When most people hear the name Paige Bueckers, they think of the basketball star who led the UConn Huskies to the national title in April and made her WNBA debut on Friday in the Dallas Wings’ 84-99 loss to the Minnesota Lynx.
They don’t think of a city of 20,000 people southwest of Minneapolis. But they might now.
That’s because Hopkins, Minnesota – Bueckers’ hometown – temporarily renamed itself “Paige Bueckers, Minnesota” on Friday.
The city celebrated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony, complete with beers, ice cream and even a sushi roll all also named after Bueckers.
Those who stuck around to watch the game saw a decent debut for the Hopkins native outshone by another former UConn star, Napheesa Collier, who scored 34 to equal the Lynx record for most points in a season opener, per ESPN.
Collier racked up 18 points in the third quarter alone, opening up what had been a tight game to that point, and her teammate Courtney Williams added 25 points, four rebounds and nine assists across 28 minutes. Meanwhile, Bueckers notched 10 points, seven rebounds and two assists for Dallas.
“Room to grow,” was Bueckers’ assessment of her debut. “You’ve got to have a starting point, you’ve got to have a foundation to build on. We don’t want to overreact to the loss, but we also know there’s a lot of things we have to clean up and get better at.”
As for her hometown changing its name to match hers, Bueckers said she “didn’t believe it at first.”
“I thought it was fake news,” said the Wings guard. “But it’s also surreal, and I don’t know, it’s crazy to me that they would name the whole city after me. But just to be able to give back to that whole city that’s given me so much. For them to show love like that, I appreciate it for sure.”
Collier, one of the favorites for the league’s MVP award after finishing second behind A’ja Wilson last year, said her mind was on collective success this season.
“I’m honestly focused on, more than MVP, I want us to win a championship this year,” she explained. “The awards come after that.”
The second game of the series takes place on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, just 10 miles away from Bueckers’ hometown.
Elsewhere on opening night, Kelsey Plum scored 37 – a WNBA record for a season opener, per ESPN – on her Los Angeles Sparks debut in an 84-67 win over the newly-formed Golden State Valkyries.
There were also impressive debuts for rookies Sonia Citron and Kiki Iriafen, who propelled the Washington Mystics to a 94-90 victory over the Atlanta Dream. Brittney Sykes led the scoring for Washington with 22, while Allisha Gray had 25 for the Dream.
Clark and Reese’s rivalry resumes Saturday
Saturday will see the most noteworthy matchup of the opening weekend as the Indiana Fever take on the Chicago Sky, a game which will see Caitlin Clark take on Angel Reese in the latest edition of a rivalry which has helped take women’s basketball to new heights.
Clark is looking to build on a rookie season in which she was named Rookie of the Year with all but one of the 67 votes. The other vote went to Reese.
“I’ve been in this league for a year now, I know I belong, I know I can perform, I know I can make my teammates better every single night, that’s my job,” Clark told reporters on the final day of the Fever’s training camp, exuding confidence her team can improve on their record last year.
As for Reese, her sights are set firmly on improving on the 13-27 record which saw the Sky finish bottom of the Eastern Conference last year.
“I’m super excited to just be here and be back,” she told the WNBA. “One game short from the playoffs last year, so I just want to get better every day and just get to the playoffs.”
Saturday also sees last year’s champion the New York Liberty begin its season against the Las Vegas Aces, the team it beat in last season’s semifinals.
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