{"id":672156,"date":"2026-05-15T08:05:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/672156\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T08:05:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T08:05:12","slug":"alex-fowlers-wnba-dream-starts-with-12-point-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/672156\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Fowler\u2019s WNBA dream starts with 12-point debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alex Fowler impressed on Liberty debut while Alanna Smith faced former team Minnesota in WNBA action<\/p>\n

New York Liberty 100 def. Portland Fire 82<\/p>\n

Australian forward Alex Fowler<\/a> \u2013\u00a0and WNBL26 champion with the Townsville \u2013\u00a0was announced as a developmental player<\/a> just hours before tip-off and made an immediate impact as the New York Liberty overpowered Portland Fire 100-82 on the road.<\/p>\n

Fowler checked in for 17 minutes and delivered 12 points on 4-from-7 shooting, hitting two threes in an energetic first outing alongside fellow Australians Rebecca Allen <\/a>and Han Xu, who spent WNBL26 with the Perth Lynx.<\/p>\n

Allen was playing her first game of the season for New York and knocked down a triple in 14 minutes, while Han Xu added three points, two rebounds and two assists in seven minutes.<\/p>\n

Breanna Stewart led the Liberty with 22 points, seven rebounds and a +20 plus-minus, while Marine Johannes controlled the game with 11 assists. Julie Vanloo provided a spark off the bench with nine points and four assists, and Rebekah Gardner added 14 points and five rebounds.<\/p>\n

Portland stayed close after leading 20-14 at quarter time, but New York broke the game open with a 31-point third quarter behind its ball movement and perimeter shooting. The Liberty finished 15-from-38 from three-point range and shot 51% from the field.<\/p>\n

Australian forward Nyadiew Puoch<\/a> continued her strong start to the season for Portland with 13 points, two assists and two steals in 31 minutes. Puoch shot 5-from-9 from the field and 2-from-5 from downtown while regularly matching up against Stewart and Laney-Hamilton on the defensive end.<\/p>\n

Megan Gustafson top-scored for Portland with 14 points off the bench, while Bridget Carleton and Emily Engstler each added 11.<\/p>\n

\"\"Rebecca Allen and Alex Fowler arrive at Moda Center before the New York Liberty faced the Portland Fire in Portland on May 14, 2026. Photo: Cameron Browne\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Australians<\/p>\n

Alex Fowler (Liberty): 12 points, two rebounds, one assist, 2-from-5 3PT in 17 minutesRebecca Allen (Liberty): Three points, one assist, one steal in 14 minutesNyadiew Puoch (Fire): 13 points, two assists, two steals, 2-from-5 3PT in 31 minutesWNBL26 \u2013 Han Xu (Liberty): Three points, two rebounds, two assists in seven minutesMinnesota Lynx 90 def. Dallas Wings 86<\/p>\n

Australian Opals forward Alanna Smith<\/a> faced her former team for the first time as the Minnesota Lynx erased an eight-point first-quarter deficit to defeat the Dallas Wings 90-86 on the road.<\/p>\n

Smith finished with six points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block in 27 minutes against the Lynx franchise she helped reach the WNBA Finals last season before signing a three-year supermax deal with Dallas in free agency.<\/p>\n

Dallas led 28-18 at quarter time behind the shot creation of rookie guard Paige Bueckers, but Minnesota gradually wore the Wings down with elite interior efficiency, shooting 60% from the field and dominating the paint through Natasha Howard and Courtney Williams.<\/p>\n

Howard produced one of the most efficient games of her career with 26 points on 11-from-14 shooting, adding five rebounds and three blocks. Williams added 21 points on 9-from-10 shooting, while Nia Coffey knocked down all three of her attempts from beyond the arc for 13 points and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n

Bueckers was outstanding again for Dallas with 27 points, eight assists and 10-from-11 shooting from the free throw line, continuing her fast adjustment to the WNBA level. Maddy Siegrist provided a spark off the bench with 17 points in 16 minutes.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s versatility was again evident despite limited scoring opportunities. The 28-year-old operated as a connective piece offensively, regularly initiating actions from the elbows and short roll while defending multiple frontcourt matchups.<\/p>\n

Dallas struggled to contain Minnesota\u2019s ball movement and half-court execution late, with the Lynx finishing with 20 assists and only 17 turnovers despite constant defensive pressure from the Wings.<\/p>\n

Australian<\/p>\n

Alanna Smith (Wings): Six points, four rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block in 27 minutes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex Fowler impressed on Liberty debut while Alanna Smith faced former team Minnesota in WNBA action New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-672156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}