ARLINGTON — In the last contest of a three-game homestand, Azzi Fudd gave fans at College Park Center plenty to cheer for Monday night as the Dallas Wings bested the Washington Mystics 92-69. Fudd came off the bench, scoring 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting in 24 minutes on the floor. It was the first double-digit outing for the 2026 No. 1 pick, who also had three assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“My goal was to be aggressive when I got in the game. Contribute any way I could, watch what the starters were doing,” Fudd said postgame. “They started the game off pushing the pace, being aggressive, getting stops, so I wanted to continue that.”
The rookie’s performance helped the Wings avoid a three-game losing streak and improve to .500 on the season after Dallas (2-2) dropped its last two home games to the Atlanta Dream and the Minnesota Lynx, each by five points or less.
“I think everybody was excited to see Azzi and how well she played and how she shot it and how she defended and how she created off the bounce,” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said postgame. “… She felt good and it was good to see her at the comfort level that she played.”
Still figuring out its identity for the 2026 season, Dallas is already in better shape than it was this time last year. The Wings did not hit two wins until June 17, 2025, and that second victory of the season wasn’t nearly as commanding as Monday night’s against Fudd’s hometown team.
The D.C. area native recorded a career-high in points, as four other Wings players scored in double figures. Paige Bueckers, who scored 27 against the Lynx on Thursday, led the team with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting. She shot 4-of-5 from three and recorded a game-high seven assists.
Jessica Shepard recorded a 12-point, 16-rebound double-double and center Awak Kuier also had an impactful game with 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting, four assists, three rebounds and three steals.
Dallas shot 33-of-70 from the floor and 11-of-24 from three, while forcing 18 turnovers and holding Washington to two offensive rebounds.
“I knew that we had to control the glass, and I just wanted to do my part,” Shepard said postgame.
“We’re not worried about what people think about the locker room,” All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale, who had 16 points Monday, said postgame. “It’s just what we think about ourselves. We know our standard. We know what coach wants to do. We know what we expect from ourselves.
“And I think we showed that tonight, so we’ve just got to continue that.”
Now back in the win column, Dallas will play the Chicago Sky on Wednesday in its first of three straight road games.