‘We Can Always Rely on Our Defense’: Paige Bueckers Shares Key Message for Dallas Wings After Win Over Indiana Fever
When the Dallas Wings walked off the floor after Sunday’s 91–78 loss to the Washington Mystics, Paige Bueckers’ message was blunt: enough talking, it was time for action.
“There’s only so much we can talk about,” Bueckers said after that game. “We’ve had these conversations after almost every game, so right now it’s all about action. I think I can be better at setting that tone… We know what to do, so just doing it.”
Dallas had led Washington by as many as 13 points before being outscored 61–37 in the second half, and Bueckers stressed the team’s inconsistency, saying, “Our intensity has to stay the same throughout the whole game.”
Head coach Chris Koclanes echoed the sentiment: “We have to put 40 minutes together… First off, we need to get more stops. Period.”
Four days later, the Wings took that message into a hostile Gainbridge Fieldhouse and snapped a five-game skid with an 81–80 win over the Indiana Fever — without star guard Arike Ogunbowale.
“That was the main message we can take away from tonight — if our defense is locked in, the offense will come,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com after Tuesday’s win. “We can always rely on our defense.”
Defensive Response in Indiana After Paige Bueckers’ Message
The Wings forced 18 turnovers, turned them into 27 points, and came up with the game’s biggest stop when rookie JJ Quinerly forced Kelsey Mitchell into a contested miss at the buzzer.
“I just had to suck it up, sit, and remember she likes going left,” Quinerly told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “So I tried to take that away from her and then got a good contest on the shot.”
Paige Bueckers said moments like that — along with Li Yueru’s physical work inside against Aliyah Boston — were exactly what she envisioned when she called for more urgency.
“We just had to get the stops when we needed them, and no one’s going to bail us out,” Bueckers told DallasHoopsJournal.com.
Koclanes pointed to the team’s ability to play with a “more consistent desire to compete on the defensive end” as the foundation for the win.
She lauded Yueru’s two-way impact, saying, “Physicality — moving her feet, staying straight up, not backing down… I loved that we didn’t back down.”
Yueru’s career-high 20 points against Indiana were only part of her impact. The performance boosted her belief in her interior presence.
“If I can do better in the paint area, I can help our team more,” Yueru told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “Sometimes I don’t have a good feeling or I worry too much, but I try to believe in myself and do better in there to help the team.”
She credited assistant coaches Nola Henry and Camille Smith for helping her stay confident: “They talk to me a lot, trying to help me feel more confident and do more things to make me comfortable. I feel I’m learning more and doing more things, so I want to keep that going.”
Maddy Siegrist, who tied her career high with 22 points in Indiana, said the team’s defensive commitment directly translated into offense.
“We’ve shown we can be really disruptive and get out in transition,” Siegrist said. “It’s fun when you play like that — running up and down, playing fast. Last game we did it for a long time, so hopefully we can continue that.”
For Siegrist, the win was also about proving they could finish a close game — something that has eluded Dallas for much of the season.
“We’ve been in that situation a lot of times, and it’s gone the other way — we lose that game by eight,” she said. “Defensively doing a really good job was big.”
Matching the Los Angeles Sparks’ Paint Attack
The Wings will see a Sparks team (15-17) fighting for a playoff berth, sitting sixth in the Western Conference and just a half-game behind the Seattle Storm for the eighth and final postseason spot. Los Angeles owns the tiebreaker over Seattle and has one more head-to-head meeting with the Storm before season’s end, making every game in this stretch critical.
After winning 10 of 14 games prior to the All-Star break, the Sparks have maintained playoff position despite injuries to Rae Burrell and 2024 No. 2 pick Cameron Brink. They dropped a close one to the New York Liberty earlier this week and now begin a key road swing that includes two games against Dallas.
Los Angeles leads the WNBA in points in the paint (40.6 per game) and ranks second in free throw attempts (21.4 per game), powered by the scoring of Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Rickea Jackson, and Azura Stevens. Plum, acquired in a major offseason trade, is averaging 20.0 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 91% from the free-throw line. Hamby is having a career year at 17.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists on 56.9% shooting. Stevens has posted career highs in scoring (14.6) and rebounding (8.1) while adding over a block per game. Jackson, now a reliable starter in her second season, is averaging 14.2 points and has delivered several late-game highlights this year.
“You’ve got to do two things: guard the ball and execute at the point of attack, and then off the ball you have to help and guard the arc,” Koclanes told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “The challenge is your ability to protect the paint — they’re up there in points in the paint and get to the free throw line a ton — while also defending the three. With Dearica Hamby in a lot of the action and Rae Burrell spacing, it’s about seeing the play earlier and reacting that extra half-second faster.”
Koclanes also pointed to Jackson’s mid-range scoring and Azura Stevens’ floor spacing as matchup problems.
“She’s a talent — smooth from the mid-range, can post up smaller defenders, and that turnaround fadeaway is almost impossible to guard,” he told DallasHoopsJournal.com about Jackson.
Paige Bueckers Urges Carrying the Mindset Forward
The Indiana win was a step forward, but the Wings know their season-long numbers show room for growth. Dallas enters Friday with a 107.1 defensive rating, ranking 10th in the league, and has often struggled to sustain stops for a full 40 minutes. For Bueckers, the focus is on translating the urgency from Indiana into a consistent habit.
Quinerly said Dallas’ defensive growth has come from intentionality.
“Being up the floor, flowing in the gaps, congesting the floor — and honestly just being aggressive to whatever teams throw at us,” Quinerly told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “I think a lot of teams have been playing us super physical, and we’ve started to just live up to it and play physical back.”
Koclanes wants to see the same edge regardless of lineup changes, including when a talent like Ogunbowale is unable to play due to injury.
“When your leader is out, you saw a different level of compete right from the get-go,” he told DallasHoopsJournal.com. “We want to channel that every game.” He has also been direct about the team’s growth area: “First off, we need to get more stops. Period. Even when the ball goes through the hoop, we need to still find ways to generate the same type of pace and tempo and keep the ball moving from side to side.”
For Bueckers, it’s simple: what they showed in Indiana is what they need to bottle for every game the rest of the season.
The Wings (9-24) tip off against the Sparks at 6:30 p.m. CT Friday on ION.
More Dallas Wings News & WNBA Rumors
- WNBA News: “Gave Me a Lot of Confidence”: Li Yueru Building on Career Night as Dallas Wings Face Los Angeles Sparks
- WNBA News: “I Tried to Take That Away”: JJ Quinerly Details Clutch Stop to Seal Dallas Wings’ Road Win Over Indiana Fever
- WNBA News: “They Try to Help Me a Lot”: Li Yueru Credits Dallas Wings Teammates After Career Night vs. Indiana Fever
- WNBA News: “She’s Very Low Maintenance”: Maddy Siegrist’s Career Night Against Indiana Fever Extends Post-Injury Momentum
- WNBA News: “We Just Try to Get the Win”: Career-High Performances From Maddy Siegrist, Li Yueru Lift Dallas Wings Past Indiana Fever in Road Thriller
- WNBA News: “I’ve Really Been Enjoying My Time Here”: Grace Berger Grateful for Rest-of-Season Contract With Dallas Wings
- WNBA News: “Adrenaline Is a Hell of a Drug”: Paige Bueckers Managing Back Injury as Dallas Wings Share Status vs. Indiana Fever
- WNBA News: “Paige Will Be a Unifier”: Curt Miller Details Dallas Wings’ Roster Plan Around Paige Bueckers
