The Dallas Wings will have to be better in the fourth quarter if they expect to prevail over the surging Golden State Valkyries when the teams square off on Friday at the American Airlines Center, the Wings’ home away from home.
The Wings (19-12) return to action after a 96-92 loss in Washington on Wednesday in which they led by 20 points with 3:11 to play in the third quarter and then spit the bit, allowing the Mystics to roar back. Dallas was up by eight points heading into the fourth quarter but missed 12 of its final 14 shots over the last seven minutes and fell for the third time in their past four games.
The Wings had double-digit leads late in two of those three losses.
“We have to make a decision,” Dallas forward Alanna Smith said. “We’re either gonna answer by scoring more or answer by getting defensive stops. That’s just something that we kind of have to look in the mirror and really set that goal for ourselves when teams go on runs. We’re gonna have to decide how we’re gonna answer them.”
Dallas was led by Jessica Shepard’s 22 points and 11 rebounds while Smith added 21 points and 11 boards. Paige Bueckers finished with 17 points, and Arike Ogunbowale had 15. The Wings scored just 12 points in the fourth period and missed all six of their 3-point attempts.
It was Shepard’s 20th double-double of the year, second in the league only to Atlanta’s Angel Reese (21). Shepard’s seven assists in Wednesday’s loss allowed her to surpass the 500-career assists plateau and made her the third-fastest player in WNBA history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists. Shepard accomplished the feat in 156 games.
Golden State (21-9) heads to Dallas on the heels of a 92-81 win at home over expansion Toronto on Tuesday. The victory was the second in three nights against the Tempo and the 11th in a 13-game stretch for the Valkyries, who have surged up the league standings into a tie for second place.
The Valkyries got a team-high 21 points from Janelle Salaun in Tuesday’s win, which gave Golden State a season sweep of Toronto. Kayla Thornton contributed 20 points with Veronica Burton amassing 12 points, a game-high eight rebounds and seven assists and Gabby Williams adding 10 points.
“Am I happy? Yeah, but we haven’t reached our peak yet,” Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase said. “We haven’t maximized where we are yet on so many levels. There’s a selflessness. There’s a care factor. There’s a team-before-self mentality, and I think we have that right now.”
Golden State captured the first matchup of the season by 11 points on June 17 in San Francisco; the series wraps up on Aug. 17 back in the Bay Area.
–Field Level Media
