‘We Wanted To Create Separation’: Dallas Wings Hold Connecticut Sun To 8 Third-Quarter Points In 83-63 Win

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jessica Shepard and Arike Ogunbowale scored 15 points apiece, and the Dallas Wings held the Connecticut Sun to 8 points in the third quarter of an 83-63 win Sunday night at College Park Center.

Dallas improved to 19-11 and ended a two-game losing streak. Connecticut fell to 7-23 and closed a six-game road trip with five losses. The announced crowd of 6,251 was a sellout.

Sunday was Dallas’ first home win over Connecticut since August 12, 2023. It was also the Wings’ first double-digit win since a July 10 victory over the Toronto Tempo.

The Third Quarter Decided It

Dallas took a 48-37 lead into the break and opened the third on a 4-1 push to go ahead 52-38 with 6:41 on the clock. Connecticut didn’t make a field goal over the first 4:06 of the second half. A 5-0 Sun run trimmed it to 52-43, and from there the Wings closed the quarter on a 20-2 run to lead 72-45. Eight unanswered Dallas points inside that stretch forced a Connecticut timeout with 3:28 remaining, with Azzi Fudd hitting a 3-pointer and Shepard converting an and-1 during the run.

Connecticut shot 3-of-15 in the period. The 8 points were the lowest third-quarter total by a Wings opponent this season. Six Dallas players scored in the quarter, and Ogunbowale and Awak Kuier led the way with 6 each.

Shepard said afterward that the separation was the stated goal coming out of the locker room.

“I think just our intensity in the third quarter,” Shepard said. “We wanted to create separation, and that’s what we did. Obviously, the defensive end was a huge piece of that, and then just being able to get out and run.”

Dallas outrebounded Connecticut 38-31 for the game and won the paint 46-24. Shepard led the way with 9 rebounds, 2 of them on the offensive glass, and finished with 15 points and 2 assists on 7-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes, 44 seconds. She added a steal and made her only free throw. Her plus-17 trailed only two teammates.

Fudd, seated next to Shepard at the postgame podium, pointed to the boards and to the way Dallas defended without help.

“Like what Jess just said, I think that we were disciplined on the defensive side,” Fudd said. “We were playing together, playing team defense, not leaving our posts so much on an island, our guards on an island. Boxing out was an emphasis, and we beat them on the boards, so that was an improvement. That was good for us. But I think just playing together, and then playing with pace offensively.”

Wings coach Jose Fernandez traced the run back into the second quarter, before halftime.

“I think it’s how we closed the second quarter, going back-to-back and getting easy looks off the flare and then getting easy looks off of that stagger,” Fernandez said. “And then we just came out, especially coming out the first two, three possessions of the third quarter going empty, I just thought we got out in transition and finished in the lanes.”

Dallas shot 47.8% for the game, going 33-of-69 from the floor and 7-of-18 from 3-point range. Connecticut finished 23-of-67 (34.3%) and made 9-of-23 from deep. The Wings assisted on 22 of their 33 baskets and added 10 steals, 4 blocks, and 7 offensive rebounds. Dallas shot 55.6% in the first half on 20-of-36 and improved to 6-0 this season when it shoots 55% or better before the break. The Wings have now held four opponents under 70 points this season and are 4-0 in those games.

Arike Ogunbowale Goes 7-Of-9 In 22 Minutes

Ogunbowale played 22 minutes, 42 seconds and finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists against 1 turnover. Her 7-of-9 night was a career best from the field at 77.8%. She went 1-of-3 from 3-point range, didn’t attempt a free throw, and wasn’t whistled for a foul. Over her past six games, she’s averaging 22.0 points, 4.2 assists, and 3.8 rebounds.

Fernandez spoke at length about her season when the shooting line came up postgame.

“She’s changed, and her growth from teams that she’s been on before,” Fernandez said. “She was seven for nine. That’s pretty good efficiency. And then a couple times she gets thrown a grenade late in the clock, and then she’s got to go between her legs, behind her back to separate. So that’s what a lot of people remember. She’s not selfish doing that. It’s the end of the clock.”

