Wings Win, 80-78
Published on July 7, 2023 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Dallas Wings (9-9) handed the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces (16-2) their second loss of the season in an 80-78 victory at College Park Center on Friday night. The Wings improve to 7-2 at home, which is the second-best home record in the league behind Las Vegas (10-0).
Teaira McCowan and Natasha Howard each recorded double-doubles with McCowan recording 14 points and 12 rebounds and Howard totaling 16 points and 11 rebounds. Howard sealed the victory for the Wings as she calmly knocked down two free throws with 0.04 seconds remaining in the game, after the Wings were able to snag three consecutive offensive rebounds. With McCowan and Howard's performance, the Wings have had two players record double-doubles in eight games this season. The eight games lead the league as no other team has had more than three games with two players recording double-doubles.
Crystal Dangerfield recorded 14 points on 7-12 shooting (58.3), while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out a season high and team leading six assists. The 5'5 guard has recorded five or more rebounds in four games this season and has also recorded five or more assists in four games. Dangerfield led the Wings with a +/- of 14.
The Dallas All-Star starters led Wings efforts that forced Vegas' second most turnovers (18) of the year. Satou Sabally recorded a career high five steals that included four in the first half, while Arike Ogunbowale tied a season high with four steals. Ogunbowale led Dallas' scoring efforts with 21 points to record her tenth 20+ point game of the season. Sabally posted 10 points alongside five assists and five rebounds.
Dallas handed Vegas their first Commissioner's Cup loss of the season. The Wings are 5-4 in Commissioner Cup games, which means they have contributed $12,000 to the Dallas Chapter of Sisters Network Inc. Dallas ranks third behind Las Vegas (7-1) and Minnesota (5-3) in Commissioner's Cup standings in the Western Conference.
Dallas Wings Notes:
Dallas held Las Vegas to below 80 points for only the second time this season and are one of just two teams to hold them below 90 points twice this season.
5'5 guard Crystal Dangerfield has recorded seven straight games with three or more rebounds.
Of all teams to have played the Aces twice this season, the Dallas Wings have the best scoring differential against Las Vegas with a -5 differential.
Dallas outrebounded Las Vegas 36-25 to outrebound their opponent for the 10thtime.
Dallas recorded more than double the points in the paint than Las Vegas, recording 46 vs. the Aces 22.
Up Next:
The Wings will return to Arlington to play the Las Vegas Aces at College Park Center at 7pm CT on Friday, July 7 with coverage on ION.
Score after 1st Quarter: Dallas 23, Las Vegas 25
Score at Halftime: Dallas 39, Las Vegas 40
Score after 3rd Quarter: Dallas 60, Las Vegas 66
Final Score: Dallas 80, Las Vegas 78
POST GAME QUOTES
Head Coach Latricia Trammell
On her feelings after the win...
"Yeah, I mean, oh God, here I go. The players said, "You go in there and hold that in." Yeah, I told the team afterwards, I'm just so proud of them because someone did something special when we needed it, whether it would be the offensive board or the steal or Crystal [Dangerfield] in the passing. We held them to 12 points in the fourth, everyone contributed but they just deserve it. I mean, every team says that, but man, sometimes the adversity that sometimes these players go through that people don't even know about and to have them still fight and come together. I mean, I'm just so happy for them. These are tears for them. These players are special."
On what this win means...
"I think that just proves you have to give credit to the Aces. I mean, coming in 16-1 and the reigning World Champions. I just told the team you can beat anybody if you play and stay locked in for four quarters. This should be a big confidence booster, so we have to continue to build on this."
On the crowd energy and fans...
"Well, I said this on the first day that I was hired that this fan base is just electrifying. We said it at the very beginning we wanted CPC [College Park Center] to be the hardest place to play in and these fans are coming out. I wanted so badly to grab the mic out there and thank them, so this is my time to grab the mic and say thank You. Yeah, our fans, to drive all over to come here even from different states and surrounding states to support our team, all I can say is thank you. If I could give each one a hug, I would. Please keep coming out, you all bring that extra energy that we need."
On thanking the media...
"And that goes for you guys too. I always say that, but thanks for growing the game and thanks for covering the WNBA, our league, our team. I mean, that's how we move it forward, right? For people like you to sit in here and do what you do. So, thank you for that."
On the starting five's performance today...
