The Dallas Wings battled back to even their series at one game apiece against the Connecticut Sun on Sunday earning an 89-79 victory. The Wings got off to a great start, jumping out to a 22-7 first quarter lead. They then rode a solid third quarter which essentially put the game away for the Wings in their best of 3 series.
Tinkering with their lineup, Dallas opted to start Isabelle Harrison instead of Teaira McCowan. “Energy. She brought energy and she was able to match Jonquel Jones.”, said coach Vickie Johnson, “She is a rhythm player, and so we didn’t want her to get into a rhythm. She did a lot for us so I was happy that she was locked in and focused for us.”
Off the bench, McCowan scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Eight of those rebounds were on the offensive end of the court which translated to second chance points for the Wings. McCowan didn’t mind coming off the bench stating “The first game, I wasn’t going off of pick-and-rolls well, so coach called me and said she wanted to go with the more versatile player”, McCowan said,” So, I feel like, whatever my team needs, if I am not getting it done, then I just have to roll with the punches. And I was still able to go in and do what I do, it is not about starting it is about finishing.”
Kayla Thornton played outstanding for the Wings scoring 20 points and hitting 8-12 field goals to go along with 4-6 threes. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists on the night in a box score filling effort.
Allisha Gray played well, scoring 15 points and leading the team in assists with eight. “It feels great. Every year our goal is to make the playoffs and to take a step forward and get a win”, Harrison said. “It is very important and now we get to go home to Dallas and play in front of our home fans, so I am pretty excited about that.”
Jonquel Jones and Brionna Jones both had 20 points to lead the Sun while Dijonai Carrington added 13 points off the bench. DeWanna Bonner scored just nine points, while Alyssa Thomas could only muster six on the night. If Connecticut has any hopes of moving on in the playoffs, Bonner and Thomas will need to regain their form in a hurry.
The series now shifts to Dallas for game three in a win-or-go-home situation for both teams. Coach Johnson wants a packed house for game three telling reporters “Message to the fans. Show up and show out.” she said, “Connecticut fans have showed up and shown out, they came in, they packed the house. We want a packed house in Dallas. We want that support and that love, bring that energy. They are our sixth man, and you are going to see a team that is disciplined, that is focused, and is trying to advance to the semi-finals. That is what you are going to see.”
If the Sun lose game three, head coach Curt Miller will have some questions to answer after disappointing playoff performances in back to back years. With all the talent Connecticut has, on paper they shouldn’t fail in the first round of the playoffs. However that’s a very real possibility if Dallas sticks to their game and McCowan plays well. And with a little help from their fans Wednesday, the Wings could pull off the upset.
-LaMarr Fields
Twitter: @raiderway83
Photo: Lorie Shaull. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.