Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard attempts a layup during a game against the Chicago Sky on July 12 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Shepard recorded 19 points.
DALLAS — In the team’s first game at the American Airlines Center this season, the Dallas Wings (16-8) came back from a double-digit deficit to beat the Chicago Sky (7-16) 96-91.
The matchup was the third and final time the two squads faced off in this regular season, with the Wings beating the Sky both times, once 99-89 in Chicago, and once 93-92 in Arlington.
The Wings began playing games at the arena, which usually hosts the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, last season. The team played two games at the venue in 2025, losing both to the Indiana Fever.
The Wings entered Dallas off a four-game road trip, beating the Connecticut Sun and New York Liberty once each, and the Toronto Tempo twice. The second game against the Tempo was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal and was the highest-attended regular-season game in WNBA history.
The five-game winning streak is now Dallas’s longest since 2023 and tied for the longest since moving to Texas, according to Wings PR.
“We have a great locker room, who, on any given night, everybody knows like it could be my night, it could be her night, and we all play to that, and we all play a selfish brand of basketball,” Wings guard Paige Bueckers said. “We all just want to win and succeed and do it with each other, and just continue to find our identity.”
The Sky, meanwhile, went into Dallas off a three-game road trip of their own, in which they beat the Phoenix Mercury and lost to the Las Vegas Aces and the Los Angeles Sparks.
Chicago was also missing guard Skylar Diggins, who was out for the matchup with a right knee injury. Diggins has the highest average minutes on the Sky, excluding forward Rickea Jackson, who has played in only four games this year and is out for the season due to a torn ACL.
Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers passes the ball July 12 during a game against the Chicago Sky in Dallas. Bueckers finished with 22 points, 11 assists and six rebounds.
The Sky opened the game with the lead, but a 9-0 run helped the Wings take it back and extend it before the end of the first quarter. Dallas was also helped in the first frame by a complete lack of Chicago’s offensive presence from range, with the Sky not hitting a single three-pointer until the second quarter.
After Chicago hit that three, the lead was traded back and forth, with four lead changes in the second quarter alone. The final lead change of the frame went to the Wings with two and a half minutes left in the quarter, and Dallas led 46-40 going into the tunnel.
The Sky had a 12-0 run in the early minutes of the second half to retake the lead. Chicago extended the lead to double-digits during the third quarter, but the Wings brought it back to seven points by the end of the frame.
“We were getting caught up in weak side cutters, in our switches guard-to-guard, and we weren’t keeping our guy in front of us in that middle pick and roll with a smaller big screen,” Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said.
Dallas spent the first half of the fourth quarter keeping the deficit close, bringing it down to three before a Chicago timeout right at the frame’s halfway point. A three-pointer from guard Azzi Fudd tied the game at 86, and a layup from center Jessica Shepard took the lead. From there, it became a matter of running the clock to zero.
The fourth-quarter comeback is Dallas’s eighth this season, tying with the Washington Mystics for the most in the league, according to Wings PR.
“We don’t do it on purpose to be done in the fourth quarter, but I think the pace that we play allows us to do some things that we do well in the fourth quarter,” Fernandez said. “They did a really good job executing coming out of the fourth quarter in late-game situations.”
Bueckers led Dallas in scoring, dropping 22 points while making 11 assists, clinching a double-double. Bueckers took the WNBA lead for fourth-quarter points with the performance, according to Wings PR.
“We need to play like that for the entire 40 minutes, but it’s kind of a habit for us to do that in the fourth,” Bueckers said. “It’s something that we need to change and play that way, starting at the tip.”
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd defends Chicago Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez during a Wings game against the Chicago Sky on July 12 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Fudd recorded two steals and one block as Dallas rallied for a 96–91 victory.
Wings center Li Yueru got a double-double from the bench, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. The feat is just the fifth of Yueru’s career, and her rebound total tied the team-best with Shepard.
“I appreciate that I have a chance to get on the court, and appreciate my teammates,” Yueru said. “Sometimes I make a big mistake. My teammates always told me you are good and don’t worry about that. Just focus on this moment.”
Shepard’s 19 points made her the third Wing to have a double-double. Including Sky center Kamilla Cardoso and guard Sydney Taylor, five different players in the game had a double-double.
The Wings return to their regular home for a game against the New York Liberty at 8 p.m. Thursday at College Park Center.
The Liberty will enter Arlington reeling from a 93-91 loss to the Toronto Tempo in Montreal, a team the Wings beat two games ago in the same arena. In addition, New York is almost right on the playoff bubble, currently seventh in a league where the top eight teams make the playoffs.
@TyRoland06