Notes & Quotes: Wings Defeat Sparks


ARLINGTON, TX. –  The Wings dominated the Sparks as they picked up their fourth home win of the season, 101-72 improving to 6-5 overall behind a balanced attack in which 10 Wings players scored, led by Liz Cambage who recorded her sixth 20-point game of the season with 20 points and five rebounds.

Rookie Azurá Stevens recorded her first career start and didn’t waste any time contributing for the Wings. Stevens led the way in the first quarter, scoring eight points on 3-for-6 from the field including 2-for-4 from behind the arc to give the Wings a 26-18 lead after one period. 2017 Rookie of the Year Allisha Gray also added eight points in the opening quarter.

The Sparks cut the lead to three early in the second quarter, but a 14-0 extended the Wings lead to 17. Cambage scored 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting in the opening half, despite only playing two minutes in the first quarter. Gray added 11 points and two rebounds. Skylar Diggins-Smith played the entire first half and dished out seven assists.

The Wings extended their lead over the Sparks in the third quarter, outscoring them 30-22 to take a 20-point lead, 77-57, into the final quarter.

The Wings dominated the fourth quarter to secure a 101-72 victory over the Sparks. The 101 points ties a season high, while the 29-point victory is the largest of the season for the Wings. Cambage paced the Wings with 20 points, while Aerial Powers led the Wings off the bench with a season-high 16 points on 6-for-11 from the field. Powers also pulled down a season-high eight boards.

Stevens finished her first career start with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from long-range. She also tied a career high with six rebounds. Diggins-Smith ran the offense efficiently for the Wings, recording a season-high 11 assists with just three turnovers while adding six points. In total, 10 players scored including Cayla George who scored her first basket of the season and helped the Wings’ bench pour in a season-high 41 points.

The Sparks were led by Nneka Ogwumike who scored 17 points on 7-for-9 from the field.

Dallas Wings Team Notes

  • The Wings played their fourth game at home for the 2018 season, and now have a 4-1 record when playing at College Park Center.
  • Tonight’s 101-point game has tied a season high for most points in a game for the team this season.
  • Overall the Wings are 6-5 and 4-2 in the month of June.
  • The Wings held the Sparks to just 72 points for night. Coming in to today’s game Los Angeles was averaging 79.9 points per game.
  • The Wings tied a season low in turnovers for the second time this season with just 11.
  • The Wings 14-0 run in the second quarter was the biggest run of the night.
  • The Wings dished out a new season high with 23 assists. Coming in to tonight’s game the most the team had recorded was 21.
  • The Wings grabbed over 30 rebounds for the 11th straight game this season. The team ended the night with 35 total boards.
  • Four Wings players shot perfect behind the charity stripe.  10 of the 12 Wings players scored for the night.
  • The Wings bench of 36 points marks as a new season high for the team.

Dallas Wings Player Notes

  • Liz Cambage recorded her sixth 20-point game of the night leading the way for the Wings with 20 points.
  • Rookie Azurá Stevens made her WNBA start tonight. She also recorded a career high in points with 13. In total boards Stevens tied her season high for the third time this season with six.
  • Skylar Diggins-Smith dished out a season high in total assists with 10.
  • Off the bench, Aerial Powers led all scores with 16 points doubling her high for the season.
  • Leticia Romero tied a season high recording six points for the night.

Head Coach Fred Williams Quotes 

(On tonight’s game) “It was a good team effort from everyone. We pretty much have a full roster right now, everyone is healthy except Plaisance and Christmas-Kelly. I thought the defense really set the tone in the first half and it carried over to the third quarter, and the players coming off the bench really helped us a great deal. It was just a team effort, and a lot of work we put in defensively in practice, and it paid off tonight.”

(On the team enjoying tonight) “You enjoy the game when you pass the ball and share it, and things go right for you. It’s good. We’re getting new players on the team and they are getting acclimated with us. It’s good to see them get minutes too. I thought George just getting off the plane from Australia played well tonight. I thought Azura Stevens did a great job shooting the three, and Aerial Powers came off the bench and did some great stuff for us.”

(On the status of the Wings) “We were just on point tonight. We still have to see LA next week in LA and they are going to remember the score, that’s for sure. We’ll have to stay on our game and face the challenge of going there. Before that we still have to play Seattle. It wasn’t anything far as beating them down or anything. Our team was playing in a rhythm tonight and it was nice to see it happen.” Wings forward Azura Stevens

(On her three-point shooting) “It felt nice for it to get in. I just credit my teammates, they found me in good positions and I just had to knock it in.”

(On her first start) “It’s just part of being a player. You go through your ups and downs, but you have to keep the same spirit whether the shots are going in or not. I know the three was falling but I was trying to find other ways to get involved. I got some quality minutes with Liz and just being able to throw it in to her. It’s all about attitude and keeping the same attitude whether shots are falling or not. On days when they are falling, you can have fun with it and if they are not, it’s all part of the game.” Wings guard Skylar Diggins-Smith

(On tonight’s game) “…It just felt like it was a lot of fun. It was the biggest crowd I had ever seen for us. It was African-American heritage night, Juneteenth was just around the corner. Everybody came out for the culture. It was so loud that I couldn’t even hear the plays that I was trying to call because the fans were reacting so well. It was just a lot of energy. It was really electric. One of the most fun games that I have played in my career.”

Head Coach Brian Agler Quotes

Thoughts on the game “I just think they had a lot more energy, a lot more focus. They were hungrier than we were, and I think they were more persistent. So, you know, X’s and O’s, you can throw those things out the window when one team is doing the intangible things a lot harder than the other team.”

On Dallas’ new starting lineup “Yeah, they shot the ball well from the three-point line, that was probably their best night of the season from three. I just think they made adjustments to their starting lineup, they came in, they played really well. My hat’s off to them.”

On the transition game “Like I said multiple times, your offense complements your defense and your defense complements your offense. So, if you get stops, then you can play in transition. If you score, then you make the other team take the ball out of bounds. So, from our standpoint, we weren’t scoring so they were constantly in transition. And they came down and scored quick on us.”

On preparing for New York and a rematch vs Dallas “Our approach right now is just focusing on New York, you know, that’s how we operate. We don’t look too far ahead, we just focus on the next one…Things change from day to day, we’ll just see how we respond mentally. We’ll see how hungry we come back, we’ll just see how we come together. This will be interesting. I’ve been in this long enough, we’ve got a game in less than 48 hours with New York, so you have to make a decision at some point how hard are you going to try to get back into the game, and when I made a decision that’s probably going to be difficult to do that, then right now your focus is to get ready for the next one.”

Forward, Nneka Ogwumike

On the game “They took control of the game, they maintained control. We tried making some runs, but we didn’t respond as strongly as we wanted to.”

On defending Liz Cambage “I guarded her my first two years in the league…it was the same, she’s a tough guard, you know, she’s a big body in there and she knows how to use her body. That was pretty much it, she was playing the way she knows how to play.”

On sharing the ball “I think we did an okay job sharing it, but obviously, when they maintained control of the game, the ball was stopped, and the ball was stagnant. We don’t operate very well when the ball doesn’t move. And when you don’t have very good offensive possessions, it’s not easy to stop the ball in transition and when they get into their offense.”

On transition offense and defense “It’s tough when you’re not getting the shots you want to get, like I said, that puts you out of position both for O-boards and also defense. So they capitalized on that, they were getting all the rebounds, they were getting all the runs.