Dallas Wings forward Alanna Smith reaches for the net while Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese attempts to block during a game May 12 at College Park Center. Smith scored two points.
The Dallas Wings’ Arlington debut saw a sold-out crowd anticipating a reworked roster and coaching staff for the first time at home against the Atlanta Dream.
The franchise has shifted from being one of the WNBA’s bottom dwellers to producing three straight wins to open the season and entered the game leading four league averages off its first game of the regular season.
Fans soaked in the refreshed Wings basketball — the new faces, the new energy — not a single seat was taken for the first two minutes of the game and not a single Dallas bucket failed to shake College Park Center, despite the court absence of the 2026 No. 1 draft pick, Wings guard Azzi Fudd.
Oklahoma resident Shea Vassar, 31, cheers during a game against the Atlanta Dream on May 12 at College Park Center. Vassar said as a season-ticket holder, she wants to spend her summer coming to see the Wings play.
The team has begun to establish a reshaped identity, but dreams of a continued streak were shot down by Atlanta, as the Wings lost their home opener 77-72 on Tuesday. The game and the crowd fizzled out as the Wings exchanged the lead for the last time in the final stretch.
In the final two minutes of the game Atlanta took the largest lead of the night. Despite controlling possessions while running out the clock, Atlanta would not hear the final buzzer before Wings guard Paige Bueckers dropped a pull-up 3-pointer for the last shot of the night.
The Wings’ previously undefeated status was backed by two wins over the Indiana Fever and a shutout win against the Las Vegas Aces, who are defending their 2025 WNBA championship title.
“That first half was very uncharacteristic of the things that we’ve done with the first three games,” head coach Jose Fernandez said. “You lose a game, you have a little adversity, you don’t want this game to affect the next one, that’s the most important thing.”
Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale attempts a layup during a game against the Atlanta Dream on May 12 at College Park Center. Ogunbowale scored 20 points.
The pressure popped as the tipoff signaled the end to the wait. The first quarter teetered in both teams’ favor, but the Wings led into the first break 21-19 on a driving lay-up from guard Odyssey Sims with seconds remaining.
The Wings earned another standing ovation with back-to-back looks from deep to break out, giving the team a seven-point lead in the second quarter. Dallas held its advantage into halftime, 41-38, as Bueckers led the Wings with eight points, while Sims and guard Arike Ogunbowale followed closely with seven each.
The Wings gave up their lead shortly after the break, as a 3-pointer from the Dream’s guard Allisha Gray put Atlanta back on top for the first time in the game since around the four-minute mark of the opening period.
Fouls picked up and the Dream threatened the largest deficit of the game, but an and-one lay-up from Ogunbowale kept it within four points and led to a brief takeover heading into the final quarter.
Ogunbowale ramped up in the second half and capped the Wings’ scoring with 20 points, six points behind the Dream’s Gray. Bueckers ended with 15 points after a slow second frame and was trailed by forward Alanna Shepard’s 12 points to group all of Dallas’ double-digit scorers.
The Dallas Wings cheer after scoring during a game against the Atlanta Dream on May 12 at College Park Center. The game was the home opener for the Wings.
“Honestly, everybody can eat, from the post to the guards,” Ogunbowale said. “When we move the ball around and share it, it’s pretty, but I think with this system, things are open. You can drive, you can shoot, there’s just a lot of good looks that can be had.”
The Dream swapped back the advantage for the eighth and final time early in the fourth quarter, thanks to two drained shots beyond the arc from Gray, and solidified their road win.
The Wings stay home for another midweek match-up, facing the Minnesota Lynx at 7 p.m. Thursday at College Park Center. The game will be available to stream on Amazon Prime.
“When you lose a game, everybody’s accountable, myself, coaching staff, the players, everybody within the organization,” Fernandez said. “Now you gotta have short-term memory, and not let this game affect the next one. We got a three-game home stand, and now we got Minnesota coming in here; that preparation starts tomorrow.”
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