WNBA players score 30 points all the time. There have already been 21 30-point games this season, including a 45-point outing from A’ja Wilson. What makes that type of game unique is unreal efficiency and where the points are coming from, which is why Paige Bueckers’s 31-point game in an 85-70 win over the Phoenix Mercury was so special.
Bueckers shot 70% from the field in an incredibly efficient outing, which becomes even more impressive when you consider that a fourth of her shots came from behind the arc. On top of that, Bueckers didn’t attempt a single free throw.
She is one of only five players to score 30 or more points on at least 70% shooting from the field this season and the first to do it with zero free-throw attempts. A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum, Sydney Taylor, and Sonia Citron are the other four ultra-efficient 30-point scorers, and Courtney Williams and Marina Mabrey are the only other players to attempt fewer than five free throws on their way to 30 points.
ESPN recently released its WNBA awards tracker, which justifiably listed A’ja Wilson as the front-runner for MVP. Bueckers made the list of the other top three contenders alongside Olivia Miles and Kelsey Plum. As the best player on the team with the best record, Miles has a clear edge over anyone except Wilson.
However, a game like the one she just had proves that Bueckers belongs in the top of the MVP race alongside Wilson and Miles. If she continues to lead the Wings to wins as one of the most efficient scorers in the W, her case will only improve as the season goes on. But let’s not forget that A’ja Wilson also had an efficient 30-point outing in the Aces’ fifth-consecutive win. Catching up with her will be a tall task for anyone.
Paige Bueckers solidified her standing as one of the best scorers in the WNBA
Paige Bueckers picked up right where she left off as a rookie when she finished the 2025 season fifth in points per game in the W. She ranks seventh in points per game with 19.8 right now and fifth in total points with 237. That’s more than several established superstars and potential MVP candidates, like Allisha Gray, Kelsey Plum, and Caitlin Clark.
Bueckers’s efficiency against the Mercury was no outlier either. She is shooting 52.3% from the field for the season, the eighth-highest mark among guards who have played more than five games this season. Only Chennedy Carter, Rebekah Gardner, Pauline Astier, Kelsey Plum, Kiki Rice, Olivia Miles, and Teja Oblak average a better field-goal percentage. However, only Plum and Miles have to deal with a similar workload and defensive attention as Bueckers.
The 24-year-old is much more than just a scorer for the Wings, though. She is also one of the best playmakers on the team and is currently tied with teammate Jessica Shepard and Veronica Burton for the seventh-most total assists so far in the season.
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