{"id":623671,"date":"2026-05-04T21:54:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:54:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623671\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T21:54:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T21:54:16","slug":"wings-waive-six-ahead-of-opener-builds-momentum-with-strong-preseason-wins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/623671\/","title":{"rendered":"Wings waive six ahead of opener, builds momentum with strong preseason wins"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Wings are refining their roster for the 2026 season, following a promising preseason victory over the defending champs, the Las Vegas Aces.<\/p>\n

DALLAS \u2014 The Dallas Wings<\/a> are beginning to shape their 2026 roster, making a series of cuts Monday as the team inches closer to its season opener.<\/p>\n

Dallas waived Rayah Marshall, Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu, Amy Okonkwo, Grace Berger, Lindsay Allen, and Costanza Verona, the team announced. The moves come as the Wings work toward finalizing their opening day roster by May 7, just two days before the regular season tips off.<\/p>\n

And if the preseason is any indication, there\u2019s plenty of reason for optimism.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, the Wings turned in a statement performance, knocking off the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces 101\u201384 Sunday night at the Moody Center. The game marked the first WNBA contest ever played in Austin, and Dallas made sure it was memorable.<\/p>\n

Head coach Jose Fernandez leaned into experimentation, playing 16 different players in the win. Still, he stayed true to form with his starting group, signaling before the game that he planned to keep that unit intact while rotating combinations behind it.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

One of those combinations featured a breakout performance from second-year guard Aziaha James. Coming off the bench, James led Dallas with 18 points, adding four rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block in just 16 minutes. She shot 6-of-13 from the field and 2-of-5 from three-point range.<\/p>\n

After the game, James credited her offseason experience in Unrivaled, along with a renewed defensive focus in camp, for her increased confidence and poise.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Rookie Azzi Fudd continued to find her rhythm, finishing with 12 points in her second career preseason appearance, while Paige Bueckers filled up the stat sheet with 11 points, four rebounds, and a team-high nine assists, falling just one assist short of a double-double in 21 minutes.<\/p>\n

Dallas did all of this without key contributors Arike Ogunbowale, who was sidelined with a right ankle injury, and Awak Kuier, who remains overseas.<\/p>\n

The countdown to meaningful basketball is now underway. The 2026 season tips off May 9, when the Wings travel to face Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever<\/a>. That game will air nationally on ABC, with local coverage on WFAA.<\/p>\n

KFAA\u2019s first exclusive broadcast<\/a> comes just days later with the team’s home opener on May 12 against Angel Reese and the Atlanta Dream at the College Park Center on the University of Texas at Arlington campus. For the Wings’ full season schedule, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Wings are refining their roster for the 2026 season, following a promising preseason victory over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-623671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}