After a demoralizing 1-11 start, the Dallas Wings have sparked hope ahead of Sunday’s afternoon road game against the Washington Mystics.
Dallas has tripled its win total by claiming its last two games, including a June 17 win over the Golden State Valkyries and a victory in Connecticut on Friday. Though its most recent win against a struggling Sun team doesn’t seem impressive on paper, how they pulled off the win is.
Arike Ogunbowale and DiJonai Carrington, the Wings’ second and third-leading scorers, combined for 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting from the field. Guard Aziaha James stepped up amid the stars’ offensive struggles, pouring in a season-high 17 points and a team-best 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
“I’ve been shying from attacking the rim in these past few games, so I just had to turn (on) a different mode,” James said after Friday’s win.
This year’s first overall pick Paige Bueckers has been as advertised. The UConn standout leads the Wings in points, assists and steals per game, and has recorded consecutive 20-point games in their pair of wins.
The Wings’ bench pieces working in tandem with Bueckers, Ogunbowale and Carrington may be the key to continuing their win streak.
Washington (5-8) has had a mixed bag of results lately. The Mystics beat the Sun by 37 points on June 8, then lost to the Atlanta Dream by 33 points just a week later. In their most recent two games, they’ve fallen down early and had to play from behind.
They faced a 15-point deficit after the first quarter against the Chicago Sky on June 17, then held the Sky to 28 second-half points to complete the rally. Washington was down by 13 in Friday’s game against the Dream and stormed back with a 31-point fourth quarter, yet fell just short in a 92-91 loss.
Washington’s top-two scorers, Brittney Sykes (20.6) and rookie Sonia Citron (13.6), were consistent over the two games, notching double-digit points in both. The Mystics’ other pieces, however, were spotty.
Shakira Austin took over the fourth quarter in the loss to the Dream, scoring 13 points on 6-for-7 from the field. But apart from Austin’s 28-point performance in Atlanta, Washington hasn’t seen a double-digit scoring performance from anyone outside of Sykes and Citron.
Much like the Wings, depth may be the determining factor for Washington in Sunday’s matchup.
–Field Level Media
