South Bend, IN (May 2, 2025) – The Dallas Wings opened the 2025 WNBA preseason slate on Friday night at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion with a 112-78 setback to the Las Vegas Aces. Friday’s contest marked a homecoming for Fighting Irish alum Arike Ogunbowale, along with the professional debut of the Wings’ 2025 WNBA Draft class, which included No. 1 overall selection Paige Bueckers, No. 12 pick Aziaha James and No. 27 JJ Quinerly, and the head coaching premiere of Chris Koclanes.

Quinerly led the Wings with 16 points off 7-of-10 shooting, while Bueckers and James had 10 points apiece. Third-year forward Maddy Siegrist joined the rookies in double figures with 11 points off 5-of-10 shooting.

Bueckers started in her first career WNBA game, joining veterans Ogunbowale, Teaira McCowan, DiJonai Carrington and NaLyssa Smith in the first five. It also marked the first Wings game for Carrington and Smith, who joined the roster during the free agency period in February.

The Wings shot .453 from the field (29-64) and .429 from deep (9-21), while Las Vegas finished with .487 and .438 marks, respectively. The Aces won the rebounding battle 40-28 and forced 19 Dallas miscues, while Las Vegas committed just 10 turnovers. The Aces nearly doubled up the Wings in free-throw attempts, finishing with a 22-25 mark compared to Dallas at 11-13.

Dallas led 25-23 after the first quarter but was limited to 11 points in the second as Las Vegas built up a 55-36 lead at halftime. The Aces held onto the advantage with a 32-27 third and 25-15 fourth.

The Wings spread the minutes around in their preseason opener, with Ogunbowale and Bueckers playing a team-high 22:37. All 16 available Wings players saw at least 3:56 of action, with 10 players playing at least 11 minutes each.

Las Vegas was led by Notre Dame grad Jackie Young who finished with a game-high 28 points including eight made triples in over 29 minutes on the court. A’ja Wilson added 19 points and seven boards.

The Wings wrap up preseason action on May 10 when they host the Toyota Antelopes of the Women’s Japan Basketball League. Tipoff at College Park Center is slated for 7 p.m. CT, with the game airing locally in Dallas-Forth Worth on KFAA. For complete local TV coverage click HERE. Tickets are still available for the preseason home debut – click HERE.