Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale attempts a shot during a game against the New York Liberty on July 20 at College Park Center. Ogunbowale scored 29 points.
Lacking the team’s season scoring leader, the Dallas Wings (17-9) lost 99-98 in overtime to the New York Liberty (14-12) Tuesday at College Park Center.
The game was originally scheduled for last Thursday, but mechanical issues with the Liberty’s charter plane forced their trip to Arlington to be postponed. The delay to Monday forced the Wings to play two games in two days for the first time this season.
Dallas took down the Los Angeles Sparks 90-82 Sunday, but the victory was not without sacrifice. Late in the fourth quarter against Los Angeles, Dallas guard Paige Bueckers hit her head on the hardwood after being landed on by a falling Sparks player.
Bueckers, who leads the team in scoring and assists this year, was cleared of a concussion, but was ruled out of the game Monday due to soreness, according to Wings PR.
“We played everybody and got a lot of minutes,” Wings head coach Jose Fernandez said. “Paige is a very, very important part of our team. She’s one of the best players in the entire world. So for us to play without her, and possession here, possession there, it shows the type of character we have in the locker room.”
Dallas Wings guard Aziaha James drives to the basket during a game against the New York Liberty on July 20 at College Park Center. James recorded two blocks and two rebounds.
The win over the Sparks made it six in a row for the Wings, the team’s longest win streak since moving to Texas in 2016. Meanwhile, the Liberty entered Arlington on a four-game losing streak, dating back to a home loss to the Wings earlier this month.
New York opened the game leading 5-0, and would hold that lead for the overwhelming majority of the first half. The biggest Wings highlight of the first half was an 8-0 run late in the second quarter, taking a 45-43 lead. A series of Liberty free throws would flip the deficit back, and the teams went into halftime with New York up by three points.
The Wings opened the second half with an 8-0 run to take Dallas’s longest-held lead of the game. The Liberty struggled with shooting in the third quarter, not hitting a field goal for the first seven minutes, and not hitting a three for the entire frame.
Dallas Wings center Li Yueru, left, and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, right, chest bump during a game against the New York Liberty on July 20 at College Park Center. Yueru scored seven points.
“They were getting a lot of the 50/50 balls in the first half, and getting a lot of offensive rebounds and scoring off of it,” Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale said. “We wanted to tighten up our defense and 50/50 balls, get more of those and limit them to one shot. I think we really executed that coming out of the half.”
The Wings led 68-59 going into the fourth quarter. The Liberty slowly crawled their way back, eventually taking the lead thanks to Dallas fouls. The Wings made free throws of their own to even the score and send the game to overtime.
Dallas took the lead in the extra period first, and the two teams would trade the lead several times in the ensuing minutes. New York would be the last to flip the deficit, going on a 7-0 run capped by a layup by guard Sabrina Ionescu with just under two minutes to play.
The Wings brought the spread down to one, and had the ball with three seconds remaining, but Ogunbowale missed a running layup to seal the loss.
Greg Bibb, Dallas Wings Chief Executive Officer & Managing Partner, left, Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard, Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers, and Curt Miller, Dallas Wings EVP of Basketball Operations and General Manager, pose for a photo before a game against the New York Liberty on July 20 at College Park Center. Shepard and Bueckers were honored for being named All-Star game starters.
Ogunbowale led the Wings in scoring on the night, tallying 29 points, while making five rebounds and six assists.
“We still just have to control what we can control,” Ogunbowale said. “We did have a lead, and we kind of gave that up. It was no help to anybody else, but also we didn’t help ourselves, so, you know, just trying to be better with just executing things and getting stops.”
Wings center Jessica Shepard scored 13 points while grabbing 16 rebounds, marking her 17th double-double of the season. This ties her for the lead for the most double-doubles this season, alongside Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese.
The game against the Liberty was the Wings’ last at home before the WNBA All-Star Break. Before then, Dallas faces the Portland Fire at 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
The Wings return to Arlington in their first game after the All-Star Break, facing the Dream at 7 p.m. July 29 at College Park Center.
@TyRoland06