Wings’ Paige Bueckers praises exciting part of Kaitlyn Chen’s game

The Golden State Valkyries notched their fourth straight win after outlasting the Dallas Wings, 91-80, at Chase Center on Wednesday.

It was a seesaw battle in the first half, with the Wings winning the opening period, 26-17, and the Valkyries returning the favor in the second quarter, 27-7. They kept trading runs until Golden State held off Dallas in the closing minutes.

The Valkyries improved to 10-5, including 7-2 at home. The Wings dropped to 9-6.

The game was a reunion for Dallas’ Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd and Golden State’s Kaitlyn Chen, who were teammates at Connecticut. They won the national title in 2025.

Bueckers showered praise on Chen after the contest, as shown in the video posted by Mercury News’ Joseph Dycus.

“Being around Kaitlyn, she always works hard. She’s always had it in her. When an opportunity has been given to her, she’s run with it. She’s just confident,” said Bueckers.

“She affects the game in so many ways. Tonight, just getting penetrations, getting to the rim. She has one of the best layup packages I’ve ever seen.”

“She has one of the best layup packages I've ever seen.”

Paige Bueckers on Valkyries guard and former UConn teammate Kaitlyn Chen scoring 15 points against the Wings. pic.twitter.com/k0b3bWvHU0

— Joseph Dycus (@joseph_dycus) June 18, 2026

Bueckers had 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting, three rebounds, and eight assists, while Chen tallied 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, two rebounds, and two assists in 25 minutes off the bench.

Fudd also struggled from the field, scoring 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting. She had five steals.

Chen, who was drafted in the third round by the Valkyries in last year’s draft, is averaging 6.1 points on 52.2% accuracy, including 56.6% on three-pointers, in 13.9 minutes off the bench.

The Wings will return to action on Saturday against the Chicago Sky.

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