Despite leaving as a UConn national champion last April, Paige Bueckers will return to her former home court this summer — one of them, at least. As part of the WNBA’s schedule release, the Connecticut Sun announced it’ll host Bueckers and the Dallas Wings at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford on Tuesday, July 2 at 8 p.m. ET. It’s one of two contests the Sun will play in the state capital along with a Saturday, May 20 matchup with the Los Angeles Sparks.
PeoplesBank Arena has a capacity of 16,294 for basketball — significantly larger than Mohegan Sun Arena, which holds just under 9,000 for basketball. The downtown venue also serves as the second home court for both UConn’s basketball teams.
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Last season, Bueckers won 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year after a historic campaign in which she put up 19.2 points, 5.4 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals while shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from three. Bueckers finished fifth in scoring, sixth in steals and ninth in assists across the entire league — the only player to rank in the top 10 in each category this season. She also totaled the third-most points and assists by a rookie in WNBA history, while she set a rookie record with 44 points against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20 (Cynthia Cooper also put up 44 points during the WNBA’s inaugural season but the league doesn’t consider anyone from that year a rookie).
Bueckers might not be the only former Husky returning to Hartford this summer, either. The Wings own the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, which could be used on current UConn star Azzi Fudd.