“So I don’t think a lot of people are giving Arike the credit that she deserves on the type of year that she’s having,” Fernandez said. “She’s had to change a lot of things, going away from being a high-volume guy to now sharing it, putting it down on the deck, getting downhill.”

Fudd added 12 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist in 24 minutes, 26 seconds. She shot 4-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range. She also had 2 steals and a block and didn’t turn it over. Her plus-22 was the highest mark on either roster. It was her fourth game this season with at least 4 made 3-pointers, and she leads all rookies with 11 games of 3 or more.

Paige Bueckers scored 6 points on 3-of-9 shooting with 3 rebounds and 4 assists. She went 0-of-1 from deep and didn’t get to the line. The 6 points were the fewest of her two-year career. She finished at plus-21 across 24 minutes, 51 seconds.

Alanna Smith Starts, Li Yueru Gives Dallas Size

Dallas debuted a starting five of Bueckers, Ogunbowale, Fudd, Shepard, and Alanna Smith. Smith played 13 minutes, 45 seconds and finished with 3 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. She shot 1-of-6 from the field and 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and she blocked 2 shots.

“When we subbed her out that first time, she hadn’t played those type of minutes in longevity, so I think she got a little winded,” Fernandez said. “People are gonna remember that she didn’t finish at the rim. But she was off balance on a couple of them, and she hit the three. I think she was one for five at halftime. But I liked her activity. So that was good.”

Fernandez said the change was made with the defensive end in mind and that Connecticut’s frontcourt was thinner than what Dallas will face next.

“I thought we defended a lot better, but I mean, we got to be honest with ourselves, too,” Fernandez said. “They were missing BG, they were missing Aaliyah Edwards, and Morrow got traded, so they were a little depleted in that front line, too. They were a little different because they didn’t play two fours and fives that can post up and seal you. Their four was more of a stretch type of guy.”

Li Yueru scored 6 points with 1 rebound and 2 steals in 9 minutes, 20 seconds, including 5 points to open the fourth quarter. She went 2-of-4 from the field, 1-of-2 from 3-point range, and 1-of-2 at the line.

“I think Li gives us a presence just because of her size, and her ability to body up, and her physicality, and to wall up,” Fernandez said. “The things we talk about with Li, we want her to rebound out of her area more. And she gets her hands on a lot of stuff where maybe she can get it off the glass and finish. But I think she makes a really conscious effort to be a good screener, and be a good roller. And especially her actions being able to hand off and get people involved.”

The Dallas Wings Bench Outscored Connecticut’s, 32-12

Every Dallas player who dressed got on the floor. Odyssey Sims led the reserves with 9 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 20 minutes, 27 seconds. She shot 2-of-5 from the field, made all 5 of her free throws, and added 2 steals.

Kuier added 6 points and 2 rebounds on 3-of-4 shooting in 8 minutes, 30 seconds, with a block. Aziaha James had 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists in 11 minutes, 41 seconds, going 2-of-7 from the field and 2-of-2 at the line. Maddy Siegrist scored 4 points on 2-of-4 with 2 rebounds and 2 assists across 17 minutes, 14 seconds.

Sug Sutton grabbed 4 rebounds with 2 assists in 7 minutes, 25 seconds without attempting a shot. Alysha Clark finished with 1 point, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 16 minutes, 55 seconds, adding a steal.

The lead reached 31 points at 79-48 with 5:58 to play. Connecticut then outscored Dallas 18-11 in the fourth quarter, running off 8 straight points before Siegrist scored in transition with 2:44 left.

“I think we could’ve finished the game a lot better in the fourth quarter, ’cause it was 18-11 with our second unit primarily,” Fernandez said. “So they’ll take that to heart. They understand they should’ve closed better. But we should be very well-rested for Wednesday.”

Shepard said the same thing from the players’ side.

