Comeback Bid Comes up Short for Dallas Wings at Chicago Sky
June 20, 2024 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release
Chicago, IL - The Dallas Wings scored 33 points in the fourth quarter to narrow a once 22-point deficit down to nine, but the host Chicago Sky would escape with an 83-72 win over the shorthanded Wings on Thursday afternoon at Wintrust Arena. Arike Ogunbowale, who missed Monday's game at Minnesota with Achilles soreness, returned on Thursday to score a game-high 31 points, including seven made three-pointers.
After announcing yesterday that starter Maddy Siegrist (14.6 ppg, 4.2 rpg) would miss time with a broken finger, Dallas (3-11) announced pregame that key post reserve Kalani Brown (5.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg) would be out due to an illness, adding to the mounting absences for the wounded Wings. Dallas signed free agent Morgan Bertsch to a salary cap hardship contract yesterday, with Bertsch coming off the bench for just under 10 minutes today and finishing with three rebounds. The Wings remain without WNBA All-Star Satou Sabally and standout rookie Jaelyn Brown.
A positive side of the game status report saw the return of veteran forward Natasha Howard, who broke her foot in the season opener against the Chicago Sky on May 15. Howard came off the bench to score 13 points and grab four rebounds while registering a game-high two blocked shots.
The Sky (5-9) jumped out to a 20-11 lead after the first quarter and led 42-25 at the half after holding the Wings to 27.8-percent shooting and knocking down 47.2-percent of their own shots. Chicago's advantage swelled to 22, 57-35, late in the third before the Wings mounted their comeback.
Ogunbowale scored 17 of her 31 points over the final 10 minutes, knocking down five of the team's seven made threes in the quarter. Trailing 67-50 with just over six minutes remaining, Ogunbowale made a trio of three-pointers to spark a 9-2 run to close the gap to 10. Chicago went back up by 13 before Ogunbowale and Jacy Sheldon struck from deep to close within nine, 79-70, with 44.4 seconds left before the Sky closed it out with free-throws.
Sheldon finished with a career-high nine points and made her first career start, while Sevgi Uzun added eight points and a game-high six assists. Dallas shot .354 from the field and .346 from three, knocking down nine triples for its second-highest total of the season. The Wings' 33-point fourth quarter was their highest scoring quarter of the season, besting the previous mark of 31 from May 25 at Phoenix. Ogunbowale reached the 30-point mark for the fourth time this season, and scored at last 20 for the 12th time. Her seven made threes tied her season high.
Angel Reese led the Sky with 16 points and a game-high 18 rebounds, while Marina Mabrey and Chennedy Carter each scored 19.
Dallas remains on the road when it visits the Washington Mystics (2-13) on Saturday and Sunday. Tipoff from Entertainment and Sports Arena for both days is slated for 2 p.m. CT, with the games airing on Bally Sports Southwest Extra and streaming on WNBA League Pass.
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