Paige Bueckers got the host Dallas Wings off to a rip-roaring 11-0 start Sunday and was instrumental in handing the Storm their worst defeat since early July, 92-70.

In the first quarter, it was Bueckers 18, the entire Seattle Storm 17. Bueckers outscored the visiting team on her own, on 7-for-8 shooting and 4 for 4 from deep. She matched the highest-scoring first quarter by any player in Wings history and tied the WNBA record for most made threes without a miss.

“Paige is really a special player, tough cover,” Storm coach Sonia Raman said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of executing our coverages and what we were trying to do against her.

“But credit to her as well, for just making a lot of shots out there.”

The Storm were headed for a more miserable blowout, down 35 points early. They trailed 56-21 with 4:02 left in second quarter. The Wings then cooled off and let their foot off the gas and the Storm ended the first half on a 14-0 run. That didn’t make it a game, per se, but it kept things reasonable. Seattle still trailed 56-35.

During the lopsided first 15 minutes, Seattle’s Flau’jae Johnson contributed encouragement and solid defense. She then rounded out her game and went on a hot streak of her own. She had 12 points and five rebounds during one 10-minute stretch and ultimately led her team with 23 points.

She matched her career high in three-pointers, set in July, with five on 10 attempts.

“I think the quality of basketball that we played was decent, but we can’t have decent games,” Johnson said. “You have to have great games, on every side.”

With a game-high three steals, Johnson joined Lauren Jackson as the only two Storm players to record 50 steals and 25 blocks in their rookie seasons.

Bueckers praised Johnson after the game, citing her sense of pride and joy while she’s playing.

“She’s a scorer. She was born to score,” Bueckers told reporters.

Bueckers finished a career-high 6-for-6 from three-point range and with a game-high 32 points to go with four rebounds and four assists. Jessica Shepard had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Dallas.

Nicknames are still being workshopped, but Raman sent out the new “big three” starting lineup — 6-foot-4 Awa Fam, 6-4 Ezi Magbegor and 6-6 Dominique Malonga, along with Jade Melbourne (15 points) and Johnson.

Malonga quickly got into foul trouble so the sample size was small, but the grouping was not effective during its time on the court. Malonga had 12 points to Magbegor’s two. Fam missed all five shots she attempted from the field.

“There’s moments where there’s two bigs running to the paint,” Melbourne said. “There’s moments where they’re all spread out because someone thinks the next person’s going to do it.

“Definitely growing pains. But it’s a scary lineup when it works. (We’re) continuing to go at it, continuing to get the reps in practice, continuing to get the in-game reps and use that to our advantage, and (it’s) something that we can roll out more.”

In the Storm’s most recent outing against Chicago, Magbegor was in foul trouble but the trio started rolling in the third quarter.

Raman called it a work in progress.

“It just takes time for them to kind of play together and see how that looks,” she said. “So they haven’t had much (time), right?

“I thought they generated some good shots, and they didn’t all fall. There were some good plays, I think, early on with that group in together.”

Natisha Hiedeman missed a second consecutive game with a left shoulder injury.

“She’s a big part of our offense, what we’ve been doing all season,” Johnson said. “Veteran presence on the floor.”

The Storm might sit on a 7-31 record, but blowouts like this have been rare lately. Before Sunday, their last four defeats had all been by single digits. The last time they lost by 20-plus points was July 2, when they dropped a 90-67 decision against the Phoenix Mercury.

The last-place Storm have lost three in a row and 14 of 15.

The Wings (22-16) are almost certainly bound for the playoffs for the first time since 2023 and can clinch with a victory Tuesday. Dallas set the team record for most regular-season wins Sunday.

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