Wings vs. Sky: Paige Bueckers Drives a 30-18 Fourth Quarter as Dallas Wins Fifth Straight, 96-91

The Chicago Sky had just dropped 33 points on Dallas in a single quarter, a number the Wings say matched the most they had allowed in any period all season. Dallas was down seven with 10 minutes to play. Then, in front of 13,236 at American Airlines Center, Paige Bueckers scored the Wings' first six points of the fourth by herself, and a Sunday that had been sliding away started sliding back.

Dallas won 96-91 for a season-high fifth straight victory, its longest run since another five-game streak in 2023. Bueckers finished with 22 points and 11 assists, Jessica Shepard had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and the Wings took the final quarter 30-18. It was also a statistical oddity for the ages: the game produced five double-doubles, which the Wings list as the most ever in a regulation WNBA game.

A Six-Point Lead, Then a 33-Point Problem

Dallas ran first. A 9-0 surge in the opening quarter turned a 14-10 deficit into a 19-14 lead, and the Wings went up 26-20 after one. The second quarter was a 20-20 stalemate, leaving it 46-40 at the half.

Chicago came out of the break looking like a different team. A 12-0 run flipped a 48-42 deficit into a 54-48 lead by the 6:16 mark of the third, and the Sky kept pouring it on, stretching their advantage to 10 at its peak. A 33-20 quarter sent them to the fourth up 73-66, and a Dallas team that had come into this game on a four-game heater suddenly looked mortal.

The fourth was a different story. Bueckers' opening salvo got it to 77-72, and her driving layup at 4:17 cut it to 84-83. Natasha Cloud's two free throws pushed the lead back to three. Then Azzi Fudd, with the shot clock about to expire, hit a 26-footer off a Bueckers pass to tie it at 86.

The Point Guard and Her Friends

Bueckers has a way of making 36 minutes look like a controlled experiment. She went 7 of 15 from the field, 7 of 8 at the line, grabbed six rebounds and committed one turnover against those 11 assists. Eight of her points came in the fourth, and the Wings say she leads the WNBA with 138 fourth-quarter points this season. She also set up Fudd's three, an Arike Ogunbowale floater and a Shepard 13-footer in the final 3:42, so the closing run ran through her whether she was shooting or not.

Shepard was automatic, going 9 of 13 with four offensive rebounds and five assists for her 15th double-double of the regular season. The Wings say it was also her seventh game this season with a 15-10-5 line or better, and no other player in the league has more than two. Ogunbowale scored 17, including six of Dallas' last eight points. Fudd added 16 and three 3-pointers.

The sneaky hero might be Li Yueru, who came off the bench for 10 points and a season-high 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. Kamilla Cardoso had started hot with six points and five boards in the opening five minutes. Li's arrival cooled that considerably, and she finished plus-17, best on the team.

Chicago, to its credit, got plenty. Rookie Sydney Taylor led the way with 20 on 9-of-20 shooting. Azura Stevens had 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, Cardoso finished with 12 and 13, and Cloud scored 15. The Sky were again without Skylar Diggins, who missed her third straight game with a knee injury, while Dallas lost Alanna Smith to a left leg injury in the first half.

A Three, a Block and the Lead for Good

The game swung on a pair of plays at opposite ends. Moments after Fudd's shot-clock three tied it, she blocked a shot on the other end, and Shepard's 4-footer with 3:07 left gave Dallas an 88-86 lead it would never give back. That's the streak in miniature: shaky for long stretches, then deadly once the game gets tight.

Chicago kept making it interesting. Stevens hit a step-back three at 1:28 to get within 90-89. Shepard answered from 13 feet, Ogunbowale's layup with 42.4 seconds left capped a 15-5 Dallas run and made it 94-89, and Taylor's floater got the Sky back within three. When Ogunbowale missed a three in the final seconds, Dallas came up with the offensive rebound anyway, and she made both free throws with 7.7 left to end it.

The Numbers That Mattered

• Shooting: Identical. Both teams went 36 of 75 from the field.
• Paint points: Chicago 54, Dallas 38.
• 3-pointers: Dallas 9 of 25, Chicago 7 of 22.
• Second-chance points: Dallas 17, Chicago 9, per the Wings.
• Double-doubles: Five in all, from Bueckers, Shepard, Li, Stevens and Cardoso.

Where Things Stand

The Wings move to 16-8 and 7-3 at home. Dallas has swept the season series 3-0, with wins of 99-89 and 93-92 before this one. The team's numbers on that sweep are remarkable: this was its third double-digit comeback against Chicago this season, which the Wings say ties the most against a single opponent in one WNBA season. It was also the eighth time this year they have trailed in the fourth quarter and won, tied with Washington for the league high.

The Sky fall to 7-16 and 4-9 on the road with a second straight loss. Seattle visits Chicago on Wednesday, and that one may feel like a much-needed chance to play somebody else.

Chicago's Groundhog Day

Bill Murray at least got to learn something every morning. The Sky have now played the same movie three times: build a double-digit lead on Dallas, feel good about it, look up at the end and find the Wings on the right side of the scoreboard. A 10-point edge, a 33-point quarter, a 48-percent shooting day and two big double-doubles still weren't enough. At some point the alarm clock has to stop playing the same song, but it won't be this season, at least not against this team.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details as reported by the Associated Press and the Dallas Wings.