WNBA Dallas Wings

Wings Fall to Aces, 92-84

June 15, 2022 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release


Arlington, Texas - The Dallas Wings (6-8) fell to the Las Vegas Aces (12-2), 92 - 84, at College Park Center, Wednesday afternoon.

Arike Ogunbowale led the Wings with 28 points, her seventh 20-point game this season. She was joined in double-figures by fellow Notre Dame alum Marina Mabrey (18), forward Isabelle Harrison (12) and guard Allisha Gray (10). Ogunbowale also finished with four assists.

Harrison also added 10 rebounds for her second double-double of year, while forward Kayla Thornton grabbed 10 boards for the sixth time this season. As a team, the Wings grabbed 40 rebounds for the third time in 2022. The team also dished out a total of 20 assists.

Dallas continues the homestand against the Phoenix Mercury (5-9) on Friday, June 17, at 7:00 p.m. CT.

Notables:

Dallas guard Arike Ogunbowale poured in 17 first half points and finished with 28.

Marina Mabrey dropped 18 points after missing two games, her ninth game with double-digit points.

Wings guard Allisha Gray netted 10 points, her 13th game in double-figures this season.

Forward Isabelle Harrison netted 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season.

The Wings made 10 threes tonight, the sixth game this season the Wings have made at least 10 threes.

The Wings have made at least 10 free throws in all but one game this season, including sinking 16-19 (84.2%) tonight.

HEAD COACH VICKIE JOHNSON (Wednesday, June 15, 2022)

On attempts to stop Las Vegas in their third-quarter run

"I don't think it was their defense or anything like that. I thought we took quick shots, and they were able to get it out in transition. We have to be more disciplined with that. You see we're not moving the basketball. We got a couple of turnovers, or we took quick shots and they got it in transition. To stop that, because that team wanted to get out in transition, play fast. What we wanted to do was move the basketball, see the defense, and attack their defense. And if we play like we play and put two halves together we'll be pretty good, but we're not disciplined right now to put those two halves together defensively and offensively. That's what we have to do. Las Vegas played well. I'm not taking anything away from Las Vegas because they have a lot of scorers with A'ja Wilson, and [Kelsey] Plum, and [Chelsea] Gray can get it going, and also Jackie Young, and [Dearica] Hamby as well. There's no reason why - they have five players that beat us - five players. Their five players played over 33 minutes and they all were productive, and we have to be productive as well."

On the team's differing performance in the first and second halves

"We were making shots. We were moving the basketball like we were supposed to. They followed the game plan; we moved the basketball. We got punched a little bit. They hit us hard a little bit and then we fell back on our heels versus 'let's get on our toes' and move the basketball, attack them, make them defend, and get to the free-throw line. I thought the first half we played great defense, we moved our feet, we made them shoot contested jump shots, and we didn't take them to the free-throw line. They only had five free throws at halftime, and they wound up with 23. That's discipline and we have to do a better job of that."

On Isabelle Harrison's performance

"I think her energy was better. She had a double-double here. I expect a lot from Izzy [Harrison]. I've been with her since 2016, 2017 in San Antonio, so I expect a lot from her and put a lot of pressure on her. I demand a lot from her because I know what she's very capable of doing day in and day out. We just have to bounce back and be better for Friday."

On working on defense inside the paint moving forward

"Taking care of the basketball. Also, not taking quick shots because quick shots and turnovers lead to layups and that's what they had - layups. If you look and break down the game, out of that 56 probably 20 or 30 came from halfcourt because they were taking more jump shots than anything. But when they can attack and get in transition, get easy layups; defensively, it really depends on our offensive flow of the game. Taking care of the basketball, moving the basketball, not taking quick shots. Shots from the corner always lead into transition from day one because it's going to be a long rebound and it's going to bounce past the free throw and it's easy. And [Chelsea] Gray is one of the best passers in our game."

On adjusting to Las Vegas throughout the game

"I don't think Las Vegas did anything different, I thought we did. I think we took quick shots. They didn't do anything different. They went into a zone, which we practiced on. We needed to move the basketball. We took the quick three, we didn't attack them inside, we didn't penetrate the zone. All those things are disciplined, and we need to be disciplined. When they come out, we need to know what to do. It's a matter of doing it. They played zone the first half, we just moved the basketball and made shots. In the second half we didn't do that."

On trouble with guarding the backdoor

"Discipline. We don't deny entry passes. We don't deny the reversal. We let everyone catch the ball in front, outside the three, to get beat back door. Discipline is what it goes back to and paying attention to detail when it's the last six minutes of the game in the last six minutes of the game. You can't let Dearica [Gray] go back door, you cannot. You can't let her spin and go back door. Let her catch the ball in front of you. She beat you off the bounce, then let's give Dearica [Hamby] a hand. But we just don't allow her to make two wide-open layups. That's discipline more than anything."

On how the coaching staff implements discipline

"We watch film, we hold them accountable, and just get better at the end of the day. The one thing they understand is that Vegas is they're a good team. They're the number one team in our league, but we're here with Vegas. The only thing that separates us is being disciplined for a long period of time, for 40 minutes, and sticking to the game plan for 40 minutes. And not get frustrated when you miss a shot or an assignment. You just readjust and get back on the saddle. You just can't run out and on your own and try to take over on your own. We don't want to do that. We still want to play as a team defensively and offensively."

Dallas Wings Forward Isabelle Harrison (12 points, 10 rebounds)

On how the team started the game well

"I think you could tell we had energy early on, starting with the crowd. Those kids got us really lit tonight, and it gave us an energetic focused start that you have to have versus Vegas. Unfortunately, we didn't carry that into the third, but I think we started off pretty well."

On how to carry the great start into the third

"When we go into halftime, be mindful of why got us in that position in the first place. Also, know that when people have hot hands like [Vegas guard Kelsey] Plum, [Vegas forward] A'ja [Wilson] was kind of going off too, we got to make sure we focus more defensively and be more disciplined in those areas."

On how she was able to bounce back from her last game

"Just watching film. I know for me, if I do make those mistakes, I always watch film whether it's a good or bad game because it keeps me fresh on what I need to improve on. Today, I wanted to make sure, especially against their posts, that I finished strong and finished my shots."

On adjustments for the next game

"Our defensive schemes, I think. The last time we played Vegas, we knew for sure when we played them again, we wanted to make sure we tried to take [Kelsey] Plum and A'ja [Wilson] out of the game as much as possible. I don't think we were as intentional as we should've been defensively and that's something we need to be mindful about. I think we were scared about the fouls honestly. I was scared about the fouls."

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