Wings take aim at last-place Fever, seek fourth straight win

8/5/2022 7:03:15 PM EST

The Dallas Wings have won three games in a row and now sit squarely in playoff position with five games left to play in their season as they face the slumping Indiana Fever on Saturday night in Arlington, Texas.

On Thursday night, Dallas center Teaira McCowan made a go-ahead layup with 11.4 seconds left to beat the Las Vegas Aces 82-80.

That makes back-to-back wins for the Wings (15-16) over the top two teams in the league in Las Vegas and the Chicago Sky.

"Everybody had to step up and it shows that we have a deep team, a deep roster, who can step up and be ready to play whenever their number is called," guard Tyasha Harris said, per the Dallas Morning News. "It just testifies to who we are as women."

Indiana (5-28) has lost 15 games in a row and is the only team in the WNBA to be eliminated from playoff contention.

Even though the season is almost over for the Fever, players and coaches still believe there's something to gain in their final three games, beginning with Saturday night.

Fever leading scorer Kelsey Mitchell said last week that Indiana's goal was to reach double-digit wins. Not only is that out the window -- the best they can finish is 8-28 -- but Mitchell will miss the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

But the mentality is still there.

"I think it's about focus," head coach Carlos Knox said. "I feel like we are at a place mentally that is still good. It's still growing; it's still developing, and it's making sense to everyone. ... For the most part, everyone is bought in, and we're still striving as a team to be better."

Saturday will see two teams not only going in different directions but utilizing different styles of play. Indiana ranks second in the league in pace, while Dallas ranks 11th.

--Field Level Media

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