NEW YORK -- Dallas Wings forward Maddy Siegrist made the most of her return to the lineup after missing 18 games with a knee injury.
Siegrist scored 13 points in the Wings' 85-76 loss to the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.
"It's been a long process building up to the moment. I want to try to help my team," Siegrist said. "I wanted to come out with a win tonight, but to get the first one under your belt is great."
Wings coach Chris Koclanes had Siegrist on a minutes restriction against the Liberty and she played 15. Siegrist, who grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, joked at shootaround that she would need to tell the 150 friends in attendance to not chant for her to play more.
"I'll need to explain to my grandma that I can only play so many minutes," she said laughing.
She scored nearly right away when she came into the game four minutes into the first quarter.
Siegrist, the NCAA Division I scoring leader ahead of Caitlin Clark when she played for Villanova in 2022-23, was limited to 11 games in an injury-plagued rookie season two years ago. She averaged 9.4 points and 5.2 rebounds in 11 games and had her only double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 boards the game before she was injured, an 81-65 loss to the Minnesota Lynx on June 8.
"I'm excited. Oh my gosh, yes," Siegrist said before the game. "I'm excited to get back out there. As a competitor you always have expectations. I just want to feel good and comfortable. My minutes will be limited so that takes some of the pressure off."
