The post Wings’ Paige Bueckers makes appearance at Texas-Oklahoma rivalry game appeared first on ClutchPoints.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, fresh off a historic rookie season, made a high-profile appearance at the annual Red River Rivalry between the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas. The Minnesota native, who now resides in the Dallas area, joined more than 92,000 fans at one of college football’s most tradition-rich rivalries.
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Bueckers, who just completed a stellar first WNBA season, appeared on the ABC broadcast alongside Holly Rowe, expressing her amazement at the game’s atmosphere. The Cotton Bowl, evenly divided between the crimson and burnt orange faithful, offered a spectacle that mesmerized the WNBA Rookie of the Year, who has no direct ties to either school. During the broadcast, she joined in on the excitement by flashing the Longhorns’ “Horns Up” gesture, showing support for the local crowd.
Quarterback Arch Manning and Texas entered the game seeking redemption after a 29–21 loss to Florida on October 4, a defeat that pushed them out of the AP Top 25 despite beginning the season ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Meanwhile, the star attendee, Bueckers, enters her first WNBA offseason. Dallas drafted the 23-year-old guard No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft after her exceptional college career at UConn, where she led the Huskies to four Final Fours and a national championship in her senior season. At UConn, Bueckers was a three-time unanimous first-team All-American, the Wade Trophy winner, and the program’s career scoring leader with an average of 19.9 points per game.
In her debut WNBA campaign, Bueckers proved every bit worthy of the top selection. Across 36 games, she averaged 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals while shooting 47.7% from the field and 33.1% from three-point range. She led all rookies in total points (692) and assists (194) and became the fastest player in league history to reach 200 points, 50 rebounds, and 50 assists.
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Moreover, he became just the second rookie in league history to record multiple games with at least 35 points. By season’s end, she had broken the Wings’ rookie scoring and assist records, was named WNBA Rookie of the Year, and earned a spot on both the All-WNBA Second Team and All-Rookie Team.
Related: Paige Bueckers highlights All-WNBA 2nd team after stellar rookie season
