Despite Arike Ogumbowale putting up a game-high 30 points, the Dallas Wings fell 77-73 to the Golden State Valkyries in the winner-takes-all Game 3. As the crowd roared in support of Gabby Williams and Co. at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Wings franchise star and second-year guard Paige Bueckers took the loss particularly hard as her championship dreams ended in the cruelest way — a four-point playoff loss. And her backcourt partner was right there to help her through it.

Arike Ogunbowale and Bueckers sat in front of the media after the series loss, per a YouTube video by the Dallas Wings. Both players kept their eyes on the floor. Paige Bueckers was asked how she felt about how far the team had come this season. The 24-year-old managed to get a few words out before her emotions got the better of her. 

“I think just our selfless nature, um, and how much we enjoyed coming to work,” said Bueckers.

The young guard then proceeded to place a towel over her face as she put her head down on the table, as the tears overcome her. Arike Ogunbowale was the first to reach out to Bueckers, placing a hand over her back to comfort her. It was a heartbreaking moment for the hopeful player, who, alongside Ogunbowale and Jessica Shepard, had led the team with her incredible shooting all season. 

Bueckers finished her second regular season with 878 points, surpassing her teammate Arike Ogunbowale’s previous franchise record of 849 points set in 2023, and setting a new franchise record. She also broke the Wings franchise single-season assists record by recording 247 assists, blowing past Skylar Diggins’ previous record of 199 set in 2018.

The Wings finished with the worst record in 2025, at 10-34, and despite that, Paige Bueckers won the WNBA Rookie of the Year award. She played 36 games last season, averaging 19.2 PPG and shooting an efficient 47.7% from the field all season. This year, she gave it all she had and led the Wings all the way to the playoffs. 

Paige Bueckers led the team in scoring all season, with 20.9 PPG, an improvement from her last season’s performance. She also led the team in assists, averaging 5.9 APG. Her shooting efficiency increased as well, as she averaged 51.2% from the field over 42 regular-season games. Assisted by Ogunbowale and Shepard, Bueckers led from the front to take the team to the seventh seed with a record of 27-17. 

Unfortunately for the young guard, her regular-season performance did not translate into the playoffs. She scored a team-high 21 points in Game 1, scoring 9-of-10 from the field, and made both the three-pointers she attempted. But the rest of the team fell short, with Ogunbowale adding only 10 points and Maddy Siegrist contributing another 11, giving the Valkyries an early Game 1 victory in the series. 

Game 2 saw Ogunbowale make a comeback, as she exploded with 45 points to score the most points ever in a single WNBA playoff game. Bueckers, on the other hand, could manage only 10 points, making three of 13 shots from the field. Ogunbowale and Alysha Clark led the Wings to a close-fought 108-100 overtime win.

But game 3 spelled doom for the Dallas Wings, in a game so intense that Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase even fainted near the end! With the Golden State scoring led by Gabby Williams, Tiffany Hayes, and Jessica Burton, the Wings simply could not keep up in Q4. Despite Ogunbowale once again scoring an enormous 30 points, and the Wings staying ahead in the first three quarters, the Valkyries pulled away with the win in the last quarter.

The Wings missed their final five shots, and the Valkyries took the win as the final buzzer went off. Gabby Williams was assigned to Paige Bueckers all night, and she was very effective in curbing the guard’s shooting. She forced Bueckers to make hard shots, leading to Bueckers making only three of her 14 attempted shots from the field. With Burton switching in to guard Bueckers at times, her three-point shooting suffered too, as she managed to score only one of the four she attempted. 

The Wings were leading by 16 points about two minutes into the third quarter before everything fell apart for Paige Bueckers and Co. Bueckers, who has had an amazing season so far, with her second All-Star nomination and a Team USA appearance, must have felt the world crashing down around her at the post-game press conference. 

The Valkyries now move on to face the Las Vegas Aces in the semifinals, who defeated the Indiana Fever in a 2-1 series.