The Minnesota Lynx keep rolling. They beat the Dallas Wings 85-77 on Sunday at College Park Center, making it five wins in their last six games. But the real story wasn’t the final score. It was the fireworks between Olivia Miles and Paige Bueckers.
Remember when these two went at it in college? Miles at Notre Dame, Bueckers at UConn. That bad blood didn’t disappear when they both entered the WNBA. It just got louder.
The tension boiled over in the second quarter. Miles collided with Jessica Shepard. Then she and Bueckers got into a verbal exchange. Nobody threw a punch, but the stare-downs were real.
After the game, Miles didn’t dodge questions about it.
“I’m not trying to start anything. I usually just kind of get triggered by something, and then I kind of don’t want to get punked out there just because I’m a rookie, she said. So I try to hold my own. It’s not who I wanna be, but it’s just kind of the competitiveness in me. I just try to respond.”
She’s not trying to start stuff. But she’s also not backing down. That message came through loud and clear.
Miles finished with 21 points, three rebounds, and eight assists. Bueckers had 25 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 pick, also dropped 21 points with three assists and four steals. This wasn’t the blowout these teams played earlier in the season. This was tight.
But it wasn’t just the Bueckers stuff. Miles got a technical foul late in the third quarter for yelling at a ref about a non-call. She’s an early frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, and she’s playing like someone who knows she belongs.
The Lynx and Wings meet again in August. That game suddenly looks way more interesting.
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