The WNBA resumed on Thursday after the 2026 FIBA World Cup break, and six gold medalists from the Team USA roster took the court on the same day. As if it were a strict reminder of their elite basketball skills. All six played like they wanted to remind the world why they made the roster

Angel Reese, Rhyne Howard, Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray and Kiki Iriafen resumed their WNBA duties and delivered after bringing home the gold medal. In a separate contest, Shay Ciezki led the 12th-seed Phoenix Mercury’s rally against the 9th-seed Portland Fire for the 15th win this season.

Let’s take a brief look at the highlights from Thursday night that featured Reese’s historic night, Jackie Young’s offensive dominance, Bueckers leading Dallas against the LA Sparks and Ciezki leading her team’s bold rally.

Angel Reese: The history maker in Atlanta continues to climb

Angel Reese was simply outstanding at the FIBA World Cup in Berlin. The bigger the stage, the better she seemed to perform. She was one of the best defensive players in the tournament. However, on Thursday, Reese reminded the league that she could be as dominant on the other side of the floor too. 

The Atlanta Dream star recorded 30 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in a 103-59 win over the Connecticut Sun. The crucial win gave the Dream an edge over the Indiana Fever in the rankings and was also individually special for Reese. After winning gold in Berlin, Reese entered the court for another quest. 

“I was ready to get back. Being back home, being with Atlanta, being with my team,” Reese said after the game. “I mean, I enjoy getting a gold medal at USA and enjoying my time there, but this is home…I gotta leave a taste in everybody about what the playoffs are gonna look like, so it was only right for me to come out and set the tone.”

This was Reese’s second 30-point double-double this season. She had scored 31 points with 14 rebounds in a win over the Phoenix Mercury in August. With her second such game, the 24-year-old became the youngest player to record multiple games with 30+ points and 10+ rebounds.

Reese shot 11 of 14 (78.6%) from the field, becoming the youngest player with a 30-10 game on 75%+ shooting. Moreover, while it was her 30th double-double of the season, she also tied the franchise record for most 30-10 games in a season.

Paige Bueckers leads Wings to crucial victory over Sparks

Paige Bueckers came off the bench in her first World Cup. But when she returned to the Wings uniform, lights converged on her in Arlington, and she didn’t disappoint. 

The Wings won comfortably, 97-77, over the Sparks. However, in the first half, both teams were tied at 44 points each, and Bueckers played a crucial role in keeping her team in contention. After the game, Wings head coach Jose Fernandez was brutally honest in his assessment.

“You can tell we haven’t played in two weeks, and the officials haven’t officiated for a while either,” Fernandez told reporters. “I would have turned the TV off at halftime. I would have changed the channel. Ball was getting thrown around everywhere. There was no floor balance.”

Dallas completely took over the game in the last two quarters.

Bueckers led her team with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. It seemed like Team USA’s dust was still not off her completely as she worked hard on both ends. In total, six of the Wings players scored in double digits, including four of the starters. 

Bueckers and her team have already qualified for the playoffs. With three games remaining in the regular season, the bigger question for them is surviving the first round. After a victory over the Sparks, they are now the 7th-seed, ahead of the New York Liberty at 8th, which means they won’t have to face the Minnesota Lynx in the first round. 

After today’s win, their seed might become strategic. The Valkyries are the 2nd seed, which is a better matchup for Dallas than the Lynx and A’ja Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces if they finish sixth. 

For now, the Wings get some rest. In their next game, they will host the Mercury and hope to raise their standing.

A’ja Wilson resumes her MVP case, and Aces crush Storm

It was one of the usual nights when A’ja Wilson looked like the MVP she is. But it was also one of those few nights when the Las Vegas Aces looked like the best team in the world and the defending champions.

The Aces defeated the Seattle Storm on Thursday by 114-77, and Wilson and Jackie Young combined for over 56% of their team’s points. Young, who is coming fresh off the World Cup gold medal victory. She was the most consistent scorer from the US team, and upon her return, she scored a team-high 35 points. Wilson added 29 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks in 29 minutes. 

Wilson is already the frontrunner in the MVP race this season, yet again. With another impressive performance, she has only extended the lead over Olivia Miles and Caitlin Clark. Wilson is now averaging 26.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.0 blocks per game.

Wilson also finally revealed the real reason she didn’t participate in the World Cup. She said that her decision wasn’t solely based on the postseason.

“This ball’s gonna stop bouncing eventually, and I wanna at least make sure I feel good in that,” she said on Tuesday. “So, I don’t think I was thinking too much of like, ‘Oh, gotta get ready for playoffs.’ It was more so like, ‘I just don’t feel well,’ and if I can’t give myself a hundred percent, I feel like I rob not only my teammates, but that uniform, that USA uniform. So I didn’t wanna do that.”

Shay Ciezki shines as Phoenix rallied late in the game to beat Portland

Shay Ciezki had 22 points off the bench, and the Phoenix Mercury rallied in the fourth quarter for a 94-91 victory over the Portland Fire on Thursday night in the teams’ first game back from the FIBA World Cup break.

Shay Ciezki, who went undrafted in the 2026 WNBA draft, was the star of the Phoenix Mercury-Portland Fire contest on Thursday. Coming off the bench, she scored a team-high 22 points as the Mercury came back from behind to win record a 94-91 win. 

Portland led early in the fourth quarter, but Phoenix rallied to take control. They started pushing for more aggressive offense, tying the game at 77-77 following a 2-pointer for Alyssa Thomas. Holly Winterburn gave Mercury the first lead (79-77) of the fourth quarter, and since then, they never trailed in the game. 

Portland had a chance to win or tie the game when Karlie Samuelson attempted a 3-pointer with a 90-88 score on the board. But she missed. Natasha Mack took free throws to close the game.