ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Maddy Siegrist would prefer to see her WNBA career blossom into something more than being a good luck charm.

At the same time, her role in fortune twice smiling on the Dallas Wings puts the fourth-year player in her best position yet to win. And maybe that can be a springboard for the NCAA Division I scoring champion from the year before Caitlin Clark took that title.

“I think just realizing sometimes you feel like you’ve been here a long time, but realizing you’re 26 years old and the best basketball is ahead of you,” said Siegrist, the No. 3 overall pick out of Villanova in 2023. “So you've just got to lean on your preparation, when the opportunity comes. Every time I step on the floor, just feeling confident in whatever my team needs me to do.”

Going into each of the past two seasons, the Wings needed Siegrist to represent the team at the draft lottery.

After winning the right to the No. 1 pick and selecting Paige Bueckers last year, the Wings told Siegrist she had to do it again coming off a 10-win season that matched the WNBA's worst.

Sure enough, Dallas got that top pick again and drafted another UConn star — and former Bueckers teammate — in Azzi Fudd.

“I don’t know why they keep picking me, but I told them this was it,” Siegrist said with the hint of a smile. “I just was one of the younger players on the team. So that’s why I got picked for it. And then once we were going back, then people were like: ‘Oh, you’ve got to go again. You've got to get it again.' I’m like, ‘All you do is stand there.’ I didn’t really do anything.”

Of course, the biggest reason Siegrist doesn't want to do it again is because she doesn't want her team to have one of the league's worst records again.

The Wings are finally making progress there, solidly in the playoff picture at 14-8 and winning the first three games on a four-game road trip that is their longest of the season. The trip wraps up Friday night at Toronto.

The injury bug bites

Siegrist was a rookie when the Wings won a playoff series for the first time in their eighth season since relocating from Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was also the only time as a pro that she was healthy the entire season.

The second year looked like it was going to be a big jump until a broken index finger sidelined Siegrist for two months. Then she missed two months last season with a fractured shin bone.

Bueckers, the reigning Rookie of the Year, arrived coming off Siegrist's first injury, then came Fudd after Siegrist had what she felt was the best stretch of her career when she returned from the broken shin.

Other roster moves in the frontcourt, plus a third coach in three seasons with Jose Fernandez, have kept Siegrist's spot in the rotation in flux. She is averaging 6.2 points and 2.9 rebounds in 21 games, with six starts.

“It’s definitely been a role adjustment for her, but I think the one thing she cares about the most is winning,” Fernandez said. “I think she’s answered the call whenever we’ve needed her, whether she starts, whether she comes off the bench.”

Bueckers knows a thing or two about major injuries, having missed half of one season and all of another with UConn because of knee ligament tears. She saw first-hand how Siegrist dealt with similar setbacks.

“She’s consistent in who she is every single day, whether she’s playing or not,” Bueckers said. “She just is a great teammate, a great person to be around. She was one of the people I got closest with when I came here.”

Teammates and former rivals

The Villanova-UConn banter is always lurking for Siegrist, Bueckers and Fudd — a path to some fun-loving ribbing, but also a common ground that helps with bonding.

“It’s really hard,” Fudd said, trying to keep a straight face after being asked how the trio overcomes some Big East Conference hate. “But when you have that mutual goal when you get on the court, you've just got to forget about all those other things.”

What the future holds

Siegrist, who will be a restricted free agent after the season, goes into each game not knowing how much time she will get on the court.

She has played as many as 24 minutes and as few as six. She had a season-high 17 points in 16 minutes in a loss to Minnesota early in the season — and a game in which she didn't even get a shot.

“You can’t control the circumstance that you’re put into,” Siegrist said. “That’s where my faith comes into play is that the cream always rises to the top.”

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball