injury Report: Paige Bueckers, Alanna Smith Listed Ahead Of Las Vegas Aces Matchup
• Dallas Wings Practice Interviews: Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd And Jose Fernandez (May 27, 2026)
• ‘We Can Do Anything’: How Awak Kuier’s Two-Way Surge Is Giving Dallas Wings A Key Chess Piece
• Paige Bueckers On Azzi Fudd’s Breakout Game vs. New York Liberty: ‘We Knew It Was Only A Matter Of Time’
• ‘The Numbers Don’t Lie’: Azzi Fudd’s Rookie Record, Dallas Wings’ Suffocating Second Half Power 91-76 Win Over New York Liberty