ARLINGTON, Texas — Dallas Wings coach Jose Fernandez said Friday that the Wings turned the ball over more times than they recorded assists in each of their last two regular-season games against the Golden State Valkyries. He went back to those games after practice, two days before Dallas opens its best-of-three first-round series at Chase Center in San Francisco.
Tip-off for Game 1 is set for 8 p.m. CT Sunday, and the game will air nationally on USA Network and CNBC. Dallas is the No. 7 seed after finishing 27-17. Golden State went 32-12 and holds the No. 2 seed.
During the regular season, Dallas set a franchise record for assist-to-turnover ratio. Fernandez said the team talked through the last two meetings with Golden State, and the Valkyries’ three-point shooting in all three games came up alongside the turnovers.
“We talked about the last two times we played them. Look at our assist-to-turnover ratio. It’s not good,” Fernandez said. “We had more turnovers than assists in both those games. That’s uncharacteristic for us.”
“And each time we played them, they hit 12-plus threes,” Fernandez continued. “That can’t happen. So defending the arc, making sure we know our matchups are going to be very, very important.”
Golden State Valkyries Swept Regular-Season Series With Dallas Wings
The first meeting came June 17 at Chase Center, where Golden State won 91-80 despite 14 points and 10 rebounds from Jessica Shepard. The Valkyries won the second game 94-76 on Aug. 7 at American Airlines Center, a night when Dallas shot 21-of-62 from the field and finished with 8 assists.
Ten days later at Chase Center, Golden State clinched its playoff berth with a 78-70 win. Gabby Williams had 23 points and 7 rebounds for the Valkyries, and Paige Bueckers led Dallas with 21 points.
Over the three games, the Wings averaged 14.0 assists and 13.0 turnovers. They averaged 22.3 assists per game across the full season. The Valkyries shot 37.9% from three-point range against Dallas.
Dallas committed 12.1 turnovers per game in the regular season, the second-fewest in the WNBA, according to the Valkyries’ series preview. Golden State committed a league-low 11.5 per game. The Valkyries also forced 14.6 turnovers per game, which tied for third-most in the league.
Jose Fernandez Wants Dallas Wings Better In Transition
Golden State allowed a league-low 75.1 points per game this season. Against the Valkyries, Dallas scored 75.3 points per game after averaging 89.4 across the full season.
Fernandez said Friday that the Valkyries are physical and do a good job rotating on defense. He wants Dallas to get off to good starts and be better in the second quarter.
“It starts where you’ve got to be good at transition, right?” Fernandez said. “Not only, we’ve got to get good starts to get some. Just look at what’s happening in the second quarter, right? So we’ve got to be better at that. They’re physical and they do a good job rotating.”
Arike Ogunbowale averaged 14.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists against Golden State and made every free throw she attempted in the series. Shepard averaged 8.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in the three games. In the Sept. 23 regular-season finale at Seattle, she had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists for her sixth triple-double of the season and set ball security as a playoff focus afterward.
Bueckers averaged 5.9 assists per game this season, which ranked eighth among qualifiers. Golden State guard Veronica Burton was ninth at 5.7.
Game 2 is Wednesday at College Park Center in Arlington and will air on ESPN. A Game 3, if the series needs one, would be played Friday, Oct. 2, back at Chase Center.
