PHOENIX - Paige Bueckers did almost everything a guard can do on a Monday night in the desert. The last shot did not fall.
Bueckers scored 30 points with five rebounds and seven assists as the Dallas Wings fell to the Phoenix Mercury 87-86, the Associated Press reported. Per ESPN's box score, she went 12-for-22 from the field, 4-for-5 from three, and 2-for-2 at the line in 33 minutes.
It was her fourth 30-point game of the season, and the night pushed her to 853 points - a Dallas franchise record for points in a single season, the AP said.
Dallas (26-17) led by as many as 14 and carried a 74-63 edge early in the fourth before the streak ended. The loss snapped a six-game winning run and was the Wings' first defeat since Aug. 17. They remain tied for sixth in the WNBA standings.
Record book, thin margin
Jessica Shepard added 17 points and 19 rebounds with six assists, giving Dallas a second double-digit line that kept the lead alive deep into the fourth. Arike Ogunbowale's baseline jumper with 1:43 left made it 81-77. After Phoenix tied the game, Bueckers was left open on the wing and hit from well behind the arc for an 84-81 lead, according to the AP.
Kahleah Copper answered with the finishing punch. She scored 16 of her 31 points in the fourth, including a go-ahead layup with 2.4 seconds remaining after Alyssa Thomas found her on a backdoor cut, the AP reported. A foul call against Phoenix had been overturned with 13.3 seconds left, and the Mercury secured the jump ball before the decisive play.
Bueckers' final three-point try at the buzzer did not hit the rim.
How Phoenix climbed back
Thomas finished with 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for her fifth triple-double of the season as Phoenix (16-27) erased the deficit. Copper's free-throw work in the fourth kept the Mercury within a possession, and Natasha Mack's late layup trimmed Dallas' lead to one before Copper's winner.
