SAN FRANCISCO -- Heading into her first WNBA playoffs with the Dallas Wings, Paige Bueckers believes her previous championship experiences will help her prepare for the bigger pressure and stakes of this stage.
Bueckers won a gold medal with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup earlier this month in her first senior national team tournament. In March 2025, she won a national title with UConn during her senior year.
"I learned in college that there's so much more leading into the playoffs," Bueckers told ESPN on Saturday. "You don't change your whole identity, and you don't change who you are and what you took to get there. But there's a higher level of stakes and pressure. ... There's a sense of urgency and will and a want and an extra desire you have to have during the playoffs."
During her four years at UConn, Bueckers played in 12 Big East tournament games and won the conference title all four years. She played in 22 March Madness games, including two Final Fours and two championship games, winning her first and only NCAA title in 2025.
But before that championship win, Bueckers, who went on to be the 2025 No. 1 draft pick, went through her senior season with unshakable pressure. At that point, she said, the possibility of leaving UConn without a title weighed on her.
"I felt that every day," Bueckers said. "But I had to be super present and be the best teammate and best leader -- serving the moment, serving the possession."
She continued: "You can get so caught up in wanting to win the first playoff game that you lose the importance of losing the first possession. ... That's what I learned my senior year. If I just focused on winning so bad, you forget how to do it."
As part of Team USA's young core in the FIBA World Cup, Bueckers adapted to the international competition well, averaging 7.3 points on 55.2% shooting, including 42.9% from 3-point range.
"FIBA helped a lot," she said. "Seeing that level of physicality and playing with the pressures of representing your country and everybody wanting to win gold."
As she enters her first postseason as a pro, Bueckers said she understands the ups and downs that are bound to confront her throughout a series. Wings veteran guard Alysha Clark has been vocal in huddles about how the teams who make the deepest runs are the ones who stay connected.
Bueckers said she feels the pressure, and while it's different than what she has dealt with before, there is a level of familiarity that helps keep her calm.
"The pressure is higher, especially in a best-of-three series," Bueckers said. "But as a basketball player, you want to embrace it and have fun with it. This is what you work for and you live for."