A recent rut has left the Dallas Wings in eighth place, the final playoff spot when the regular season ends next month.
There’s a 5 1/2-game gap between Dallas and ninth-place Portland, but the Wings would like to turn the ship around and avoid putting themselves in danger of missing the postseason. They’ll try to snap a three-game losing streak Wednesday when they welcome the Toronto Tempo to Arlington, Texas.
The Wings (19-14) have lost five of six following an 18-9 start to the campaign. They’ve allowed 94 or more points in each of the last three losses, most recently a 103-90 defeat at Minnesota in which the Lynx’s Kayla McBride broke the WNBA single-game record with 10 3-pointers.
Amid an uneven performance, there were flashes of promise. Dallas led by as many as eight in the second quarter behind a lineup of Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Odyssey Sims, Alanna Smith and Awak Kuier.
“I was very, very proud of our group in regards to their energy and their effort and their enthusiasm coming off how we played against Golden State (a 94-76 loss on Friday),” Wings coach Jose Fernandez said. “… (McBride) had a super night, she made shots. But the one thing we talked about was live-ball turnovers. We gave them too many extra possessions and they capitalized (on) them.”
The Wings conceded 19 turnovers that Minnesota turned into 26 points.
Dallas played without rookie guard Azzi Fudd (right knee soreness) and do-it-all veteran Jessica Shepard left after just five minutes with a right ankle injury. Shepard (14.2 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 5.2 apg) has been declared out against Toronto while Fudd is listed as questionable.
Perhaps the Wings can turn things around against the Tempo (10-22), the team with the longest active losing streak at nine. They’re entering the finale of a five-game road trip following a 107-95 loss on Monday at the Atlanta Dream.
Toronto has allowed 90-plus points in eight straight games, feeding the worst scoring defense in the league (94.1 ppg). Veteran guard Brittney Sykes is working back from a plantar fascia injury that’s sidelined her since mid-June, and her presence would do something to alleviate Toronto’s defensive concerns.
“We can’t allow people to score 107 points on us,” coach Sandy Brondello said. “Defense is such a big need for us, and that’s what (Sykes) does well.”
Alas, the WNBA injury report says Sykes will miss her 18th consecutive game on Wednesday.
Marina Mabrey averages 20.7 points per game to lead Toronto, and Sykes was in that same zone with 20.1 ppg through 15 games before her injury. Bueckers, an All-Star in her two seasons, paces Dallas at 20.1 points and 5.8 assists per game.
–Field Level Media
