In its second matchup of the season, the Dallas Wings lost 86-69 to the Atlanta Dream on Friday. The loss brought Dallas back to .500.
Despite a poor first half, the Wings delivered a close fourth quarter, where Dallas gained its first lead of the game.
Odyssey Sims stole the ball and made a layup on the fast break, making the score 64-63 with 7:35 remaining in the game.
After an Atlanta timeout, the Dream regained the lead with a reverse layup from Rhyne Howard. Then, extended the lead to 69-64 with an Allisha
Gray cutting layup and Reese layup, forcing a Dallas timeout.
Atlanta scored with a layup from Naz Hillmon. Dallas responded with a trip to the charity strip. Awak Kuier went 1-of-2 from the free throw line to make the score 71-65.
The Dream added to its lead as Dallas struggled with turnovers since briefly taking the lead.
The Wings finished the game with 14 turnovers and three players in double figures. Jessica Shepard had 10 points with 11 rebounds while Sims finished with 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field. Kuier led the team with 16 points while shooting 6-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 from the field.
Kuier scored 12 points in the third quarter.
The third quarter began with a steal from Paige Bueckers, who moved the ball to find Alanna Smith near the basket. Smith scored the first points of the second half and made the score 44-33.
Shepard hit a jump shot, Sims hit a 3-pointer and Bueckers made a layup to bring the score to 48-40 with 7:09 remaining in the third quarter.
Atlanta responded to the Wings scoring with a timeout and regained its lead.
Kuier hit a deep 3-pointer to bring the score to 63-58 at the end of the third quarter. She went 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from beyond the arc in the quarter, bring the Wings back into the game from a rough first half.
A turnover by Shepard led to a fast-break layup for Howard, making the score 10-0 with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter. Dallas took a timeout.
The Wings were 0-for-7 from the field when Jose Fernandez took a timeout.
Dallas failed to score on the following possession after the timeout, but Azzi Fudd scored on the second possession. Fudd received a pass from Bueckers and scored the first points for Dallas.
Although the Wings scored their first points of the game, Dallas continued to struggled offensively until Fudd hit her second shot of the game. After receiving another pass from Bueckers, Fudd hit a jumper to bring the deficit to 16-5.
Kuier and Maddy Siegrist both scored baskets to make the score 19-9 at the end of the first quarter. Dallas finished the first quarter shooting 4-for-20 from the field.
Dallas briefly closed the gap early in the second quarter.
After Fuier went 1-for-2 from the free-throw line, Dallas forced three straight turnovers to bring the score to 19-17 and force an Atlanta timeout.
Following the timeout, Atlanta rebuilt its lead. The Dream brought the score to 21-17 with a Reese putback layup, but Siegrist responded with a 3-pointer to make the score 21-20.
Bueckers hit a 3-pointer to make the score 27-23. On the next possession, Bueckers hit a jumper to make the score 29-25.
The Atlanta lead continued to grow while the Dallas offense struggled.
Although Arike Ogunbowale scored with a floater to bring the score to 38-27, Dallas took a timeout after Sika Kone was open on her cut to the basket. Her layup made the score 40-27 with 2:57 remaining in the second quarter.
Dallas entered halftime trailing 44-31. The Wings shot 13-for-41 from the field while the Dream shot 17-for-34 from the field in the first half.
Atlanta had three players finish in double figures. Howard led the team with 25 points as she went 7-for-12 from the field and 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Reese finished with 15 points and nine rebounds while Gray had 16 points.
