Azzi Fudd scored a career-high 24 points and the Dallas Wings rolled past the New York Liberty 91-76 on Sunday in Brooklyn, turning a quiet reserve role into the biggest night of her early WNBA career.
Fudd shot 6 of 12 from 3-point range and punished a Liberty team that was missing one of its headline attractions because Sabrina Ionescu’s season debut was among the night’s storylines. Dallas had needed a jolt, and it got one from the No. 1 pick who had been averaging 8.4 points as a reserve before Sunday.
Coach Jose Fernandez, who had started Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale and Odyssey Sims in the backcourt through the first seven games, said after the game, “Now everyone knows why we took her No. 1.” Bueckers added, “We knew she had this in her, and we knew it was only a matter of time.”
The result mattered because it offered the clearest sign yet that Dallas may be finding its rotation after weeks of experimentation. Fudd had been ruled out of the Wings’ home opener against the Atlanta Dream with a knee injury, which Fernandez later described as a precautionary measure. Since then, she had mostly come off the bench, a role that fit the Wings’ early-season guard mix but left her output inconsistent.
Sunday’s performance also sharpened the rookie conversation around the league, with Olivia Miles still setting the standard in Minnesota. Selected second by the Lynx in the 2026 draft, Miles was averaging 15 points, 5.5 assists and five rebounds through the early part of the season, a pace that put her in rare company as the fifth player in WNBA history to reach those marks over the opening stretch of a season.
The comparison has had a real feel because the teams have already crossed paths. The Wings hosted the Lynx on May 14, when Minnesota won 90-86. Miles finished that game with 15 points and six assists, while Fudd had 8 points off the bench. Minnesota entered that stretch 6-2 and tied for second in the standings with the Las Vegas Aces and the Indiana Fever through six games, even without injured All-Star Napheesa Collier.
That backdrop has made every strong showing from either rookie feel like part of a larger debate, and Fudd’s outburst was the kind of game Dallas had been waiting for since it drafted her to pair with Bueckers. Bueckers said the adjustment for a first-year player can take time, adding, “It takes time as a rookie to get your legs under you, your feet going and just get some experience and reps at it.”
For Dallas, the immediate question is not whether Fudd has the talent. Sunday answered that. The question now is whether the Wings keep leaning into the version of their backcourt that finally looked fully awake in Brooklyn, or whether the next game sends them back to the stop-and-start search that defined the first seven.
