ARLINGTON, Texas — In their first game back from the All-Star break, the Dallas Wings (14-12) hosted the Chicago Sky (10-17) in their final regular season meeting.
The playoff race has very little room for error as a loss could drop a team down two and possibly three spots. Dallas needed a win tonight to stay afloat but ultimately made postseason play that much harder.
In their last meeting, Chicago boasted a 114-99 victory at home behind Courtney Vandersloot’s triple-double—the seventh ever triple-double in WNBA history. You can credit their 3-point attack for much of their success this season.
That same 3-point attack put the dagger into Dallas early. Chicago came out the floodgates with high energy and recorded 28 points in the first quarter alone shooting perfect from beyond.
It got ugly really fast for Dallas who was 6-18 from the floor (33.3%). The Sky led 28-15 going into the second quarter.
Liz Cambage led the way for Dallas with 12 first half points. Her minutes were abruptly cut short due to a quick collection of three personal fouls.
With Cambage riding the bench momentarily, this opened the door for Cayla George to get more court time. Her absence also allowed for Theresa Plaisance to enter her first game of the season after suffering an ACL injury. She only played for less than five minutes but the home crowd welcomed her return with a standing ovation.
Dallas’ new signee, Tayler Hill, made her debut as a Wings player and collected four points in the first half.
Tonight proved that you cannot let the Sky get a hot shooting hand or you’ll be playing a game of catch-up for the rest of the game. Chicago led by as much as 24 points during the game.
Dallas trailed Chicago 56-36 going into halftime.
Whatever pep talk or prayer the Wings did during halftime worked because they opened the second half on a 25-13 run to chip away at the 20-point deficit.
The Wings began to pick apart the Sky’s defense and even forced rim protector Stefanie Dolson into foul trouble with five going into the final frame.
To put it simply, the fourth quarter was a shootout. The lead changed at least five times within the quarter.
Kayla Thornton drove to the basket for a layup to make it a four-point game. Chicago’s Cheyenne Parker answered with a quick basket to make it a two-point game—again.
Time was dwindling down and the odds were not looking to be in Dallas’ favor.
With less than five seconds on the clock, Skylar Diggins-Smith attempted to dish a quick pass to Cambage put ultimately threw the ball away sealing the win for the Chicago Sky 92-91.
Only eight games remain on the schedule for the Wings with their next matchup against the Indiana Fever on Thursday.
LEADING SCORERS
Liz Cambage -33 points, 13 rebounds
Allie Quigley – 22 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist
