The Dallas Wings seek consecutive victories for the first time this season when they travel to a game against the struggling Connecticut Sun on Friday in Uncasville, Conn.
The teams played earlier this year, with Dallas dominating 109-87 on May 27 in Connecticut to earn their first win in their fifth outing of the season.
The Wings (2-11) return to the road after beating Golden State 80-71 on Tuesday at home. Rookie Paige Bueckers poured in 20 points despite missing all five of her 3-point attempts. Arike Ogunbowale added 19 points, Kaila Charles hit for 10 points off the bench and NaLyssa Smith grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
“This was really just a full team effort,” Bueckers said after the win. “Everybody who played made an impact in some way and contributed to winning, so it was really good to put it all together like that.”
Dallas snapped a seven-game losing streak and won for the first time at home in six attempts.
“It feels good just to get the win and we’ve got to learn to win,” Dallas coach Chris Koclanes said. “You saw just a different tenacity the last five minutes to really go and get it — we went and we took it.”
The Sun (2-10) have dropped four straight contests, most recently an 83-75 setback at home to Phoenix on Wednesday. Connecticut, playing the second of a road-home back-to-back after losing in Indiana on Tuesday, was led by Aneesah Morrow’s 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench while Jacy Sheldon added 13 points and Olivia Nelson-Ododa racked up 10 points and 14 rebounds.
“How we competed against (Phoenix) is a good step up for us,” Connecticut coach Rachid Meziane said. “So, I will be optimistic for the next game because if we are capable of playing like that, I’m sure that the next game can be more positive for us. It means that we are on a good path.”
Wednesday’s loss to Phoenix marked the first time Connecticut dropped a regular-season game in Uncasville to the Mercury since 2015. The defeat also pushed the Sun into a tie for the franchise record for the worst 12-game start to a season. They were also 2-10 in 2016.
–Field Level Media
