The Dallas Wings cheer from the bench during a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. The Wings won 92-69.
The Dallas Wings (2-2) beat the Washington Mystics (2-2) 92-69 Monday at College Park Center.
The Wings came into the matchup reeling from losing their first two home games of the season against the Atlanta Dream and Minnesota Lynx. The Mystics, meanwhile, were coming off a win on the road against the Indiana Fever.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers attempts a jump shot during a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. Bueckers had seven assists.
The Wings took the lead early in the contest, spending most of the first quarter capitalizing on poor Mystic shooting. Washington shot just 20% from the field during the opening frame, contributing to a Dallas 8-3 run.
The Mystics held the differential steady around 10 points throughout the second quarter, but the Wings pushed it to 20 by the end of the third quarter. Washington kept pace with Dallas throughout the final frame, but couldn’t crawl back the deficit.
Dallas Wings forward Alanna Smith loses the ball while Washington Mystics forward Angela Dugalic interferes during a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. Smith scored three points.
“This game was won because of how we defended, how we rebounded,” head coach Jose Fernandez said. “We won this because of the commitment to us the last two days practicing, in shootaround, that’s where it won.”
Forward Jessica Shepard led the night in rebounds, grabbing 16, tying the WNBA single-game high so far this season.
Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale celebrates after scoring during a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. Ogunbowale scored 16 points.
“For myself, I know that’s one of my biggest controllables in the basketball game, so knowing that they had two really elite offensive rebounders on that team, I knew that we had to control the glass, and I just wanted to do my part,” Shepard said.
Guard Azzi Fudd, the Wings’ 2026 No. 1 pick, played the most minutes in a game so far in her young career, and with it, she increased her career highs in points, rebounds and assists.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers signs autographs for fans after a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. Bueckers scored 18 points.
“My goal was just to be aggressive when I got in the game, contribute any way I could, watch what the stars were doing,” Fudd said. “They started the game off pushing pace, being aggressive, getting stops. So I wanted to continue that.”
As a team, the Wings combined to make 30 assists on 33 field goals, marking the fifth-highest assist total in team history.
“We can just score from every position,” guard Arike Ogunbowale said. “We can have a lot of those games where how many assists and how many buckets we have is really high, because if you don’t have a shot, your next player has a shot, and they’re more than likely going to knock it down.”
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd hits the button to light up the Dallas Reunion Tower after a game against the Washington Mystics May 18 at College Park Center. Fudd scored 12 points.
The Wings will look to keep up their momentum when they go on the road to take on the Chicago Sky 8 p.m. Wednesday at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The Sky are one of the best defensive teams in the WNBA, possessing the league’s third-highest rebound average and second-highest block average at press time.
“They do a very, very good job defensively, so the actions and the things that we do on a short prep because tomorrow, we travel,” Fernandez said. “We won’t practice tomorrow, we’ll watch film when we get up to Chicago. We’ll just have a shootaround to prepare, so it’s going to be a little different type of preparation that we haven’t had all year.”
@TyRoland06