Shepard, Bueckers Propel Wings over Chicago
WNBA Dallas Wings

Shepard, Bueckers Propel Wings over Chicago

Published on May 21, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release


Chicago, IL - The Dallas Wings kicked off a three-game road swing with a 99-89 win at the Chicago Sky on Wednesday night at Wintrust Arena. Jessica Shepard notched the third triple-double in Wings team history with 18 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists, while Paige Bueckers tied for the game high with 24 points, and Arike Ogunbowale had a season-high 23 points. Dallas improves to 3-2 on the year with its second consecutive win, while Chicago moves to 3-2.

Shepard went 6-7 from the field and 6-9 from the free-throw line, committing just one turnover in 31 minutes. The triple-double was the second of her career after recording a 22-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist version on Aug. 22, 2025 against the Indiana Fever. It is the first triple-double in the WNBA this season.

Ogunbowale's first assist of the game (9:24, 1Q) brought her to 900 for her career, becoming the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 4,500 points, 900 assists and 300 steals, doing so in 229 games. She added five assists and two rebounds against the Sky, making a season-high four triples, including two daggers in the fourth quarter.

Azzi Fudd matched her career high with 12 points, going 4-6 from the field and a perfect 2-2 from deep. As a team, Dallas shot 50% from the field (36-72) and 42.9% from three (9-21), marking the second time this season the Wings have shot 50% or better from the floor. Led by Shepard, Dallas won the rebounding battle 36-30, while also holding the advantage in second-chance points (13-8) and bench points (23-15).

Kamilla Cardoso tied Bueckers for the game high with 24 points to lead the Sky. Chicago shot .478 overall and .238 from three, outscoring the Wings in the paint 48-38.

The Dallas Wings remain on the road on Friday when they visit the Atlanta Dream. Tipoff at Gateway Center is set for 6:30 p.m. CT with the game airing nationally on ION. Dallas and Atlanta met on May 12 in Texas, with the visiting Dream scoring a 77-72 win.

Game Leaders

Points Rebounds Assists

Dallas Bueckers (24) Shepard (10) Shepard (12)

Chicago Cardoso (24) Cardoso (11) Cloud, Cardoso (5)

First Quarter: Dallas 16, Chicago 22 Dallas featured a starting lineup of Odyssey Sims, Paige Bueckers, Arike Ogunbowale, Jessica Shepard and Alanna Smtih for the fifth consecutive game. Smith got the Wings on the board first with a three-pointer, but Chicago responded with an 8-2 run to take an 8-5 lead three minutes into the contest. Dallas struggled from the field after, going 1-9 for a 2-10 start over the first five minutes as the Sky took a 12-7 lead into the game's first timeout.

Shepard and Azzi Fudd scored back-to-back buckets out of the timeout as the Wings closed within one, 12-11, before a 10-0 Sky run brought their advantage to double-figures, 22-11. Ogunbowale halted the run with a three before Fudd added a jumper to get the Wings within six, 22-16, after one. Shepard and Fudd had four points apiece while Ogunbowale and Smith corralled three rebounds each. Dallas shot 6-18 (33.3%) from the field over the opening 10 minutes while Chicago posted a 46.7-percent clip (7-15).

Second Quarter: Dallas 21, Chicago 16 After starting 1-5 from the field, Bueckers made her first two attempts in the second quarter, but eight points from Kamilla Cardoso forced a Wings timeout at the 6:45 mark as the Sky built a 32-22 advantage. Li Yueru and Aziaha James came into the game after the timeout, sparking an 8-0 spurt to cut the deficit to two, 32-30, with 3:39 left in the half. Natasha Cloud brought the Sky lead back to four with a pair of free-throws before an and-one by Ogunbowale got Dallas within one, 34-33 with 2:02 left in the half. Chicago maintained a single-possession lead for the remainder of the frame, closing the opening 20 minutes with a 38-37 lead. The Wings shot 47.1% in the second quarter but went 0-3 from three. Bueckers finished with seven points in the second to have a team-high nine for the half. Shepard added eight points while Ogunbowale and Fudd had six apiece. Cardoso was 6-6 from the field for a game-high 12 points.

Third Quarter: Dallas 34, Chicago 26 The Wings led for the first time since the 7:29 mark of the first quarter with Ogunbowale's 19-footer 75 seconds into the second half. Yueru's first made three of the season gave the Wings their largest lead of the game up until that point, 50-45, with 6:11 left in the third. Dallas led by as many as eight in the third with Shepard scoring a game-high eight in the frame, going 2-2 from the field and 4-5 from the charity stripe.

Dallas shot 68.8% from the field in the third, including 60% from three (3-5), scoring the second-most points by any WNBA team in a single quarter this season with the 34-point tally. It also marked the second time this season the Wings scored 30 or more in a quarter.

Fourth Quarter: Dallas 28, Chicago 25 Sims and the Wings struck first just 18 seconds in the final quarter to take a nine-point lead, 73-64. Dallas led by nine with under four minutes to play, 87-78, before a 6-0 Chicago run got the Sky within a basket, 87-84 with 2:32 left. Ogunbowale responded with back-to-back threes to bring the lead back up to nine, 93-84, with 1:42 remaining, effectively putting the game away. Ogunbowale scored 11 points in the fourth and the Wings made 4-of-6 triples to close out the final 10 minutes as Dallas scored its first win in Chicago since the 2022 season.

Check out the Dallas Wings Statistics

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Women's National Basketball Association Stories from May 21, 2026


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