The Dallas Wings had to get some emergency relief to have enough players to field a roster against the Atlanta Dream on Friday night.
Dallas signed Christyn Williams and extended another seven-day contract to Amy Okonkwo to give the Wings the league minimum eight players available for the game.
The Wings were able to sign players to the hardship exception since they were below the minimum needed. Teams are allowed to sign players to a replacement contract when they qualify for a hardship exception that
occurs when a squad has two players or more out due to injury, illness or other extenuating circumstances.
Dallas is missing Luisa Geiselsöder (right shoulder), Ty Harris (left knee), Aziaha James (right ankle), Haley Jones (right knee), Arike Ogunbowale (right knee), JJ Quinerly (left knee) and Li Yueru (left knee).
Star rookie Paige Bueckers was listed as questionable with an illness that forced her to miss the last game. She's expected to play against the Dream, who are in the middle of the postseason race.
“Our front office has been busy. Unfortunate with the bug that we're being hit with right now,” Dallas coach Chris Koclanes said. “Wish everyone was healthy and can get healthy quick. Lots of work behind the scenes to see who is available. It's an awkward time of the year because so many players are heading overseas for their international responsibilites.”
The Wings haven’t had a player appear in every game this season and the franchise has had over 100 games missed by players due to injury or absence over the course of the season.
“Credit to our front office for doing their work out there for bringing us some players,” Koclanes said.
The Wings (9-30) begin a four-game road swing in Atlanta.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