“I think it was great, obviously, today that we were able to take care of business, and it was exciting to see all of our bench get in today because they do such a great job of working hard every day,” Shepard said. “They bring things every single day that we value as a team. So obviously it’s nice to be able to play lower minutes tonight.”

Dallas committed 14 turnovers, and Fernandez said he wanted that figure lower.

“Fourteen. You want to be single digits there,” Fernandez said. Connecticut committed 17.

Diamond Miller Scores 22 As Connecticut Sun Play Short-Handed

Diamond Miller led Connecticut with 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist on 8-of-15 shooting. Her 4 made 3-pointers on 8 attempts tied a career high. Kennedy Burke added 14 points and 7 rebounds on 5-of-11. Olivia Nelson-Ododa finished with 8 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Raegan Beers led the Sun with 3 assists off the bench.

The Sun backcourt didn’t get going. Leila Lacan scored 7 points on 3-of-10 shooting with 1 rebound and 2 assists. Charlisse Leger-Walker went scoreless on 0-of-3 in 25 minutes, 21 seconds.

“I know Lacan got downhill on us a couple times, but for the most part, I think we contained and kept both of those guys in front of us,” Fernandez said.

The two 3-pointers Fernandez did flag came off broken rotations.

“I think there were some coverage breakdowns where we didn’t rotate once we got beat off the bounce on a couple of peel switches, and they reversed it, and we gave up a couple threes to Diamond Miller and to Kennedy Burke,” Fernandez said. “So we got to improve there.”

Connecticut played without Brittney Griner, out a fourth straight game with a left knee issue and 14 games overall this season. The Sun are 1-13 without her. Aaliyah Edwards was listed inactive with a right knee injury, and Hailey Van Lith was also inactive. Aneesah Morrow was traded to Toronto on Friday.

Three busloads of fans traveled from Houston for the game. The Sun relocate to Houston next season.

New Sets Ahead Of The World Cup Break

Dallas scored 0.986 points per possession across 72 half-court possessions and held Connecticut to 0.671 on 73. The gap was widest in the third quarter, when the Wings generated 1.043 points per possession over 23 trips and the Sun managed 0.381 over 21. Dallas got 1.75 points per possession on its four third-quarter spot-up chances.

Fernandez said the offense already looked different Sunday and that more is coming during the FIBA Women’s World Cup break.

“We did that today. If you watched the game, there was a lot of actions that we ran,” Fernandez said. “I mean, you could cut up the tape. I don’t know, there were five, six different actions that we hadn’t run all year today. So there will be a lot of stuff that’s gonna be put in during the World Cup break. Heading into that, it’s just like anything else. You don’t want to add too much. You got to be good at the stuff that you have in.”

Bueckers has drawn blitzes and traps regularly this season, and Fernandez broke down what he wants after the first pass out.

“Now, if you look at things when she’s been blitzed, especially early or late, we’ve been able to execute and do a good job attacking four against three, and getting downhill on the blitz situation,” Fernandez said. “But it’s about making now, when she gets blitzed, making that pass, and then making the reversal pass, and making the extra pass to get it out of the loaded side.”

Dallas shot 10-of-12 from the free-throw line, and Connecticut went 8-of-13. Shepard cited the attempt totals when free-throw defense came up postgame.

“We shot 12 free throws, they shot 13,” Shepard said. “So we wanted to do a better job of kind of creating separation in that area, which obviously we didn’t do. But obviously holding them to 13 is good. I think we just did a good job of playing together on the defensive end and making sure that we were packing the paint, making shots hard for them as a unit.”

What’s Next For The Dallas Wings

Dallas visits the Washington Mystics on Wednesday, August 5, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. CT at CareFirst Arena. The game airs locally on KFAA and streams on WNBA League Pass.

The Wings and Sun meet once more in the regular season, on Sunday, August 30, at College Park Center. Tip-off is 7 p.m. CT, and the game airs on KFAA. Dallas leads the season series 2-0 and is seeking its first regular-season sweep of Connecticut in franchise history.