Wings roll past Fever in preseason matchup behind Paige Bueckers' 20 first-half points

Wings roll past Fever in preseason matchup behind Paige Bueckers' 20 first-half points

The Dallas Wings are looking strong ahead of the WNBA regular season, defeating the Indiana Fever 95-80 in a preseason matchup. In a preview of the two teams’ season opener on May 9, Dallas took a big lead in the second quarter and never looked back.

Second-year guard Paige Bueckers led the Wings with 20 points, all of them in a hot first half. Caitlin Clark, who is continuing to warm up in her return from injury, led the Fever with a game-high 21 points.

The Wings surged in the second quarter, outscoring Indiana 36-12 in the frame. Dallas entered halftime with a 61-46 lead after going up by 21 points in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Dallas forward Alanna Smith was assessed a flagrant 1 after a landing space foul on Clark, giving the Fever guard an extra trio of free throws. Clark, who went down relatively hard on the foul, was subbed out shortly after hitting two of the three shots.

Shortly after, a 13-2 run to end the third quarter pulled the Fever back within single-digits, but it didn’t end up being enough to offset Dallas’ early lead. The Wings picked up the 15-point win away, setting Indiana up for revenge next week.

In true preseason fashion, both Fever head coach Stephanie White and Wings head coach Jose Fernandez opted to rotate out players to test the full strength of their rosters. Indiana starters Aliyah Boston, and sat out Thursday’s game with minor injuries, with White saying that they wanted to be “cautious” about playing them.