ARLINGTON, TX- The Dallas Wings took down the Atlanta Dream 94-82 with a comeback win in the second half.
Satou Sabally led Dallas with a playoff career high of 32 points, 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
Head coach Latricia Trammell said right now, Satou is playing her best basketball.
“Satou went 7-7 from the free throw line, 4 steals, 4 assists, 5 rebounds, 32 points, and she earned every moment of those points,” said Trammell. “She scored at all three levels and when you have a player like that you can come back from 20-point deficits.”
The Atlanta Dream came out fiery in the first half, scoring 7-points before Dallas could touch the board. Atlanta was able to put early pressure on the Wings and were successful on the perimeter, knocking down shots from the outside. The Dream took a 15-point lead in the first quarter.
Rhyne Howard and Allisha Gray were the duo to knock down shots, combining for 35 of Atlanta’s 49-points.
The Dream forced turnovers until the middle of the second quarter. Dallas had impactful minutes off the bench from Odyssey Sims, who came in to control the defense and put up 5-points.
Atlanta head coach Tanisha Wright said Sims did a good job coming in and being disruptive on the defensive end.
“She did a great job. They put her in to pressure the basketball and be disruptive,” said Wright. “She forced us to start our runs further than we wanted to and stayed being aggressive.”
Dallas found an offensive groove in the second quarter and forced turnovers. The Wings finished with 6-total steals; Arike Ogunbowale (1), Natasha Howard (2), and Satou Sabally (3).
Teaira McCowan brought the game 48-49 with a good layup and was then fouled by Atlanta’s Aari McDonald. McCowan went 1-1 from the free throw line, tying the game going into the half 49-49.
It was a back-and-forth second half but McCowan came in clutch for Dallas in the third quarter making shots and being a big presence on the defensive end. Teaira finished the game with 17 points and 14 boards.
Coach Trammell said McCowan had offensive boards that kept the Wings in the game. With her big performance Trammell gave Teaira the drip-chain.
“Teaira had some big offensive boards there at the end that kept us in the game,” said Trammell. “She was battling, so we rewarded her for that double-double and her teammates were excited for her.”
With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard was fouled by Dallas Satou Sabally and sunk both free throws, bringing the game within 2-points, 80-82.
Dallas took the lead with a 3-pointer by Natahsa Howard, 85-80. Dallas capitalized on back-to-back loose balls from Atlanta’s Allisha Gray. Arike Ogunbowale stole the ball and made the layup, 87-80.
Sabally missed a 2-pointer with fifty-one seconds remaining. It got chippy between the two teams for the ball but McCowan grabbed the offensive rebound. Teaira was fouled by Atlanta’s Cheyenne Parker on the putback and went 1-2 from the free throw line, 91-81.
Fourty-seven seconds ran down on the clock but the Dream’s Rhyne Howard had a personal foul that gave Veronica Burton the chance at two from the line. Burton knocked down both shots to ice the game 94-82.
Although the Wings secured the win, the team had 18 total turnovers against Atlanta. Postgame Coach Trammell they will comeback Sunday to watch film to see how they will fix the turnover issue before Tuesday night’s game.
“The biggest thing that we will show and talk about is the turnovers and how those came about,” said Trammell. “We will also continue to build off what worked for us, adjust a few things, and get back ready for Tuesday. Hopefully we can come out with another victory.”
UP NEXT: The Dallas Wings will remain at home to take on the Atlanta Dream for game 2. Tip-off is at 8pm at in Arlington.
