Paige Bueckers cemented herself as the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year on Wednesday night with a historic 44-point performance, but her Dallas Wings were stunned at the buzzer by Kelsey Plum, who lifted the Los Angeles Sparks to an 81-80 victory that kept their playoff hopes alive.
Bueckers’ 44 points tied Cynthia Cooper-Dyke for the highest-scoring game by a rookie in league history. However, it must be noted that Cooper-Dyke’s effort came in the league’s inaugural 1997 season when she was 34 years old and had already played professionally overseas. The previous record by a true rookie was 40 points by Candace Parker in 2008.
In addition to tying Cooper-Dyke’s rookie scoring record, Bueckers accomplished the following feats on Wednesday:
- Highest-scoring game by a player this season
- First player in WNBA history to score 40-plus points while shooting at least 80%
- Most points in a regulation loss in WNBA history
- Tied Deanna Nolan for the third-highest scoring game in Wings franchise history
Bueckers, who shot an incredible 17 of 21 from the field, put the Wings ahead on a technical free throw with just over a minute to play. That looked like it was going to be the winning point until Plum saved the Sparks on the final possession. She weaved around the defense until she found an opening in the lane and banked home a runner that sent Crypto.com Arena into hysterics.
Plum shot just 9 of 23 from the field, but stepped up when it mattered to get the Sparks a huge win.
With this victory, Los Angeles improved to 17-18 and pulled within a half-game of the eighth-place Seattle Storm, who currently occupy the final playoff spot. The Sparks got off to a 6-14 start this season, but have since gone 11-4 to surge into the playoff race thanks in large part to Plum. The four-time All-Star is third in the league in scoring at 20.4 points per game and fourth in assists with 6.1.
The 9-27 Wings, on the other hand, were officially eliminated from playoff contention with Wednesday’s defeat, though they have long known their fate.
Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 Draft, has been one of the few bright spots in another disappointing season for Dallas. After a brilliant collegiate career at UConn, which she capped with a national championship this spring, Bueckers has spent the summer proving why she was regarded as one of the best prospects to enter the league in recent memory.
Including her record-setting performance against the Sparks, Bueckers is averaging 19.7 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game on 47.4/33.7/88.6 shooting splits. She leads all rookies in scoring and assists, and is sixth and ninth, respectively, in the league in those two categories.
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