Rookie guard Paige Bueckers made her WNBA debut with the Dallas Wings on Friday during a preseason game against the Las Vegas Aces, but it wasn’t to their liking on the scoring front as the Aces cruised to a 112-78 blowout win to start their preseason off right.

Not only was the game against the Aces Paige Bueckers’ Wings debut, but it was also Wings star Arike Ogunbowale’s homecoming as the preseason game was played at Notre Dame’s home arena. Ogunbowale played her college career at Notre Dame and was a part of the Fighting Irish’s 2018 national championship team.

Not much stock should be put into preseason as teams are still trying to figure out their rotations and training camp hopefuls are battling for coveted roster spots. But it was a bit of an indicator as to how the Aces might look this upcoming season.

The Aces were led by Jackie Young who finished with a game-high 28 points to go along with five rebounds, nine assist and three steals. A’ja Wilson, the reigning WNBA MVP, finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

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The team revamped their roster a bit after losing key rotation players in Kelsey Plum, Tiffany Hayes, Sydney Colson and Alysha Clark.

Those players were replaced with veterans in Jewell Loyd, Tiffany Mitchell and Dana Evans. Evans sat out during Friday’s preseason game. The Aces are also hoping that younger newcomers can help fortify the rotation. Rookie center Elizabeth Kitley is healthy after sitting out the entire 2024 season due to injury.

They also drafted a few intriguing players in Harvard’s Harmoni Turner and Alabama’s Aaliyah Nye. Nye had an impressive debut with the Aces, finishing with 17 points off the bench while shooting 6-of-11 from the field and 5-0f-8 from the three-point line.

Last season, the Aces made the playoffs as the No. 4 seed and defeated the Seattle Storm in their opening round series. But they were eliminated in the semifinals by the eventual champion New York Liberty. The Aces had won back-t0-back championships prior to last year.