“We Punched First”: Dallas Wings Rookies Power Breakout Win Over Phoenix Mercury

From the opening tip, the Dallas Wings looked like a team determined to prove they were more than their record. Aziaha James poured in a career-high 28 points, Paige Bueckers added 23, and JJ Quinerly posted a career-best 17 as the Wings defeated the Phoenix Mercury 98–89 on Thursday night at College Park Center. The rookie-led backcourt combined for 68 points and controlled the tempo as Dallas won its fifth game in the last seven outings.

The Wings (6–13), who started four rookies for the first time this season, also got 12 points and 11 rebounds from recent trade acquisition Li Yueru. James added six rebounds and six assists, while Dallas shot 61 percent from the field and built a 61–43 halftime lead—their best of the season.

“It’s really fun to play team basketball like this,” Bueckers said postgame. “All eight who played made an impact. It was the Aziaha James game. She was fearless and confident on both ends.”

Rookies Set the Tone Early

Dallas erupted for 32 points in the first quarter on 10-of-13 shooting and never trailed. James scored 20 points in the first half alone, including 13 in the second quarter, and hit five 3-pointers on the night. The breakout performance came with composure, precision, and an understanding of the moment.

“This league is fast-paced, and one of the things I’ve been working on is patience,” James said. “I feel like I was patient tonight, allowed my shots to come to me, and just took the right ones.”

With only six players available to practice with on Wednesday, James also credited the team’s mindset through recent adversity. Dallas played without Arike Ogunbowale (left thumb) and continues to be without DiJonai Carrington (rib), Maddy Siegrist (right knee), and Tyasha Harris (right knee).

“We faced a lot of adversity this week, but we never gave up on ourselves,” James said. “We stayed together, stayed composed, and did what we had to do tonight.”

Quinerly, who continues to emerge as a dynamic playmaker, said the group took pride in setting the tone early. The team was motivated to take advantage of Dallas’s chance to push the pace or attack early in the shot clock to create advantages.

“We came out and punched first,” Quinerly said. “We got up the floor quick, got into transition, and got some quick shots up. That gave us confidence and we just kept building.”

And for James, the collective rookie presence was a source of strength.

“We always compete in practice against the vets,” James said. “And when it’s game time, we’re ready. Tonight was definitely the rookies’ night.”

Frontcourt Presence and Balance

Luisa Geiselsöder and Li Yueru anchored the frontcourt, bringing size and physicality to both ends. While Geiselsöder contributed four points and hard screens, Yueru added value from the free-throw line, going 10-for-12 and providing interior balance alongside the guards.

“I feel really comfortable with Luisa,” Yueru said. “She can do a lot of things, and we’re still learning each other, but we’re helping each other more on defense and offense. Sometimes after defense, we’re both in the paint and it’s not clear who’s going for the rebound. We made some mistakes. But we’ll figure it out.”

James highlighted how their presence made the perimeter’s job easier.

“If the defense collapsed, I knew our posts could hit the midrange or the three,” James said. “So I just kept attacking and kicked it out when needed.”

Koclanes emphasized the execution of high-low actions between bigs and the benefits of structure in spacing. This has been a significant emphasis in Dallas’s two practices since the return of Geiselsöder and Teaira McCowan from national team obligations. McCowan finished with nine points and three rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench, while Geiselsöder started at the four spot, chipping in four points, four rebounds, and one assist despite a struggling shooting night.

“Even when Li wasn’t finishing, she was drawing fouls and putting pressure on their bigs,” Koclanes said. “We wanted to play inside-out, and we were intentional about that from the start.”

Yueru credited emphasizing high-low sequences as adding further clarity to the offensive structure. Two bigs on the court enable one to sprint the floor hard while the other inbound the ball. For Yueru, she’s in a position to focus on getting early positioning in the post before the catch.

“Chris told us before the game—one post runs fast, the other takes the sideline inbound,” Yueru said. “That made things really clear. I don’t have to think too much. Just run and post.”

Bueckers, who dealt with constant defensive attention, credited her teammates with creating offensive flow. She stayed patient regardless of the defensive coverage, and it certainly paid off, helping teammates create advantages throughout the night.

“I wish I could’ve taken care of the ball better, but that just created open looks for my teammates,” Bueckers said. “They handled the pressure, created offense, and helped me get free. That’s what we’ve been working toward.”

Quinerly’s Quickness and Control

Quinerly brought tempo and energy to the floor, combining burst scoring with smart distribution. In addition to scoring 17 points, she dished out seven assists while turning the ball over only twice. She often used her speed to get the defense in rotation on her attacks, leading to spray-outs and drop-off passes.

“I’m fast and I’m small, so it’s kind of easy to get into lanes and create kick-outs or dump-offs,” Quinerly said. “I just try to get into spots where other people can’t.”

She also praised the frontcourt’s presence for anchoring the defense. With more size in this game than the Wings have had all season, it helped the guards get into the ball and do what they do best with pressure, without worrying that they wouldn’t have help on the backline.

