The Dallas Wings overcame a slow start to improve to 4-2 with a 94-78 win over the Minnesota Lynx. Dallas was down two at the half but came out firing in the third quarter scoring 36 points.
“The most important thing is that we have to play together as a team. We have to make sure to move the basketball. We had nine assists at halftime; we finished with 20; head coach Vickie Johnson said, “It was very important that we moved the basketball. Play together. Defend – tough on defense and also finishing in the paint. It is one of the things that we talk about crashing the offensive boards crashing the offensive boards. We had 15 offensive boards and then finishing in the paint. That is what we talked about.”
Mabrey and Ogunbowale
Marina Mabrey and Arike Ogunbowale led the way with 42 combined points. Mabrey scored a game-high 22 points, and Ogunbowale added 20 points. Both players were college teammates at Notre Dame and know how to play well together. Dallas is a much better team when Mabrey and Ogunbowale are aggressive and playing well. Coach Johnson liked the way the two played together.
“It is great to see. We know that Mabrey and Arike are scorers. What I like to see are the assists. They had 10 assists together. Arike had seven by herself. It is very important for us to move the basketball. We know they can score, which they have been doing. Now it is important to get the rest of the team involved.”
Defense on Fowles
Minnesota’s Sylvia Fowles had a tremendous first half scoring 10 points, but Dallas did an outstanding job in the second half, slowing her down; she finished with 14 points. The Wings did a great job putting different players on Fowles and mixing up coverages.
“We have a lot of people to throw at her. We start with Izzy [Isabelle Harrison] or KT [Kayla Thornton], a smaller forward who is physical; coach Johnson said, “Then we can come in with Big T [Teaira McCowan] and Charli [Collier]. I thought they did an amazing job. We can shrink and dig. We can trap, which we did. Sylvia is an All-Star. She is a Hall of Famer. There are many things we have to do and give her different looks down the court.”
Satou Sabally played in her first game back from overseas action; she scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds. Kayla Thornton added 12 points in 14 minutes. Dallas did a good job sharing the basketball and pushing it in transition in the second half, helping them to a blow-out victory.
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