Dallas Wings Notes:

• The Wings played their 14th road game of the season.
• On the road the Wings are 5-9 and 3-4 against eastern conference opponents
• The Wings end the series with the Dream taking it overall with a 2-1 record.
• Overall the Wings are 14-16.
• The Wings ended the day with 36 total rebounds. It is the 25th time this season they have recorded 30-plus rebounds in a game. The Wings 36 total boards also marks as the second consecutive game they have out rebounded their opponent. The Wings boarded up 36 total boards to the Dreams 30.
• The Wings outscored the Dream this afternoon 13-9 in fast break points.
• Five players scored double figures for the day.

Dallas Wings Player Notes: 

• Skylar Diggins-Smith led the Wings for the 12th time this season with 26 points. It also marked as her 23rd double figure game for 2018 and 13th 20-plus point game overall.
• Azura Stevens and Kayla Thornton recorded 10 points for the day.
• Tayler Hill ended the day with 10 points, just one shy of her season high.
• Theresa Plaisance tied her season high with 13 points. She also tied 3-point field goals made with three.

Dream Post Game Quotes:

Dream Head Coach Nicki Collen

On the biggest thing she saw when Dallas cut the lead…

“We were calm. Certainly emphatic, but I said it the other night, I don’t think this team ever has fear in a close game. When we come to the sideline they know that you build a lead for a reason and sometimes it evaporates on you. But you know that you build that lead for a reason. We had a cushion. We had the ball, and when you go out and you make that next play that just gives you confidence.”

On whether her goals for the season have been exceeded…

“Yeah, absolutely. I think when you take over any program, franchise, whatever the right term is in the pros, your goal is to build your culture to kind of get your base on the court and off the court. We certainly had the plan to be a playoff team. We knew we had the personnel to be a playoff team, but we’ve really taken one game at a time approach…not gotten too high, not gotten too low. We tried to solve problems when we weren’t particularly playing well, tried to keep rolling with it when we are playing well but still try to find ways to be better. With the way the league is this year and the tightness of the race to the playoffs, you can’t take a night off.”

#21 Renee Montgomery

On what Coach Collen expressed during the game that the team needed to focus on to finish strong…

“Well, if you’ve seen the standings, the goal is to win every game. It’s so crazy and it’s so tight, and we put ourselves in a good position that if we take care of ourselves then we will be in the position we want to be in. We took care of home all season which is great, so we just kind of focused on each game at a time. We don’t look at the big picture, just each game. Just win each game.”

On the team’s chemistry…

“I just think we’re really good now at knowing our strengths, and when we allow another team to go on a run we pretty much know why, and so we kind of self correct really well. The good thing about our team is I can say anything I want to Easy and she takes it right. So if I tell somebody, “Hey, we’re launching too many threes. Get to the basket,” they don’t take it offensively. They’re like, “Alright,” and then we start going to the basket. So I think the main thing is we know our strengths and weaknesses, and we trust each other enough that if we’re telling you something it’s for a team purpose.”

#1 Elizabeth Williams

On what Montgomery has meant to the team…

“Well she’s a veteran. She knows what it means to win championships, and we need that obviously, and she can shoot the ball. That’s always helpful too. But honestly, she’s a great leader, a great vet. It’s fun to play with her, fun learning the game with her. She knows her scout so well. She studies the game, and I obviously appreciate that about her. It’s been fun. It’s been a cool ride, so we’re just going to keep it going.”

On when Jessica first signed with the Dream whether she was looking forward to forming a partnership under the basket with her…

“Definitely. I love blocking shots, but I love when my teammates block shots too. It’s nice defensively in the post if we end up switching for whatever reason, we have each other’s back. Coming in, obviously we know what she can do offensively, but I think a lot of people don’t realize how good of a defender she is as well. So I’m excited to play with her.”

Wings Post Game Quotes:

Wings Head Coach Fred Williams

On the team’s performance today…

“We had a few players that were injured and ill. I thought we showed some effort down the stretch when we had some runs to put ourselves in the game or to tie the game up. A lot of players don’t get a lot of playing time on this team and the ones that played tonight did. I was very pleased with how they performed. They showed good effort.”

On Tiffany Hayes disrupting outside shooters…

“She’s a good defender. She knows how to play. She has quick feet getting to the rim offensively. Defensively, she really shuts down the lane. With her size as a guard, she can do that. She can cover her mistakes. She’s showing good leadership on the Dream.”

#6 Kayla Thornton

On the team’s performance…

“We played hard, but we just didn’t get the job done.”

On takeaways from this game to prepare for next game against Washington Sunday…

“Boxing out.”

#4 Skylar Diggins-Smith

On today’s game…

“I thought we played hard. In the first quarter, we kind of lost the game. I think it was 29-15. They got out in that lead and we kind of played them even for the rest of the game. I thought we played alright. Transition defense and one-on-one defense could’ve been a little better, but you have to credit them for that. They’re great at attacking the rim. They found some mismatches underneath. Renee got going and she made some threes and that’s why they’re in the position that they’re in right now. This is not like we didn’t know what to expect or something new. They did what they usually do and you got to credit them.

On playing without Liz Cambage…

“We have a team full of capable players. Obviously, she’s a huge part of what we do. We have players I knew that could step up. I thought this game was still a wonderful game for us even without her and what she does for our team. We’re hoping to get her back soon. Until then it has to be the next man in. Next man up has to step up for us and there were players that did do that. We just couldn’t finish how we wanted to at the end.”