Former UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers will miss at least her next two WNBA games after entering concussion protocol, the Dallas Wings announced Friday.
Bueckers, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, was placed in concussion protocol after Dallas’s 97-92 loss to the Chicago Sky on Thursday night. She is averaging 14.7 points, 6.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds plus two steals and a block through her first six professional games, and she had her best performance to date in Dallas’s 109-87 win over the Connecticut Sun on Tuesday. Bueckers recorded 21 points on 80% shooting plus seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in her Connecticut homecoming to lead the Wings to their first victory of the season.
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The superstar guard missed Dallas’s home rematch with Chicago on Saturday and will also sit out of next Tuesday’s game on the road against the Seattle Storm. She will be reevaluated ahead of the team’s home matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday.
Bueckers appeared to suffer the injury in the final minute of the second quarter against Chicago, colliding head-to-head with Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot as she attempted to drive to the basket. She spent several seconds down on the court with her hands over her face but did not leave the game and made both of her free throws after the play.
The rookie went on to finish with 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks in 36 minutes against the Sky. Wings coach Chris Koclanes said Bueckers didn’t bring up any symptoms until after the game when she reported having a headache to the team.
“She didn’t really say anything, and then (Thursday) after the game she said she was feeling like she had a headache and said a couple things about, ‘I was hit this time and that time,’” Wings head coach Chris Koclanes said Saturday ahead of his team’s rematch with Chicago. “That was the first of it, and once that was said, she went right to the doctor to make sure we’re not missing anything … It’s a next-woman-up mentality. You never know in this league when there’s so many games, so day-to-day you’ve just always got to be prepared.”
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