INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Arike Ogunbowale had 22 points, Paige Bueckers scored 20, and Caitlin Clark missed a deep 3 with a chance to send the game to overtime as the Dallas Wings beat the Indiana Fever 107-104 to open their WNBA seasons on Saturday.
Odyssey Sims also had 20 points for the Wings, and No. 1 draft pick Azzi Fudd scored three in 18 minutes.
Kelsey Mitchell, who also missed a chance to tie the game at the final buzzer, led Indiana with 30 points. Aliyah Boston had 23 points, and Clark finished with 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five turnovers.
Bueckers made 8 of 10 from the field and Sims made 8 of 11. Jessica Shepard had 13 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in her Wings debut.
Aziaha James had a four-point play when she was fouled on a made 3 with 9:09 left, putting the Wings ahead 84-82. They never trailed after the play.
Clark missed her 3-pointer with about seven seconds remaining and Mitchell’s miss at the buzzer followed two missed free throws from Bueckers.
Dallas shot 59% from the field and 52% from 3-point range. Indiana shot 52% from the field and made 29% of its 3s.
MERCURY 99, ACES 66
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Alyssa Thomas scored 20 points and Phoenix walloped Las Vegas, making sure the only celebration for the reigning WNBA champions would be its pregame ring ceremony.
The win was a measure of revenge for the Mercury, who were swept by the Aces in last season’s WNBA Finals.
This was the Mercury’s largest margin of victory since defeating Indiana 95-60 on Aug. 7, and it’s the Aces’ worst defeat since a 111-58 loss to Minnesota on Aug. 3. Las Vegas then finished the regular season with 16 consecutive wins.
Mercury rookie Jovana Nogic, who most recently played in Russia and is on the Serbian national team, scored all of her 19 points in the first half. She was one of six Mercury players to score in double figures. Natasha Mack had 10 points and 15 rebounds.
Four-time MVP A’ja Wilson led the Aces with 19 points, Jackie Young scored 12 and NaLyssa Smith 11.
DREAM 91, LYNX 90
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Allisha Gray scored 16 of her 24 points in the second half, Angel Reese had 11 points and 14 rebounds in her debut for Atlanta and the Dream beat Minnesota in the season opener for both teams.
Reese, acquired from Chicago on April 6 in exchange for first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028, has 50 career double-doubles in just 65 games, the fastest to reach the mark in WNBA history.
Olivia Miles, the No. 2 selection in the 2026 draft, had 21 points, eight assists, two steals and two blocks for Minnesota in her WNBA debut.
Napheesa Collier did not play for the Lynx. The five-time WNBA All-Star had surgery on both ankles this offseason and is expected to resume on-court activity in early June.
Jordin Canada got into the lane for a basket and Te-Hina Paopao hit a pull-up jumper that gave the Dream their first lead of the game at 91-90 with 12 seconds remaining. Gray and Reese each blocked a shot from there to seal it for Atlanta.
Naz Hillmon and Rhyne Howard scored 15 points apiece for Atlanta and Canada finished with 12.
Kayla McBride scored 18, Courtney Williams had 14 points and 6-foot-4 rookie Emma Cechova added 12.
SKY 98, FIRE 83
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Kamilla Cardoso had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Chicago spoiled expansion Portland's WNBA opener.
Carla Leite had 18 points for the Fire, whose fans at Moda Center celebrated the league’s return to the city for the first time in 24 years.
The Fire trailed by 17 points in the first half before rallying to tie it at 70 on Bridget Carleton’s 3-pointer with 8:39 left. But Chicago regained control from there.
Skylar Diggins finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for the Sky, who made sweeping changes after finishing 10-24 last season. Just four players from that squad remain on the roster. Angel Reese was traded to Atlanta for first-round draft picks in 2027 and 2028.
One of the Sky’s veteran signings was Natasha Cloud, who played for New York last season, but she was unavailable for the opener because of illness.
The Fire, the second-youngest team in the WNBA, were resilient through the first quarter, trailing 19-18. But the Sky pulled ahead 50-37 by halftime.
