{"id":398185,"date":"2026-01-10T00:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/398185\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T00:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T00:06:20","slug":"paige-bueckers-shines-in-unrivaled-debut-as-breeze-bc-opens-with-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/398185\/","title":{"rendered":"Paige Bueckers Shines In Unrivaled Debut As Breeze BC Opens With Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paige Bueckers<\/a> did not need long to settle into Unrivaled. She scored a game-high 24 points and added six assists Sunday as Breeze BC opened its inaugural season with a 69-62 victory over Phantom BC, delivering the franchise\u2019s first win on the league\u2019s opening day. In a fast, physical three-on-three setting, Bueckers\u2019 comfort was evident from the opening minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fun,\u201d Bueckers said. \u201cIt was really competitive, which is what we expected. Extremely physical. Three-on-three is just a really fun brand of basketball, and seeing where we\u2019re growing as a team is exciting for this to be our first game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breeze BC jumped out to an early lead behind Bueckers\u2019 aggressiveness. She finished the first quarter in double figures, scoring 10 points as Breeze took a 23-17 advantage after an opening frame that featured three lead changes and four ties.<\/p>\n

Setting the Tone on Opening Night<\/p>\n

Bueckers continued to build momentum in the second quarter, draining a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give her 15 points at halftime and push Breeze BC into the break with a 44-39 lead. Breeze controlled the interior through two quarters, outscoring Phantom BC 26-16 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle 21-16.<\/p>\n

The third quarter opened with a sequence that captured Bueckers\u2019 all-around impact. She hit a step-back jumper, blocked a Kelsey Plum<\/a> attempt and took a charge on consecutive possessions, then scored Breeze BC\u2019s first six points of the period.<\/p>\n

Breeze entered the fourth quarter leading 57-51, and despite a late push from Phantom BC, held on to secure the win. Dominique Malonga<\/a> posted a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double, while Rickea Jackson<\/a> added 16 points. Bueckers and Malonga combined for key rebounds down the stretch.<\/p>\n

Built for Space, Pace and Physicality<\/p>\n

The pace and physicality of Unrivaled stood out immediately, even for players accustomed to elite competition. Bueckers acknowledged conditioning as one of the biggest early adjustments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis game is so fast-paced, and there\u2019s never a possession where you\u2019re not involved on both ends,\u201d she said. \u201cIn five-on-five, you can be out of the action for stretches. Here, you\u2019re always in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Breeze BC head coach Noelle Quinn<\/a> emphasized that environment while tailoring the offense to Bueckers\u2019 versatility as a big guard.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaige is a big guard, and I have an affinity for that,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cHer ability to post up and come off ball screens puts her in difficult-to-defend areas of the floor. Whether it\u2019s high ball screens, side ball screens, or logo ball screens, it\u2019s difficult to defend. At the end of the day, she can get buckets, and that\u2019s what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bueckers, the debut reinforced both the league\u2019s potential and her own growth mindset entering the offseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cTruly everything,\u201d she said when asked what she hopes to improve. \u201cOperating and defending in space, creating isolation. I want to continue to get stronger, use my body to get to the free-throw line and the paint, and get more threes up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening night ended with a win, but the message from Bueckers was clear \u2014 for her and for Unrivaled, it is only the start.<\/p>\n

A Familiar Format for Paige Bueckers<\/p>\n

While Unrivaled represents a new professional chapter, the three-on-three format is far from unfamiliar territory for Bueckers. She entered the league with one of the deepest 3\u00d73 r\u00e9sum\u00e9s of any player on the roster.<\/p>\n

Bueckers won gold with USA Basketball at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games 3\u00d73 tournament in Buenos Aires, where the Americans went 7\u20130. She later became the youngest member of the senior U.S. women\u2019s 3\u00d73 national team at the 2019 ANOC World Beach Games in Doha, averaging 6.5 points per game while competing alongside established WNBA talent. Her success across youth and senior international 3\u00d73 competitions was a major factor in her being named USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 2019.<\/p>\n

That background showed again Sunday as Bueckers navigated space, created off the dribble and made quick reads in a condensed floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a secondary league,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is really good, competitive basketball. People are used to five-on-five, so being able to watch three-on-three with different players in a different setting and format is really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

More Dallas Wings News & Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paige Bueckers did not need long to settle into Unrivaled. She scored a game-high 24 points and added…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":398186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[163431,81726,2833,192332,99,18419,87715,434,4679],"class_list":{"0":"post-398185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-breeze-bc","9":"tag-noelle-quinn","10":"tag-paige-bueckers","11":"tag-phantom-bc","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-unrivaled","14":"tag-usa-basketball","15":"tag-wnba","16":"tag-wnba-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/398186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}