Alanna Smith Replaces Awak Kuier In Dallas Wings’ Starting Lineup Against Connecticut Sun

ARLINGTON, Texas — Alanna Smith replaces Awak Kuier in the Dallas Wings starting lineup against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday at College Park Center. Wings coach Jose Fernandez confirmed a change before the game without naming it.

“Yeah, we’ll have a new starting lineup tonight, so I guess you guys will have to wait for that,” Fernandez said.

Smith joins Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Arike Ogunbowale, and Jessica Shepard. Dallas had started Kuier with that group 15 times this season, most recently Friday in Washington.

Smith already replaced Kuier once in that game. She opened the second half in Kuier’s place and finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds off the bench, matching her season high in scoring. It was her first game action since July 12 after a right leg injury. Kuier played 5 minutes, all of them in the first quarter, and did not return.

Smith has appeared in 21 games this season and averages 3.8 points and 2.9 rebounds. Kuier averages 1.2 blocks in 16.8 minutes.

Tip-off is 6 p.m. CT, with the game airing nationally on ESPN. Beth Mowins, Debbie Antonelli, and Brooke Weisbrod have the call.

The Wings are 18-11 and have lost two in a row. Connecticut is 7-22 and has lost four straight.

What Jose Fernandez Wants Fixed

Dallas has lost three of its last four, to the New York Liberty, the Atlanta Dream, and the Washington Mystics. Fernandez named the same four items in each.

“I think what’s been consistent in our last three losses is the amount of free throws that New York, Washington, and Atlanta took, attempted and made, and the disparity in attempts and also makes,” Fernandez said. “So we have to get to the line more. We’ve got to be more aggressive getting downhill, right? The other thing, points in the paint in those three games, another big telling point on what we could have done differently. And we’ve got to do a much better job defending without fouling. And then the biggest thing that we talked about and we addressed was second chance points and offensive rebounds.”

Washington attempted 31 free throws to Dallas’ 13 on Friday and won the paint 40-24. The Mystics grabbed 13 offensive rebounds and turned them into a 17-9 edge in second-chance points.

“I mean, you get better in those three areas just a little bit. You know? It’s a one point, one point, you know, two-possession game at Washington,” Fernandez said.

Shepard put the same list in the same order at shootaround.

“Yeah, I think the details. We know the other teams are shooting a lot more free throws than us, which is both offense and defense,” Shepard said. “Obviously, offensively, you have to get in the paint more. Defensively, you have to stop fouling, and then second-chance opportunities.”

Dallas has also had 19 assists in each of its last two games. The Wings came into Friday leading the WNBA at 22.4 assists a game.

“A little bit of both,” Fernandez said of whether the drop was shot quality or shots not falling. “I don’t think the ball’s got into the second side as much as we want it to. I mean, people have got to defend multiple actions. We’re really hard to guard when people just load up and they’re at the boxes and elbows. So that’s another thing that we’ve got to get better at, you know, and continue to get better as the season goes along, you know?”

Dallas turned it over 3 times in the first quarter Friday and 3 more the rest of the night. The Wings shot 4-of-18 in that opening period.

“I mean, I think we got good shots at the beginning of the Washington game. Some days they fall, some days they don’t, but I think that’s where we really have to lock in on defense and making sure that we’re getting stops that can lead to easier offense for us in transition,” Shepard said.

The Connecticut Sun Arrive Shorthanded

Connecticut traded second-year forward Aneesah Morrow to the Toronto Tempo on Friday for the rights to Maria Kliundikova and Toronto’s 2028 second-round pick. Morrow was averaging 11.6 points and 8.9 rebounds in 20 games and had 9 double-doubles, and she scored 21 points in the Sun’s loss at Chicago on Thursday.

Aaliyah Edwards and Brittney Griner are both out, Edwards with a right knee injury and Griner with a left knee injury. Each will miss a fourth straight game.

That leaves Olivia Nelson-Ododa as the only established post player available to Connecticut. She had 16 points and 11 rebounds Thursday for her third double-double of the season, and she averages 12.2 points and 10.2 rebounds in her starts this year.

“Well, Morrow’s now there, right? So Edwards is out. We’ll know shortly on BG’s status. ONO’s having a really good year. We’re going to have to be solid on her,” Fernandez said. “So the big thing is, I mean, we’ve got to take passing angles away with much more ball pressure, right? And taking people’s sight out so they just don’t fire it in there. But our post players have got to work a lot harder getting around the post and not sitting behind. And then making sure our help side from the middle of the floor, cleaning it out, and providing pressure also as well with sending extra defenders to post players.”

