Satou Sabally scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Dallas Wings roared back down the stretch to beat the Phoenix Mercury 84-79 on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
The game was the first of a two-game mini-series between the two teams, who will face off again on Friday in Arlington.
Phoenix led 77-72 after a Shey Peddy layup with 5:26 to play but then didn’t score for more than five minutes.
Dallas got two free throws from Maddy Siegrist and back-to-back buckets from Arike Ogunbowale to go up 79-77 with 2:28 left. A layup by Odyssey Sims was finally answered by a Brittney Griner layup with 20.8 seconds to play, but free throws by Sims and Kalani Brown closed out the win for the Wings.
Brown and Ogunbowale added 17 points apiece and Siegrist had 14 points for the Wings (4-3). Brown also pulled down a season-high 15 rebounds. Dallas outrebounded the Mercury 50-26 and had a 15-4 edge on the offensive glass.
Griner paced the Mercury (1-4) with 24 points. Diana Taurasi had 19 points and seven assists, Sophie Cunningham hit for 16 points and Peddy added 10 points.
The Mercury jumped to a 20-12 lead with 2:48 to play in the first quarter when Cunningham canned a 3-pointer, her third of the period. Two Griner free throws with 53 seconds remaining pushed Phoenix’s advantage to 10 points before the Mercury settled for a 26-18 lead at the end of the quarter.
Dallas opened the second period with a 7-0 run that was capped by Sabally’s third 3-pointer in the game, bringing the Wings within 26-25. Dallas took the lead on Ogunbowale’s 3-pointer with 6:58 to play in the quarter and was up by four points before the Mercury responded.
Phoenix grabbed a 44-41 lead when Griner canned a jumper with 1:51 left in the second quarter. Taurasi’s step-back jumper with 13.3 seconds to play in the half granted Phoenix a 48-44 advantage at the break.
Sabally led Dallas with 17 points before halftime, while Ogunbowale had 11. Cunningham and Taurasi paced Phoenix with 14 points each in the half, and Griner contributed 13.
–Field Level Media