"They set the tone, they set the leadership, they've been there and done that and have won big games. But don't count our bench out because they came in and did something that a lot of people don't notice and do some of those non-negotiables that are big. I always call Maddy [Siegrist] the X-Factor because she's really the only one that's brave enough to come steal it when I say come. She just looks at me and reacts, it's little things like that that people at times forget about is big. Awak [Kuier] being able to come in and get on the ball at a crucial time with her length, so it's just those moments. Odyssey [Sims] again, coming in and defending given some extra minutes you will gain more as we go along. So, it was just definitely a team effort."
On who got the Drip Chain tonight...
"The team. I went with that when I told them at the very beginning, I would not do that. And I just said how can I not. And they all just cheered because they thought the same thing, the team deserved it."
On if she feels this was the first time seeing the team play a complete, 40-minute game...
"You know there's always something to work on because I'm going to go back and film and say, "Oh man." But I'm going to enjoy this, and I want these players to enjoy this. What's great is we can continue to get better. But yeah, this is what we're capable of. And I'm just going to keep continuing to preach that to these players."
On how important it is to have Teaira [McCowan] back...
"Well, 12 rebounds, 14 points, her length. You saw that she, as a rim protector, made them adjust shots at times going in and they had to sneak their way to get back out. Yeah, I mean, she's been injured, she's been sick, she's coming back from Turkey trying to get back going and tonight she was on a mission. I'm just telling you, the warmup, she was more locked in. She's going to continue to be the dominant post players that she is."
On how Crystal Dangerfield stepped up in today's game...
"I've never been so happy for that young lady. How tall is she? "5'5." I just wanted someone else to say it. With five rebounds. You know and going deep into the paint and being able to keep her composure and create and draw defenders in to be able to make those special passes. I think she has the best mid-range game in the league. So, 7-12, 6 assists... I mean, I don't want to say she's a diamond in the rough. Thank God, we have her, I'm going to keep saying that about all of them. You can tell I like them."
On how she kept players under control with early foul trouble...
"Just to stay locked in. There're times to just let me do it, I've never seen an official change a call, that's always the big thing. I get it, sometimes when you're taller and you have length, you can be fouled too, you know and we just go to stay not worried about them, just stay locked in and do what we are trying to accomplish. I keep saying lock in because that was the two words of the night and we just got to let it go. Control what we can control."
On what impressed her most about Dangerfield's journey in the WNBA and with the Wings...
"Leadership. I mean, you think about her in college, right? And what she accomplished there and then the different organizations that she's been a part of. She's the calm in the storm. You know in the huddle, she's the one looking and telling everyone we're okay. You know, calm down, which is a really big thing, especially when the anxiety and the emotions are high. One of the best point guards in the league. I mean what she can do with her size, we always say it's not what your size is, it's what you do with it. Well, she does a lot with it. And she's probably undervalued in the league at times. But, her having to defend height, being able to pick up full court, switch off when other offensive players that are a lot taller and she got posted up if you noticed our last game. She handled herself, I mean there's no task too big for Crystal, as my family would say Dangerous. There's nothing too big for her. She was a big part of this win."
On how mentally strong this group is in her perspective...
"Well, I think they displayed it this evening because we were punched several times within different adversities that came in that the Aces were throwing at us. So, this was major growth for us and definitely a big confidence booster. Definitely mentally tough to get through that and to finish it and complete it at the end, after missing a few free throws and you saw the extra offensive rebound to even give us a chance to get back to the free throw line. A lot of teams, not a lot but some teams would have said hey, it's over. So talk about finishing until the buzzer went off and they wanted to win. They willed themselves to win."
On Satou Sabally's dominance on the defensive perimeter this game...
"Yeah, we liked that matchup just because of her physicality and her length. We knew she would muscle her when she was trying to get to the rim. That's what hurt us the first time we played them, and we kind of lacked in some possessions of them getting downhill and we made an adjustment going zone a little bit on them but yeah, we thought that would hurt because like I said, Satou's physicality is unbelievable and her ability to move east to west is really good."
On what the focuses were coming into this game...
"Yeah, I think you know, we knew we had to do something different coming into tonight since we just saw them the day before yesterday. I told the group sitting in this chair before the game, I felt like I almost made too many adjustments going in. I think it was 10 or 11, and I was concerned about that a little bit. But what I loved about it, it showed me that they can handle it. You know, when they came out and executed what we wanted to accomplish and that is picking up, you saw us at the start getting in passing lanes, there were times we looked to trap, I won't give it all away. But there was different things we wanted to make sure that kept them thinking about us. Our biggest thing, was we wanted them to keep shaking the table, I'll explain that later."
Women's National Basketball Association Stories from July 7, 2023
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