“For us smaller guards, it’s great knowing those big girls have our backs,” Quinerly said. “It gives us confidence to be aggressive.”

When Phoenix trapped Bueckers, Quinerly and James helped relieve pressure. This group has focused on it throughout the first half of the season, and it certainly was successful against the Mercury.

“Everybody has to stay calm and get to spots where Paige can see us,” Quinerly said. “That’s how we keep the ball moving.”

That extended to the team’s spacing and trust in short-roll outlets like Yueru and Geiselsöder, which offer high catch radius relief options when a guard draws pressure.

“It’s great because I can actually see them,” Quinerly added. “They’re big, they’re available, and they make good decisions.”

Responding to Phoenix’s Run

Despite trailing by 18, Phoenix mounted a third-quarter run behind Kahleah Copper, who scored eight points in under a minute. Alyssa Thomas followed with a layup to cut the lead to four.

James responded with a critical three-point play to halt the momentum, and Dallas re-extended the lead to 82–71 entering the fourth.

“She was fearless,” Bueckers said of James. “She’s guarding one of the best perimeter players on one end and scoring fearlessly on the other. She’s always had it in her.”

Bueckers also acknowledged her own internal battle navigating physical defense throughout the night. Returning from a one-game absence after sitting on the second night of a back-to-back, Bueckers recently talked about managing patellar tendonitis since high school.

“I’m human,” Bueckers said. “Sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me just in terms of all the physicality that’s let go, but I gotta get used to it. Gotta embrace it. That’s every night in this league.”

Copper finished with 33 points, while Satou Sabally added 20 for the Mercury (12–6), who have now dropped two straight after a six-game winning streak.

Staying the Course

For Bueckers, the recent turnaround from a 1-11 start wasn’t unexpected. Dallas has internally leaned on the examples provided by general manager Curt Miller from his head coaching career, leaning on WNBA history’s suggestion that even talented teams can start with a poor record before figuring it out.

“We’ve always had it in us,” Bueckers said. “If you look at our games, we’re always in it. Our record could be flipped if we just closed out better. We’ve had that belief, and now it’s coming together.”

Bueckers expanded on the collective growth, particularly from her fellow rookies, James and Quinerly. The Wings have needed their inexperienced players to step up, and they have found a rhythm while having more put on their plates by the coaching staff amid injuries.

“On any given night it can be anybody’s night… and for us to have multiple people contributing to the win, that was extremely fun to watch and to be a part of,” Bueckers said.

Koclanes has echoed that belief throughout the team’s rough start. Defending homecourt against a tough Mercury squad while being significantly shorthanded is another display of his team’s fight.

“You win a game without Paige, you win a game without Arike… It’s our competitive depth,” Koclanes said. “Everyone can contribute, and we’re starting to build real belief around that.”

And as Dallas builds toward consistency, Bueckers said the group’s mentality is shifting. Often this season, the Wings have mentioned needing a complete performance, whether it’s been a slow start or an inability to close a game. However, Dallas has gone 5-2 over its last seven games despite having numerous chances to come out with a victory in those losses had a few plays transpired differently.

“We want to play like we’re hunting teams—and being hunted at the same time,” Bueckers said. “This league’s competitive. We’ve had games where we fought back, but now we want to bring that fight for the full 40 minutes.”

Koclanes said that effort was on display throughout Thursday night’s win. Although the execution was not perfect throughout the night, it was the closest this group has gotten to playing a complete 40 minutes, praising the ball movement, defensive execution, and collective trust.

“We’ve been talking about playing a full 40 minutes,” Koclanes said. “Tonight wasn’t perfect, but it was close. We started strong, shared the ball, defended, and trusted each other.”

Next Test: The Rematch

The Wings will head to Phoenix this weekend for a rematch against the Mercury on Monday, beginning a three-game road trip. Koclanes expects a challenge.

“They’ll be ready,” Koclanes said. “They’ll adjust. The question now is—how do we respond to success? Can we take this and raise our level again?”

Yueru said the Wings must be prepared for a sharper start from the Mercury. With plenty of room to improve in how they guard the Mercury’s best players, Dallas will get a chance to show what it can do after reviewing the film from the last game and carrying it into the rematch.

“We will play the same team in just a few days, and I felt like they weren’t fully into the game when it started,” Yueru said. “So we should be ready and do more of the things we did well. But we also have to figure out how to defend Kahleah Copper better—she hurt us tonight with her shooting, her dribbling, and getting fouls.”

Despite some lingering mistakes in their first game upon re-integrating Geiselsöder and McCowan, Yueru is confident in the group’s direction. With a practice in Dallas before departing for Phoenix, they will get plenty of time to review film and put in some reps.

“We were lucky we did some good things today, but I think we still need to figure out some things in practice,” Yueru said. “We’re getting better.”

James said the team embraces the challenge and is confident they will perform.

“It was a fresh game, and we played the right way,” James said. “Now we just have to do it again. Same energy, same togetherness. We’ll be ready.”

Tipoff against the Mercury is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. CT at PHX Arena. The team will then make two Eastern Conference stops against the Chicago Sky and Indiana Fever.

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