Dallas Wings Team Notes

 The Wings are now 9-8 for the season and 6-3 at home.

 Against the Fever the Wings are now 2-0 for the season with one game remaining in the year.

 The Wings 27 margin of victory marks as the second highest win for the Wings this season, behind their 29-point victory against the Sparks on June 26.

 For the second time this season, the entire wings roster has scored in the game.

 The Wings 12-point lead at the half marked as the second-best lead for the team in the first half this season.

 Tonight 47 total boards ranks as the fifth time this season the team has registered 40 or more boards in a game. It also ties our season high in total boards for the season.

 On the defensive end, the Wings grabbed 36 rebounds, the second highest recorded this season, behind their 39 against Atlanta on May 26.

 Out of the 17 games played this season, the Wings have recorded 30 or more boards in 16 games.

 Tonight’s bench recorded a new season high of 49 points led by rookie Azurá Stevens who scored 26 points.

 Three Wings players hit double figures for the night.

Dallas Wings Player Notes

 Off the bench rookie Azurá Stevens recorded her first 20-point game with a new career high of 26 points. Coming into the second half, Stevens was two points shy from tying her most recent mark of 13 points.

 Liz Cambage ended the night with 17 points. She has scored double figures in all 17 games played so far this season. She also shot 50% from the field going 6-for-12.

 Skylar Diggins-Smith dished out seven assists to lead the team. This is the seventh game she has recorded seven assists, which is the third best she has recorded this season.

 Cayla George also reached a new high in total rebounds with five. Before tonight’s contest she had four, which was recorded on July 1 against Minnesota.

Head Coach Fred Williams

(On tonight’s game) “I thought the game, from the start we were real focused. We had a lot of energy today. Good combination passes by everyone on offense. Defensively, we had the presence to get down and play triple-threat defense. I’m always finding something and we’ve got to do a little better on turnovers. A lot of those are unforced. I hate for those turnovers to turn into points and I thought Indiana capitalized on some of those turnovers.”

(On the midpoint of the season) “It’s been good. They come to work every day at practice. You saw how they enjoy playing with each other in the game. Everyone is starting to get in rhythm with each other and they just really like playing with each other.”

(On Wings forward Azura Stevens) “I thought her footwork was really good offensively, getting her shot off and she was just really energetic getting to the rim and finished some shots. She is just a rhythm player, coming out and playing. That is what you want at this part of the season for players to improve. I thought she has really blossomed for us.” Wings forward Azura Stevens

(On tonight’s game) “In terms of the shots, I thought the team did a good job of finding me in good spots. I tried to come in and play with energy, so defensively I’m just trying to add positivity to whatever the starters are doing.”

(On the midpoint of the season) “I think we’re really picking up tonight. It was a good sign of us getting a lead and building on it. Some games we kind of piece it together, but tonight we really got that lead. The third quarter was a bit rough so we were really able to build that. I think that is a good sign moving forward.” Wings guard Aerial Powers

(On tonight’s game) “I’m just happy we got the win. We played pretty good. The shots went down tonight so I’m happy about that.”

(On continuing win streak) “We have to come out with more energy for our next game and keep the energy going. I feel like at times we were up and down today. As long as we keep that energy and play well.”

HEAD COACH POKEY CHATMAN

(On tonight’s performance) “It is difficult to win a basketball game when you are minus 25 on the boards. It does not matter that [Liz] Cambage was held under her average and Skylar [Diggins-Smith] was held under her average. And Azurá Stevens had a career night. It is one of those things where we start with the rebounds because you do a good job guarding people. They got over 20 second-chance points. I thought that was the difference in the ball game.”

(On takeaways from tonight’s game) “There are really great players in this league, and it is not just enough to stop the great ones. You have to have that same focus and defensive intensity to force them out of their comfort zone. It is not enough to take away from one, two, three, four players. You have to take it away from every player that is on the court.”

FORWARD CANDICE DUPREE

(On tonight’s performance) “The defense was not there for us. They killed us on the boards. They turned us over and scored quite a bit of points off that. Dallas had an attack mentality and we just kept settling for jumpers and that hurt us.”

(On what to build on moving forward) “If anything, we need to approach each game with the same mentality that Dallas has. We cannot settle. We need to do a better job rebounding. It is just a mindset.”