Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings shot 5-8 from the three point line, tallying 17 points in an 85-82 win over the Atlanta Dream at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
ARLINGTON, Texas — It was a complete performance for the Dallas Wings against the Atlanta Dream on Friday evening at College Park Center. On the strength of Jacy Sheldon‘s career high 17 points, Teaira McCowan‘s seventh double-double of the season and the Wings’ starting five tallying double digits in points, Dallas defeated Atlanta, 85-82.
From the opening tipoff, Dallas set the tempo on the hardwood court against a battle tested Atlanta. McCowan’s layup 17 seconds into the game coupled with Sheldon’s first trey 64 seconds later pushed the Wings ahead of the Dream, 5-0.
Nia Coffey and Tina Charles scored early points for Atlanta to make it a one-point margin with Dallas. In a span of 47 seconds, Natasha Howard‘s turnaround jumper and turnaround hook shot put Dallas back in the lead, 9-4.
It was a back and fourth opening quarter with Maya Caldwell, Alissha Gray, Naz Hilmon and Destanni Henderson making baskets for the Dream. Arike Ogunbowale and Monique Billings got on the scoring sheet early with Dallas leading Atlanta, 20-16, at the end of the first quarter.
Then, it became a scoring affair in the second quarter between Atlanta and Dallas. Haley Jones‘ floating bank jumper just nine seconds into the quarter and free throw made it a 20-19 score with Dallas leading.
Much like the first quarter, McCowan and Sheldon were on a scoring frenzy. As McCowan drove toward the rim with points in the paint, Sheldon shot beyond the arc with two of her five treys made in the second quarter.
Ogunbowale and Odyssey Sims contributed with their baskets for Dallas while Caldwell, Gray and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus chipped in for Atlanta’s efforts. With the first half coming to a close, Dallas led Atlanta, 42-41, with the Dream outscoring the Wings, 25-22.
Coffey kicked off the third quarter with a three-pointer in the opening 18 seconds before Dallas went on a 9-0 run. Sims’ layup, Sheldon’s trey and two hook shots by Howard put Dallas ahead of Atlanta, 51-44, prompting Tanisha Wright, head coach of the Dream, to call a timeout for the Dream with 7:07 remaining.
Atlanta came out of the timeout on an 11-0 tear in the span of 2:37 as Gray, Jones, Charles and Parker-Tyus putting the Dream ahead of the Wings by four points. This led Latricia Trammell, Dallas’ head coach, to call a timeout with 4:33 left in the first half.
Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) tallied 19 points for the Dallas Wings en route to an 85-82 win over the Atlanta Dream in College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
Thanks to a 6-0 run for Dallas, led by Billings and Ogunbowale, the Wings retook the lead over the Dream by two points. Billings and Sims responded to Coffey’s layup with their baskets before Hillmon and Gray’s layups put Atlanta up by one over Dallas, 61-60, going into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter was like a dream for Dallas while it was a bit of a nightmare for Atlanta. Turnovers became the name of the game with Atlanta’s 10 which proved costly for the fledgling team.
A finger roll layup by Sheldon just 17 seconds into the quarter put Dallas back into the lead over Atlanta, 62-61. Not long after, Gray’s jumper gave the Dream a one-point lead over the Wings before Sheldon’s fifth and final three-pointer with 7:56 left in the quarter as Dallas led Atlanta, 65-63.
Charles showed who was in charge from Atlanta with her baskets which prompted Dallas to call a timeout with 6:43 left in the game. More importantly, Charles moved up to third in the WNBA’s all-time points list, tallying 12 for the Dream.
Teaira McCowan (No. 15) of the Dallas Wings captured her seventh double-double of the 2024 WNBA season. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
Lead changes became constant in the fourth quarter before McCowan’s free throws and layup put Dallas back in the lead over Atlanta, 74-71.
Sims capitalized on two costly turnovers by Atlanta in the final 2:03 of the game. Howard and Ogunbowale combined to score 6 points for Dallas while Parker-Tyus, Gray and Jones cumulatively collected Atlanta’s final nine points.
Despite Atlanta outscoring Dallas with points in the paint, 54-38, bench points, 17-9, and team rebounds, 12-9, it was the 28 costly turnovers that proved costly for the Dream but beneficial for the Wings.
Following the Wings’ fifth win of the season, Sheldon reflected on her career night in just her eighth WNBA start of her rookie season.
