WNBA
Paige Bueckers Named 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year
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All posts by James FoglioUpdated4 hours ago on September 17, 2025
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers was named the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year, the league announced Tuesday.
Bueckers is the seventh former UConn player to win the award, receiving 70 of 72 first-place votes from a media panel, while Washington Mystics guard Sonia Citron garnered the other two.
“Thank you God for an amazing rookie year,” Bueckers wrote in an Instagram post. “Process over results. Unconditional joy and gratitude, so much to be thankful for. Love my squad, they all deserve Teammates of the Year in my book, nothing is possible without them. Now let’s keep on keeping on. Go wings!”
Paige Bueckers Becomes Seventh Ex-UConn Player To Win Award
Bueckers joins Diana Taurasi (2004), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011), Breanna Stewart (2016), Napheesa Collier (2019), and Crystal Dangerfield (2020) as UConn players who have earned this honor
The Huskies selected Bueckers with the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft after she helped the Huskies win their 12th national championship that same month.
She becomes the 16th player drafted No. 1 overall to win Rookie of the Year.
A starter in all 36 appearances for the Wings, Bueckers averaged 19.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals, and 33.3 minutes per contest while shooting 47.4% from the floor, 33.1% from deep, and 88.8% at the foul line.
Bueckers Led All WNBA Rookies In Points, Assists
Bueckers led all WNBA rookies in total points (692), points per game, total assists (194), and assists per game. She also finished 10th in the league in field goals (259) and seventh in steals (57).
Her 692 total points rank third on the all-time list in WNBA rookie history. She also ranked third among WNBA rookies with 194 assists and was the only player to finish in the top 10 in points, assists, and steals per game.
Bueckers’ 44 points against the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 20 set a WNBA single-game rookie record.
She made 17 of 21 (81%) shots from the field, becoming the first player in WNBA history to score 40 or more points and shoot at least 80% from the floor in a game.
Although the Wings finished the regular season tied for last place with a 10-34 record, Bueckers proved throughout the year that Dallas has a bright future ahead with the Minnesota native.