Smith’s presence in the starting group gives Dallas a different look on the interior against Nelson-Ododa. Fernandez had described physicality in the frontcourt as the problem in Washington, where Shakira Austin scored 28 and the Mystics ran 18 post-up possessions to the Wings’ 1.

Griner is in her first season in Connecticut after signing in free agency. She averages 14.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 16 games, and she became the WNBA’s career blocks leader earlier this season. Knee, rib, and quad injuries have kept her out of more than half of Connecticut’s schedule.

Former Wings forward Diamond Miller scored 14 on Thursday. Leïla Lacan added 12 and Charlisse Leger-Walker had 11. Lacan ranks 17th in the WNBA at 4.5 assists a game.

“Yeah, I mean, they’re a young team that, they have guards who can get to the rim, really athletic, and then they have posts inside that can obviously score,” Shepard said. “So I think they’re a very good roster, but we have to make sure that we just handle what we’re trying to accomplish today.”

“Yeah, I mean, they’re a young team that, they have guards who can get to the rim, really athletic, and then they have posts inside that can obviously score,” Shepard said. “So I think they’re a very good roster, but we have to make sure that we just handle what we’re trying to accomplish today.”

Fernandez pointed to Lacan in transition and out of ball screens.

“Yeah, we’ve got to stop her point of attack in transition, but also we’ve got to defend pick and rolls better, keeping her in front of us, right? That’s what she does well,” Fernandez said.

Dallas Wings Seek First Home Win Over Connecticut Since 2023

Dallas won the first meeting 86-83 in Connecticut on July 2. The Wings have taken three of the last four regular-season meetings between the teams.

They have not beaten the Sun at home since August 12, 2023.

What The Numbers Say About Dallas’ Last Four Games

Ogunbowale has scored at least 20 points in five straight games, a run that dates to July 19 against the Los Angeles Sparks. That is the fourth-longest active streak in the WNBA. She has averaged 23.4 points over the five, her highest five-game scoring average since 2024.

Bueckers scored 23 on Friday on 9-of-18 shooting, 2-of-5 from three, and 3-of-3 at the line. It was her seventh game this season with at least 20 points on 50/40/90 shooting, the most in the WNBA.

Fudd blocked 2 shots in Washington and reached 70 career stocks in her 28th game. She is tied with Natasha Howard for the fastest any Wings player has gotten there.

Dallas gave up 1 steal to the Mystics, a season low for a Wings opponent. It was the first time since May 26, 2024, that an opponent finished with one or fewer, and the fifth time in franchise history. The Wings average 11.7 turnovers a game, second-fewest in the league.

Shepard was asked what she sees when defenses trap Bueckers late.

“I think a lot of teams this season have blitzed P. Obviously, she does a great job of passing out of it, and that gives us a lot of openings, because then we have a four-on-three,” Shepard said.

What’s Next For The Dallas Wings

The WNBA trade deadline passes Sunday at 2 p.m. CT, four hours before tip-off. Dallas listed no injuries on its game status report for the second straight game.

Fernandez said the Wings had a film session and a shootaround Sunday morning after a day off Saturday.

“Rest and recovery is so important right now, especially with the games we’ve got coming up and what we came off after the All-Star break, those games,” Fernandez said.

Dallas won six in a row before the break.

“I think every team, every professional team goes through certain peaks, valleys, and things throughout the season, right? And that’s how you respond to those things, right? We won six in a row. Okay, we’ve lost two in a row, but that doesn’t deter the fact of we won 18 games and we have a very good team in that locker room, you know?” Fernandez said. “Our staff believes it. The locker room believes it. It’s how we respond today and how we play tonight.”

Shepard said the schedule does not leave room to carry a loss forward.

“No, I mean, I think in this league you play so many games that every day is a new day. You can’t dwell on the past. You can learn from it, which I think we’re doing with every loss that we’ve had this year, with wins,” Shepard said. “We’re learning as a team, and obviously we want to keep building to make it to playoffs.”

Fernandez was more direct about what has and has not been the issue.

“Yeah, I don’t think anybody’s questioned our energy, our intensity, our effort all year long, right? It’s been more about execution on both ends of the floor,” Fernandez said. “So we just have to be who we are. That’s it.”

The Wings return to Washington on Wednesday to close the season series with the Mystics. Fifteen games remain on the schedule.