Wings Find a Way as Bueckers’ Second-Half Surge Helps Dallas Complete Toronto Sweep

The Dallas Wings did not have their full roster Wednesday night. They did not get their best basketball for all four quarters, either.

Despite all of that, they found a way to win.

Dallas held off the Toronto Tempo 94-88 in front of a sold-out crowd at College Park Center, improving to 20-14 on the season and completing a 3-0 season series sweep.

Paige Bueckers finished with 22 points, eight assists, three rebounds and three steals, but that stat line doesn’t do justice to the entirety of her performance. Bueckers shot 0-of-7 from the field in the first half before pouring in all 22 of her points after halftime.

It was the first time all season Bueckers failed to score in a half.

Toronto rookie Kiki Rice entered Wednesday coming off an 18-point performance in the Tempo’s 107-95 loss to the Atlanta Dream on Monday. Marina Mabrey scored 36 points and made seven 3-pointers in the loss, while Atlanta outscored Toronto 30-17 in the second quarter to take control of the game.

Rice talked before Wednesday’s game about defending Dallas’ guards.

“Both these teams, both Atlanta and Dallas, have a lot of really good guards specifically,” Rice said. “So I just think being able to shut them down and, you know, people who play both sides of the ball but a lot of communication. I think we have to do that at a higher level.”

For a half, Rice and the Tempo did just that.

Bueckers canned 13 points in the third quarter on 4-of-4 field goal shooting and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. The turnaround came as Dallas needed more from Bueckers. She accounted for 82.4% of the Wings’ offense at one point in the third quarter, either scoring or assisting on 14 of Dallas’ 17 points.

She also hit the 500th made field goal of her WNBA career, becoming the fastest player in franchise history to reach the plateau. Bueckers also reached the milestone in the second-fewest games in WNBA history at 68, trailing only Minnesota Lynx legend Seimone Augustus, who reached the mark in 60 games.

Wings head coach Jose Fernandez noted teams have changed their defensive approaches to slowing down Bueckers.

“Right now I think people are loading boxes and elbows more to her right, and doubling her and her getting top-sided,” Fernandez said. “So you can see we’re trying to run her on a lot of actions away from the ball.”

Fernandez said teams have also tried to make Bueckers work defensively by posting her up, attacking her and putting her in isolation situations.

Dallas didn’t have the option to ride solely on Bueckers’ back.

With Jessica Shepard sidelined by a right ankle injury and Azzi Fudd unavailable due to a right knee issue, the Wings entered Wednesday short-staffed. They were whittled down even further when Aziaha James exited with a left lower leg injury and didn’t return. Fernandez did not have an update following the game on James’ injury.

James entered the game coming off a season-high 19 points, six rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes Sunday against Minnesota.

“We’re shorthanded today,” Fernandez said. “I was very, very proud with what this group did with Azzi out, with Shep out and Aziaha goes down.”

Bueckers didn’t immediately find her rhythm on offense, but her teammates kept Dallas in front for as long as they could.

Alanna Smith tallied nine points, four rebounds and three assists in the first quarter alone, with all three totals marking season highs for Smith in a single quarter. She finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for her second double-double of the season.

“I think we pushed the pace really well and we were really looking to advance the ball up the court,” Smith said. “I think that really took them off guard.”

Arike Ogunbowale poured in 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and added five assists while going 13-of-14 from the free-throw line. Awak Kuier finished with 14 points and four rebounds.

Ogunbowale’s ability to get to the line became particularly important late. Fernandez said the Wings wanted to attack once they reached the bonus rather than settle for jump shots or shots early in the clock.

“You could just name up and down the roster a lot of different plays that contributed to the win tonight,” Fernandez said.

Smith said those contributions also showed the work being put in by players who have not always received consistent minutes.

“You guys don’t see the extra work that people who don’t play many minutes put in,” Smith said. “And so for them to be able to get out there and play meaningful minutes, it just makes it all worth it and it shows how deep we can go on this bench.”

Dallas led by as many as 18 points, but Toronto would not go quietly. The Tempo outscored the Wings 30-24 in the fourth quarter and pulled to within three with just under five minutes to play before Dallas responded.

Marina Mabrey scored a game-high 23 points to lead Toronto, adding four rebounds and five assists. Mabrey reached 3,500 career WNBA points and reached a single-season career high with 100 made 3-pointers.

Ahead of Wednesday’s game, Mabrey was reflective on Toronto’s struggles in its inaugural season.

“Obviously, we struggled. Like, it’s no secret,” Mabrey said. “We’ve struggled a lot. We’ve had a lot of injuries. We’ve had people in and out the lineup.”

“That’s not an excuse to build a foundation and a culture,” Mabrey said. “So we’re doing that. We’re focusing on the process, and then as time goes on, we’re gonna see the win column.”

Laura Juškaitė finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, Kia Nurse added 16 points off the bench and Rice chipped in 13 points and five assists. The loss was Toronto’s 10th consecutive defeat and completed an 0-5 road trip.

Toronto outrebounded Dallas 37-30, held a 14-7 advantage on the offensive glass, outscored the Wings 42-36 in the paint and 16-11 in second-chance points.

“The one thing that’s glaring is we gave up nine offensive rebounds in the first half,” Fernandez said. “That’s got to improve. Got to improve collectively.”

Dallas countered by turning the ball over just nine times to Toronto’s 16 and shooting 23-of-26 from the charity stripe. The Wings scored 16 points off Toronto’s turnovers.

The win improved Dallas’ record to 20-14 on the season, a much-needed response to back-to-back losses at Golden State and Minnesota.

Fernandez said the Wings learned about themselves and held each other accountable following the Golden State loss. He saw a better level of effort in Minnesota and another response Wednesday despite the injuries.

“We’ll go to Indiana and figure out how many guys are healthy at Indiana and go from there,” Fernandez said.

The Wings will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Indiana Fever Friday, Aug. 14, at 6:30 p.m. CT at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The game will be nationally televised on ION.