WNBA Dallas Wings

Wings Fall to Storm, 89-88

June 10, 2022 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release


Arlington, Texas - The Dallas Wings (6-6) fell to the Seattle Storm (7-5), 89 - 88, at College Park Center Friday night.

The Wings were led by All-Star candidate Arike Ogunbowale, who finished with a team-high 23 points, including 15 points in the final frame. She was joined in double-figures by forward Isabelle Harrison, who tallied 19 points on 7-10 (70.0 FG %) shooting from the field and Allisha Gray who recorded 12 points.

Wings forward Awak Kuier netted a career-high tying nine points, including the first dunk in Dallas Wings history, and guard Jasmine Dickey recorded her first career WNBA basket with 4:12 left in the third quarter.

The team finished with 20 assists with Ogunbowale and Ty Harris leading the way with 6 assists apiece.

Dallas stays home to complete a duet with the Seattle Storm (7-5) on Sunday, June 12, at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Notables:

Awak Kuier had the first dunk in Dallas Wings history at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter. It is the first dunk in the WNBA this season. .

Kuier finished with a career-high tying nine points.

Arike Ogunbowale recorded her sixth 20-point game of the season, finishing with a team-high 23 points.

First WNBA point for Jasmine Dickey came on a free throw at the 1:55 mark of the first quarter and her first basket at the 4:12 mark of the third quarter.

Satou Sabally scored her 500th point on a three in the second quarter, she finished with nine points.

Isabelle Harrison filled the cup tonight, finishing with 19 points.

The Wings have made at least 10 free throws in all but one game this season, including sinking 21-22 (95.5%) tonight.

HEAD COACH VICKIE JOHNSON

On positive takeaways from the game

"We fought. We defended. The stats do not show it because they shot 55 percent, but a lot of that came from the slips. Easy transition layups and stuff like that. We got to the free throw line 22 times and shot 95 percent. We shot well from the three. We had 20 assists, which are great things. We took care of the basketball for the most part and had only 14 turnovers. I thought we did a great job on Sue [Bird] and Gabby [Williams] as well, even though Gabby had nine assists. We have to clean that up as well and we did a great job on their bench. And the positive for us is that Isabelle [Harrison] and Awak [Kuier] - I challenged them and they stepped up for us, which is huge. Defensively, my thought was that I put a bigger player on the ball and let's not do any unnecessary switching. But because we had KT (Kayla Thornton), Izzy, and Satou [Sabally], which are all post players, if a switch happened they would be able to handle that. I don't exactly know what happened, but I know Stewie [Breanna Stewart] probably face cut because that's what she does and Satou was behind her. Was it a foul? Maybe because Satou was grabbing but KT blocked it clean. We're going to watch film tomorrow and clean some stuff up and get ready for Sunday. I can't ask for anything else - effort, focus. Did we make some mistakes? Yes, we did. In the first half they didn't have any free throws. The second half, they had thirteen. We could do a better job with that as well.

On Breanna Stewart

"She an All-Star, she's a Hall of Famer. At the end of the day, she's going to make threes. She's not one of those players that pops because she's supposed to. She's going to read the defense, get into the gaps, and be aggressive. If a guard is on her, she's going to take them down low. If a big is guarding her, she's going to take them out. She's a Hall of Famer and she's a great player - we just need to do a better job on her."

On Izzy Harrison's performance

"Her energy and effort were good. I thought she didn't settle for jump shots, even though she made a three. She was aggressive going to the basket and finishing in the paint. But as a team, we have to finish in the paint better. We cannot go 20-for-38 in the paint and give up 48 in the paint. We need to do a better job in that area."

On Awak Kuier's confidence tonight

"I had a talk with Awak and Izzy [Harrison]. Because they're so close, I thought it was important to talk to them together. And I challenged them. They're able to defend at a high level and at any position. They're able to contain their man and maintain that dribble, rebound, and transition. They did that tonight. They played with energy and with a focus, so I couldn't have asked for anything more from them."

On Awak Kuier's dunk

"It was amazing. Unfortunately, we didn't win because that would've been on ESPN for sure. But it was great to see her, what she could be, and the potential that she has. She can be pretty good."

On preparing for Sunday

"We watch film, and we move on. We have Seattle and it could've went either way [tonight]. We could've gotten a defensive stop, we would've won."

DALLAS WINGS GUARD ARIKE OGUNBOWALE (23 points, six assists)

On her fourth-quarter performance

"The team talked to me in the fourth quarter telling me 'It's your time, we need you, lock in'. We were only down six, so I wasn't really frustrated. I was good with where we were but obviously wanted to win. Definitely just kicking into another gear, I knew my team needed me to step up so that's what I tried to do."

On Marina Mabrey's absence and her teammate's stepping up

"From the beginning, Coach told everybody to step up and everybody did. [Jasmine] Dickey stepped up, Awak [Kuier] stepped up. Veronica [Burton] played well, Ty [Harris] played well. I think everybody stepped up. It was a tough loss, but I'm proud of how everyone came together. Even when they went on runs, we stayed together and got it back close and even got up. So, I'm proud of how everyone stepped up for sure."

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