“I think the people around me, this whole team builds that confidence more than anything,” Sheldon said. “So I think that’s the most helpful thing. And this is a good one for us. So I think just confidence moving forward and taking that over to Vegas and continuing to play together and confidently, as you know, [is] our focus right now.
Struggling in the past two games, McCowan captured her seventh double-double of the year and first since Dallas’ 94-88 win over the Minnesota Lynx on June 27. McCowan considered the support she had to return to her dominant self on the court.
“That’s what I do. I fell off a little bit. I’ve been in a little slump, but I’m coming back, thanks to my teammates,” McCowan said. “And Coach [Trammell] has always been keeping me uplifted and positive.
“So just kudos to them. And I’m slowly coming out of it. Well, I’m out of it.”
All the winning ingredients were prevalent for a determined Dallas Wings squad in their final home game until Saturday, July 13 against the Los Angeles Sparks. In this case, it was what happened on the bench with the team, particularly during timeouts, that had the team gelling as well as they did on the court during play.
“I’m probably going to talk about just the intangibles is probably the timeouts, to be honest,” Trammell said. “They just kept being positive, giving great sticky notes to one another. You could just see the determination in every player.
“And that’s even from the bench players as well. So I think this their communication and they’re just continuing to compete at a high level.”
The Rundown
Odyssey Sims (No. 2), Natasha Howard (No. 6), Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24), Teaira McCowan (No. 15) and Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) scored 10 or more points against the Atlanta Dream at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, July 5, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
| Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Total |
| Atlanta Dream | 16 | 25 | 20 | 21 | 82 |
| Dallas Wings | 20 | 22 | 18 | 25 | 85 |
Playoff Picture
After capturing the 85-82 win over the Atlanta Dream (7-12), the Dallas Wings (5-16) sit three games behind the Indiana Fever (8-13), who currently hold the eighth and final playoff spot for the 2024 WNBA Playoffs.
Both teams square off in their first regular season matchup on Wednesday, July 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT live on ESPN, the final game before the WNBA All-Star Game and Paris Olympic break.
Atlanta Dream: By the Numbers
Tina Charles (No. 31) of the Atlanta Dream moved into third place in the WNBA all-time points scored list. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
| Atlanta Dream | ||||||||||||||
| Starters | Minutes | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Nia Coffey (F) | 16 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -13 | 7 |
| Tina Charles (C) | 31 | 5-11 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | -5 | 12 |
| Allisha Gray (G) | 37 | 7-15 | 1-3 | 4-6 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 19 |
| Maya Caldwell (G) | 32 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| Haley Jones (G) | 35 | 7-9 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
| Bench | Minutes | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Cheyenne Parker-Tyus (F) | 24 | 4-9 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | -3 | 8 |
| Lorela Cubaj (F) | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Naz Hillmon (F) | 13 | 3-3 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Laeticia Amihere (F) | 3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
| Destanni Henderson (G) | 7 | 1-3 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -6 | 2 |
Dallas Wings: By the Numbers
Monique Billings (No. 25) of the Dallas Wings had a solid, nine-point performance in an 85-82 victory over the Atlanta Dream at College Park Center on Friday, July 5, 2024, in Arlington, Texas. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)
| Dallas Wings | ||||||||||||||
| Starters | Minutes | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Natasha Howard (F) | 24 | 5-8 | 1-2 | 13-17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Teaira McCowan (C) | 28 | 6-14 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| Odyssey Sims (G) | 39 | 5-9 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 14 |
| Arike Ogunbowale (G) | 39 | 6-16 | 3-10 | 7-7 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 19 |
| Jacy Sheldon (G) | 35 | 6-12 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Bench | Minutes | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Monique Billings (F) | 17 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -5 | 9 |
| Kalani Brown (C) | 10 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -2 | 0 |
| Lou Lopez Senechal (G) | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sevgi Uzun (G) | 6 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephanie Soares (C) | DNP – Coach’s Decision | |||||||||||||
Coming Up Next
Dallas (5-16) duel the Las Vegas Aces (12-6) at Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Sunday, July 7, at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT/12:30 p.m. PT live on ESPN.
In the most recent matchup on June 5, the Aces defeated the Wings, 95-81, at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. A’ja Wilson scored 36 points, 12 rebounds and two assists for the Aces. Meanwhile, Ogunbowale tallied 31 points, four rebounds and seven assists for the Wings.
