The Dallas Wings failed to win its third straight game and a road victory over the Las Vegas in a a 99-84 loss on Thursday night.
The game featured the first time this season that Dallas traveled to play Las Vegas. The last two contests were home games for Dallas and played a part in the Wings beating the defending WNBA Champions in each game.
Despite a battle in the opening minutes of the first quarter, Las Vegas finished shooting 56% from the field in the first quarter.
Dallas played good defense
in the first minutes of the game as the Wings forced Aja Wilson to attempt difficult shots. Then, Wilson began hitting her shots and the Aces began hitting shots from beyond the arc. Dallas ended the first quarter trailing 28-17.
Despite Dallas fighting back in the second quarter, the Wings faced a 49-39 deficit. Las Vegas continued its offensive performance as Jessica Shepard scored 11 points in the quarter. As Shepard began getting to the basket, the Wings kept closing the gap with Las Vegas.
Shepard cut the deficit to 47-39 near the end of the second quarter with a three-point play. Shepard was fouled by Wilson on her layup, and Shepard made the free throw to cut the deficit to single digits. Wilson responded with her own free throws after she was fouled by Arike Ogunbowale.
During the third quarter, the Wings played good defense and kept the Aces from scoring for four minutes. The deficit dwindled to 57-52. However, Dallas failed to take advantage of the scoring drought. Las Vegas began scoring and extended its lead to 61-52. Dallas fought back but entered the fourth quarter trailing 71-63. Las Vegas kept playing well in the fourth quarter as the Wings failed to complete the comeback.
Aja Wilson
In the last two contests against Las Vegas, the Wings limited Wilson, helping Dallas win each game. Shepard, Awak Kuier and Alanna Smith all played a part in limiting the four-time MVP.
Smith was unavailable for the game on Thursday night while Shepard and Kuier were both in the starting lineup.
The duo started playing well on the defensive end against Wilson. Then, Wilson showcased her MVP form. She finished the first quarter with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.
In the opening minutes, Kuier forced the ball out of bounds as she redirected a pass intended for Wilson. She also forced Wilson to miss a shot from beyond the arc. However, the four-time WNBA MVP could not be stopped. She finished with 32 points on 12-of-21 shooting from the field and 8-of-11 from the free throw line.
Dallas struggled to not foul Wilson as Kuier finished with four personal fouls. Her final foul came in the third quarter as Wilson drove to the basket for a layup.
Dallas defensive struggles
Las Vegas entered the game fifth in the W with 89 points per game. Of course, the offense is led by back-to-back WNBA MVP Wilson, who had a game-high 32 points. Jackie Young (20), Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (13) and Chelsea Gray (12) finished in double figures.
The Aces finished the game shooting 53% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. The offense started hot by shooting 56% from the field and 50% from the 3-point line in the first quarter. The scoring allowed the Aces to build a lead that the team held on for the entirety of the game.
The 3-point shooting performance from Las Vegas was higher than the team’s average of 36.3%. Dallas has struggled with defending the three, and the game against the Aces joins the growing list of teams that have shot well from the 3-point line in games against Dallas.
The missing third scorer
Paige Bueckers and Jessica Shepard combined for 47 of the 84 points scored for Dallas.
Bueckers and Shepard are the engines to the Wings offense, but the Wings needed another scorer to compete with the Las Vegas offense led by Wilson.
Although Bueckers and Shepard have demonstrated the ability to carry the offensive load, Las Vegas is the type of team that can win despite both players reaching at least 20 points.
The Wings needed a third scorer to compete with the Aces. In the last two wins against the Aces, Dallas had at least four players reach double figures. Bueckers and Shepard were the only two players to reach double figures on Thursday night.
In the past, Ogunbowale has been a player the Wings can depend on to score points. She has scored at least 20 points in seven games this season. However, she struggled in the game against Las Vegas by scoring four points.
It was the second straight poor game from Ogunbowale who scored four points in the win against the Seattle Storm on Monday night.
