Wings Fall to Mystics, 84 - 68
May 17, 2022 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) - Dallas Wings News Release
Arlington, Texas - The Dallas Wings (2-2) fell to the Washington Mystics (4-1), 84 - 68, at College Park Center Tuesday evening.
The Wings had four starters reach double-figures for the third straight game, led by Dallas guard Marina Mabrey, who was the first Wings player in double figures with 11 in the first half before finishing with 16. She was joined in double figures by Isabelle Harrison (16 points), Kayla Thornton (14 points) and Allisha Gray (14 points).
For the second straight game, Veteran Kayla Thornton spearheaded the rebounding effort, as she grabbed eight boards, while Mabrey led the Wings with five assists.
The Wings next head to Phoenix to take on the Phoenix Mercury (2-1) on Thursday, May 19. Tipoff is at 9:00 p.m. CT.
Notables:
Four Dallas Wings starters reached double figures for the third straight game.
Marina Mabrey led Dallas with 16 points, 11 of which came in the first half.
Dallas has made at least 10 free throws in every single game this season (11 tonight).
Allisha Gray and Marina Mabrey have scored 10 or more points in every single game this season (tonight: Gray- 14, Mabrey- 16).
Head Coach Vickie Johnson
On the takeaways from tonight...
"We need to really take pride in defending our home court. That's the biggest thing. It's no way we played here as we played in DC and New York. We shared the basketball, we defended at the highest level. Then we got here in front of our fans, and we became selfish. A lot of one-on-one basketball. We didn't move the basketball and we didn't take pride in defending our home court. And it's unfortunate because we're such a better team and the way we played tonight - it was bad."
On giving up 42 points in the paint and adjustments to the rotation...
"The rotation I don't know about. It's the flow of the game. For their bench to come in and have 47 to our three. I don't blame it on the bench because their bench came and played against our starters and dominated our starters. Austin came in and played amazing and her energy level was on another level. Walker came in and produced and Burton came in and produced. The majority wasn't against our bench, it was against our starters, and we can't have that."
On the presence of the interior and McCowan's low minutes...
"Teaira (McCowan) hasn't had practice with us yet. We try to throw her in and get quality minutes. Defensively, she's still trying to figure things out. We can sneak in two or three minutes at a time. We need to get her some practice time; you know we play every other day. I thought she did well. We need to do a better job of putting the ball on the block to her more. They rotate Austin, Hines-Allen, Hawkins, and Delle Donne and they move like guards. So, it's a little difficult to bring our fives in to be able to keep up with them especially in transition when they leak out. And especially when they have guards running the court like Atkins and Cloud and Clark. It's a little difficult, but I expect Teaira to be Teaira and fill in. Right now, we don't have practice time."
On playing selfishly...
"We didn't move the basketball. If you watched the previous Washington and New York game, we moved the basketball and got to spots. We made shots because we got wide-open shots. We dribbled tonight too much and we didn't move the basketball. And we kept the ball on one side of the court. We just need to do a better job."
On how to unroot the selfishness...
"One person sees it, then the next person. And not saying anything about Izzy (Harrison), but Izzy hasn't taken a three all year. Well, it was a long two, but that's not her game. But because everyone else was doing something, it felt like the Atlanta game in a sense where we didn't move the basketball. When it was kind of a one-pass, shot, and trying to do it ourselves. We're not going to beat Washington like that. They're too good. We don't move them, we don't move the defense, it's hard to break them down one-on-one. Because Atkins and Cloud are good defenders. And Clark as well on the perimeter. So, we have to move the ball and attack their closeouts and put a foot in the paint."
On her message to the team during the first timeout early in the third quarter...
"I can't repeat that."
On Arike Ogunbowale's performance getting her to be consistent...
"We're just trying to get her to play at a high level because when she's out of control, the team is out of control. When she's in control, the team's in control. That's just what it is and usually that's how teams are. When their leaders are under control, they're under control. I felt like she was pressing a little too much about scoring the basketball. But, Rik [Arike Ogunbowale] is a great player and I'm sure in Phoenix, she'll come out. In Minnesota, we have to do the same thing."
On the plan to work in Satou Sabally...
"She's not getting in until the next home game. She'll be here and she's not traveling with us."
On Marina Mabrey's performance and her transition to point guard...
"It's okay. She's loving it. One thing I tell (Marina) Mabrey is that when you're at the one position, it's not about you anymore. You have to move the basketball at the beginning of the game just for the flow of everything. That's kind of different for her but I think overall she did a good job tonight."
On keeping Marina Mabrey out of the majority of the third quarter...
"Foul trouble. And we were down, so I wanted to play on the defensive side. And that's when Ty (Harris) and V [Veronica Burton] came in with (Allisha) Gray. So I wanted to make a change defensively to put a little more pressure. That way we could cut it down, but it didn't happen."
On the effect of Washington's time to prep for tonight...
