Women's Fastbreak On SI

Fever Coach Sends 9-Word Message on Paige Bueckers Game Plan After Win vs Wings

Fever head coach Stephanie White got honest about how she tried to prepare her team for playing star guard Paige Bueckers.
Grant Young|
Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) controls the ball Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Jun 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) controls the ball Indiana Fever guard Lexie Hull (10) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever needed a bounce-back performance against the Dallas Wings on June 27, given their fourth quarter collapse against the Los Angeles Sparks on June 26. And despite the back-to-back games, the Fever were able to do enough to secure a 94-86 victory over Dallas, thus improving their record to 8-8 on the 2025 WNBA season while the Wings fall to 4-13.

However, Indiana securing the win didn't necessarily mean they did a solid job stopping Wings star rookie Paige Bueckers, who finished the contest with 27 points on an efficient 9 of 18 shooting from the field to go along with 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and 0 turnovers in 36 minutes played.

Fever head coach Stephanie White spoke with the media after the game and was asked about how her team prepared for playing Bueckers.

"It's try and make everything as difficult as possible," White said about Bueckers, per an X post from Joey Mistretta of ClutchPoints. "Let her see multiple bodies, different kinds of matchups, Just make her really work for everything that she's gonna get.

"I mean, when you're playing against great players, you're not gonna stop them, right? You just have to try to make life as difficult as possible, and make them beat you with tough ones," White added.

Of course, fans were looking forward to seeing Bueckers matching up against star guard Caitlin Clark on Friday, but Clark couldn't play because of a groin injury.

The hope is now that Clark will be cleared to compete when these two teams play again on June 13.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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