Dallas Wings Team Notes

 With the win the Wings are now 1-0 over the Mystics for the season and 32-28 overall.

 The Wings now hold a 14-9 record for the season and 9-3 at home.

 Tonight’s win places the Wings above the Mystics in the league standings, with the Wings holding a 14-9 record and the Mystics going to 13-10 for the season.

 Against the east, the Wings are 8-1 overall and undefeated at home with a 5-0 record.

 Tonight’s 90 point game marks the 11th time the Wings have scored 90 or more points in a game this season, including seven out of the last eight.

 With tonight’s 41 total rebounds, the Wings are now 12-4 when out boarding their opponent. It also marks as the team’s 22nd game of the season they have recorded 30+ total boards in a game and seventh 40 rebound game of the year.

 The Wings largest lead of the night was 15 points.

 Inside the paint the Wings outshot the Mystics 36-28. When outshooting their opponents in the paint the Wings are 12-3.

 In second chance points the Wings outscored the Mystics 12-2 and are now 13-3  Five Wings players recorded double figures for the night.

Dallas Wings Player Notes

 Liz Cambage led the team in total points this evening with 35 points, her 12th 20-plus point game of the season.

 Cambage also ended the night with 17 total boards to lead the Wings for the night and record her 10th double-double of the season.

 With the 35 points scored tonight, Cambage has scored the most points in consecutive games for a league player with a total of 88 in a two-game span. It beats Maya Moore who accumulated 80 points in a two-game span back in 2014.

 Cambage also became the first player in league history to score 35 points or more in consecutive games.

 Skylar Diggins-Smith dished out seven assists to lead the Wings for the 22nd time this season. She has led the team in 19 consecutive games under that category.

 Kayla Thornton recorded her 11th double figure game of the season with 15 points, just three points shy from her career high.

 Glory Johnson ended the night with 13 points, to record sixth double figure game.

 Azurá Stevens also recorded double figures for the night with 11. It marks as the 10th game this season she has registered double digits.

Head Coach Fred Williams

(On tonight’s game) “It was a very physical game, a tough game. I thought Washington shot the ball well, especially (Washington guard LaToya) Sanders outside. A lot of pick and pop plays against the post. For us, that’s moving the ball. In the second half, bucking down defensively. I thought we got some breaks toward the fourth quarter and we got some run outs. I thought we grinded it out tonight, getting ready for tomorrow.”

(On Wings forwards Azura Stevens and Kayla Thornton) “Thornton, we work with her defensively, on the defensive assignments. She had a tough guard tonight with (Washington forward Elena) Delle Donne. Glory Johnson had to guard her too. Z is a secret weapon off the bench. She gave us a spark and I felt it took her a little time to get in rhythm. She finally found it in the third quarter.”

(On holding Della Donne scoreless for two quarters). “I thought Thornton did a great job. I felt Della Done was trying to go with the hot hand with them tonight, to be honest with you. She wasn’t looking to score a great deal, but to pass it off. Don’t expect that the next game. I thought Thornton did a great job of just staying in her space and contest her shot.” Wings center Liz Cambage

(On tonight’s game) “I guess I’m feeling pretty confident at the moment. At the end of the day, all we want to do is win, no matter what it takes.”

(On her play the last two games) “I honestly thought I would be double or triple-teamed tonight and Skylar or Gray or Z would go off. But I guess I was feeling it again tonight.”

(On her season) “It’s all about our team getting better each game. I kind of felt like it was a step backwards defensively for us tonight. We’ve got Chicago in 24 hours so we’re focusing on that. We’ve got to do better tomorrow.” Wings forward Kayla Thornton

(On Della Donne) “…She’s a great player. She is going to score. I tried to limit those touches she gets. I have a defensive mind, and whoever my opponent is, I want to make sure they feel me.

Head Coach Mike Thibault

Thoughts on the game “They shot 37 free throws and we shot about 13, and that’s hard to overcome. The post players made some threes, you try so much to help on (Liz) Cambage, and other people started knocking down some shots. I thought we did a good job on (Skylar) Diggins-Smith, but they did a good job on (Elena) Delle Donne and (Kristi) Toliver tonight.”

On the defensive effort “It’s hard. I thought we played reasonably well for stretches, but you can’t give them second shots, can’t put them at the free throw line. That’s part of defense.”

On the fourth quarter rally bringing the team within four “We started making some shots that we hadn’t made earlier. We knocked down a couple of threes, Kristi Tolliver made a couple of shots – I think she hadn’t scored at halftime. We got the ball moving a little bit more, and it helps to do that when you get some defensive stops, we were able to get out and run a little bit.”

Forward, Elena Delle Donne

On the game “It was a tough one. A lot wasn’t going our way, but, you know, even with (Liz) Cambage going off, we were still in it and had a chance throughout the fourth. Unfortunately, couldn’t come away with it, but what’s great about this league is we have a game in two days, less than two days. So we’ve got to have a short memory and get ready for the next one.” On recent losses to teams above .500 and adjustments to make “Each game is different, this one, obviously, Cambage crushed us. We’re probably going to have to throw more at her next time. But each game is different, and every team in this league could be a championship team, so there aren’t and nights you can take off. We just have to continue to push through this little stretch.”

On fourth quarter adjustments “Offensively, we were trying to put Cambage in a lot of pick-and-rolls, keep the floor spread, and I think LaToya (Sanders) did an incredible job on both offense and defense. She had such a hard task tonight, and at times we weren’t able to help her on the defensive end. But we just thought keeping the floor spread, and getting Cambage into pick-and-rolls might be able to slow her down too.”

Guard, Kristi Toliver

On the game “Overall, it was obviously a tough game for us. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to. There was a lot of adversity in the game, a lot of different dimensions, a lot of different things going on. But we hung in there when things weren’t going our way, we stayed tough and resilient. It just felt like it was us against the world. The world won today.”

On defense containing Skylar Diggins – Smith [Jokingly] “Oh yeah, that was all me.” “Obviously, we knew we had to give attention to her, she can get going whenever, she’s extremely streaky. She does a good job not just scoring the ball, but distributing the ball, so we wanted to limit her to doing one thing. She had like seven assists tonight, so seven and four [points] is a good defensive effort for us as a unit. But they have so many great players that you can’t focus on just one or two when everybody can hurt you.”

On adjustments to prepare for next game “I think we know New York pretty well. This will be our final time playing them, we have to give a point of emphasis towards Tina (Charles), and her dominance on the block. I think if we bring the effort and just play like us on the offensive end, keep the game simple, then I think we’ll be fine.”