"That had nothing to do with Washington. Washington played well and they shot the ball well. But it had nothing to do with Washington. It was us and we controlled our own destiny. We didn't play together, we didn't move the basketball, and we didn't take pride. At the beginning of the game, it was a totally different team than you saw. I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe we got a little too relaxed - I don't know. It would be too early to get relaxed against that team. Washington is a great team. They're a vet team and we need to be more disciplined and consistent for a long period of time. We need to do what got us the lead and continue to move the basketball, defend, and rebound. We stopped doing that and we started taking them one on one and dribbling too much and taking quick shots."
On Awak Kuier's in-game injury...
"It affected us a lot because she was that rotating four with Izzy (Harrison) and KT [Kayla Thornton]. It was difficult at that time, but she's fine. She got elbowed in the eye and the doctor looked at her. I don't know exactly what's going on with her, but I know she has a black eye."
On rebounding and adjustments for Phoenix...
"We have to do a better job of rebounding the basketball. We play too much four around one and that's not our offense. Our fours are drifting to the three and that's not a good position to be in to rebound. I like to leave that other post in the low post to be able to rebound the basketball. The biggest thing I will address will be our defense and also sharing the basketball."
On Washington's defense...
"They hedged, but we still could've gotten to our spots on the court. I think we settled for jump shots more than anything. We didn't put a foot in the paint."
Guard Marina Mabrey (16 points, five rebounds, five assists)
On the takeaways from the game tonight...
"We are still trying to find a way to win at home. I wouldn't want to say what I said last time, but maybe we should go back to the drawing board."
On what the team needs to do...
"I am not the coach, but I think that we are better than this as individuals and I think that if we can all go back and look in the mirror and say, 'What can I do better for the team? How can I put aside anything that I do - can I set better screens, can I run harder in transition, can I work harder to get through screen, can I make it more difficult for Washington, did I try hard in every possession that I was in?' For myself, I can say I could have done better also. It has to be about growth rather than individual growth."
On settling into her role as the point guard...
"I have played this role before - back and forth. I can do both. I can do better at this role. Better for the team. I can help make things easier for others. I make things easy for myself, but I think I can make things easier for my other teammates too. That is on me - I can be less selfish."
On if she is going to have to become more of a leader in this role...
"I really have to go back and look at how I helped my teammates on the film before I can really answer that, but it has to be different because whatever I am doing now to help the team as a leader isn't working."
On if it's difficult shifting from starting to coming off the bench...
"There are [144] players in this league, right? You may see yourself as something. You may think, 'I am this' or 'I am that.' It is more about what are you on this team with this roster and these players. I try to think about whatever I think of myself, it doesn't matter - I think that is the theme here. If I they need me to come off the bench and light it up and play great defense and go crazy then that is what I will try to do. If they need me to start and play that role, then I am gladly going to do that too to the best of my abilities whether I think I should be starting, or I shouldn't be starting or if I think I should be this or should be that. That is how I try to approach it."
On the type of player she thinks she is...
"The way I act on the court, most likely speaks for itself, but I think I am an impact player and someone that can be one of the best players in the league one day, if not today, but it is my personal opinion if I think it is today or not."
Guard Allisha Gray (14 points, six rebounds, four assists)
On what to take away from tonight's loss...
"Our effort on defense. It was all about defense tonight, and our effort on defense."
On how to get back to winning after losing...
"We just have to stick to what got us going in the first half. I feel like we steered away from it a little bit. Our defense got away from us for a little bit, so I just think we needed to stick with what we did in the first half, and especially the first quarter and finish out the game."
On what she has learned from losing in past seasons...
"We just have to lock in. Coaches give us the gameplan before every game, so it is just on us to execute the gameplan and lock in, especially on the defensive end, because our defense dictate our offense and our offense dictates our defense."
On how to encourage the locker room as a veteran after a loss...
"I am a person of very few words. The biggest thing for me is that I will chime in where I can, but I don't try and talk over someone like [Kayla Thornton]. KT has a strong voice, and that's the way KT leads. I am more of a lead by example type of person, but I do chime in here and there. My biggest thing is positivity. I don't like negativity, so I am more of a leader by example. I am more of pull a person aside and tell them something instead of telling the whole team. If I see someone with an advantage, I'll tell them 'they can't guard you' or 'step up on defense' stuff like that. I prefer to pull a person aside than tell the whole team.
On how KT has grown as a leader...
"KT is like our energizer, we go as KT goes, especially on the defensive end. She is a very strong defensive player, and you see when she gets a big stop, she gets hyped, so you just think, 'dang I want to go hard for KT' because she just works so hard. That is my biggest thing, when I see KT work hard defensively, I want to contribute to help her out on the defensive end because she is such a hard worker."
On how to get back to moving the ball...
"We just have to share the ball. The past two games that we played, we were able to share the ball and pick up wins. The biggest thing is when we play together as a team, we win."
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