The Dallas Wings defeated the Phoenix Mercury 93-88 on Friday night. Phoenix trailed by as many as 17 points but came back and even held a brief 80-79 lead at one point in the fourth quarter. With the game tied at 83, Teaira McCowan hit 1-of-2 free throws, followed by Arike Ogunbowale’s three to give Dallas an 87-83 lead, and the Wings never looked back.
Ogunbowale finished with 24 points for the game, hitting six three-point shots on the evening. She also added six assists, regularly finding teammates for open looks. Ogunbowale has brought an edge to her game this season, and Dallas could be hard to beat when she hits her shots. Head coach Vickie Johnson loves when her star is a willing passer and the results bore out on Friday.
“I love it – I love the flow of it. I love when she becomes a willing passer. It makes the team so much better and it’s going to make her game easier. Because now they’re not going to double team as much because now, they know she’s going to make that pass. The third quarter she got a little shaky, I think she had like one assist in the second half. But I’m proud of her and she led the way from the beginning to the end.”
McCowan added her first double-double with the Wings scoring 18 points and grabbing ten rebounds. Coach Johnson gushed about McCowan’s effort following the game.
“I was very proud of her. We talked a little bit before the game. I told her she’s a walking double-double. I was very proud of her, not only her scoring and rebounding the basketball, but the way she defended. She was up and active and she didn’t allow Diana [Taurasi] to come and shoot a three in her face. She just did a great job for us. I think she’s feeling more comfortable with our team.
If McCowan can continue to play at this level, it would bode well for the Wings. She can be a force in the paint, and it could take some of the pressure off Ogunbowale offensively.
Dallas had five players score in double figures; Isabelle Harrison (16), Marina Mabrey (14), and Allisha Gray (12) all joined McCowan and Ogunbowale. Dallas was on fire from beyond the arc, shooting 48% and 48.5% from the field. They also outrebounded Phoenix 31-24.
Tina Charles played well for the Mercury, scoring 27 points and grabbing nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough for the victory. Skylar Diggins-Smith added 21 points and ten assists, while Diamond DeShields pitched in with 14 points.
In the end, Dallas did an excellent job controlling the boards and shooting from the outside to pull out a big win against Phoenix.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83
Photo: Lorie Shaull. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.