The Dallas Wings have been asked by their coach to carry a new attitude to the court when they host the gritty Washington Mystics on Monday in Arlington, Texas.
The Wings (1-2) have dropped the first two games of a three-game homestand, most recently a 90-86 setback to Minnesota on Thursday. Paige Bueckers led Dallas with 27 points while Maddy Siegrist added 17, all in the first half, and Odyssey Sims hit for 11.
Arike Ogunbowale, who was the Wings’ leading scorer in their first two games, had just six points on 2 of 11 shooting from the floor. Recent top overall WNBA draft selection Azi Fudd scored a career-high eight points after missing Dallas’ game with Atlanta on Tuesday with a knee injury.
After winning their first game of the season in overtime in Indiana, the Wings have lost their next two by a combined nine points.
New Dallas coach Jose Fernandez has called out his team for being selfish while demanding that the Wings’ players understand what’s important and what’s not.
“Really, really good teams and championship teams, they don’t care who starts, they don’t care how many minutes they play,” Fernandez explained. “They don’t care if the ball’s not going in for them; they can do different things on the defensive end. When we start doing that, and we don’t get in our feelings — because body language never whispers. Championship teams, you play for the guy next to you.
“And it doesn’t matter if the ball’s not going in, you can do so many other things. You can defend, you can share it, you can go get stuff off the glass. When that changes, then you don’t lose these type of games.”
Washington (2-1) travels to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with momentum built from a 104-102 overtime win at Indiana on Friday. Sonia Citron led the way for the Mystics with 30 points on 10-for-14 shooting while Kiki Iriafen racked up 25 points, Shakira Austin tallied 19 and Cotie McMahon scored five of her 13 points in overtime during her WNBA debut.
“Every single game we want to put our best foot forward,” Citron said. “We want to show who we can be, and we want to be tough. We showed how gritty we are (in the win at Indiana).”
The Mystics have played back-to-back overtime contests; they lost 98-93 in OT vs. New York on May 10. All three of their games have been decided by five points or less.
“This just shows our resilience,” Iriafen said. “We believe we can beat anybody, no matter what it shows on paper. We truly believe in each other. We play with an edge to us. We know nobody’s going to help us out.”
Monday’s game is the first of three between the teams this season. Washington will host the Wings in back-to-back contest on July 31 and Aug. 5.
–Field Level Media
