Dallas Wings Fall in Close Battle to Indiana Fever, 100-93

Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) drives it to the net against Caitlin Clark (No. 22), tallying 34 points for the Dallas Wings before losing to the Indiana Fever, 100-93, at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

ARLINGTON, Texas — As the 2024 WNBA season winds down, the resurgent Dallas Wings locked in for a highly anticipated, Sunday matinee matchup against the red hot Indiana Fever at College Park Center.

For the 32nd game of the Wings’ season, it was a dynamic, playoff-like atmosphere with a mix of hometown Wings fans with Fever and Caitlin Clark fans comprising another sold out crowd of 6,251 in attendance. With the rise of women’s basketball and sports never more prevalent across the league, Sunday’s matchup did not disappoint in terms of the competitiveness and enthusiasm for both teams.

Coming into the matchup, Indiana and Dallas respectively rode three-game winning streaks with the Fever breaking .500 for the first time in five years while the Wings moved two games within eighth place Chicago Sky. With the 2024 WNBA Playoffs looming, victories down the stretch proved pivotal for the two teams.

From the start, it was evident that this would be a high scoring thriller when Kelsey Mitchell made a cutting layup just 29 seconds into the game. Arike Ogunbowale, on the other hand, responded 14 seconds later with a 24′ three pointer that set the tone for a historical performance by the Notre Dame alum.

Mitchell, Clark and NaLyssa Smith raked in Indiana’s 19 first quarter points as Dallas led the opening stanza with 23 points from Ogunbowale, Natasha Howard and Satou Sabally‘s offensive efforts.

Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings drove to the rim against Caitlin Clark (No. 22) of the Indiana Fever at College Park Center on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Defensively, fans at College Park Center saw shades of Big 10 college basketball with Wings rookie Jacy Sheldon meticulously guarding Clark with intensity reminiscent of The Ohio State University’s battles against the Iowa Hawkeyes. Throughout the game, Sheldon stymied Clark’s rhythm, particularly with her trademark long distance shots and in the paint.

Going into the the second quarter, Sheldon, with a helper from Kalani Brown, executed a cutting layup shot, offsetting Damris Dantas‘ free throws. Mitchell’s jumper and trey resulted in a quick, 5-0 run for Indiana, prompting a Dallas timeout with 8:26 left in the second frame.

A red hot Ogunbowale continued her torrid offensive barrage while Howard, Brown, Sabally and Teaira McCowan raked in 23 points to Indiana’s 26 points tallied by Smith, Mitchell, Clark and Lexie Hull. After the first half, Dallas led Indiana, 46-45, with Ogunbowale and Sabally catalyzing the Wings’ offensive charge while Clark and Mitchell countered with their opportunities.

In the third quarter, Sabally sank three consecutive three-point shots while Ogunbowale added another trey to bring Dallas to a 58-52 lead with 6:53 remaining. A hard fought battle for the ball ensued between Clark and Sheldon 47 seconds later with the Buckeye nabbing her second steal before being fouled.

Banking both free throws, Sheldon and Howard extended Dallas’ lead to nine over Indiana with 5:33 left in Q3, 64-55, the biggest advantage held by the Wings in the game. However, Indiana responded with Clark’s two free throws from a foul by Sheldon before Mitchell countered Ogunbowale’s 25′ trey with a layup and three-pointer, the latter drawing a flagrant foul.

Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) of the Dallas Wings tied the WNBA record for most threes made in a game in a tough defeat to the Indiana Fever on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Nevertheless, Mitchell scored on her free throw technical and flagrant transpiring from the foul against Dallas with 3:50 left. Dusting off that call, the Dallas triumvirate of Sabally, Ogunbowale and Howard along with Brown pushed Dallas to a 74-70 lead over Indiana going into the final quarter.

Seeking their second win of the season against Indiana, Dallas sought to close out this pivotal matchup in the fourth quarter with Howard’s free throws stemming off a foul called on Temi Fagbenle in the opening 39 seconds.

Even when Clark was not on the scoring attack, her playmaking skills were on display, earning another double-double with 7:50 remaining in the game with helpers to Aliyah Boston and Dantas, tying the score, 78-78.

From here on out, the pace of the game became frantic with four lead changes in a span of 4:31. Mainly, Clark’s trademark threes in 21 seconds, countered by a Howard driving floating jump shot, made every possession and basket count in the end.

Nearly halfway into the fourth quarter, Ogunbowale made an impressive 26′ trey, resulting in the game’s sixth tie, 87-87, before Sheldon netted a 15′ pullup jumper to give Dallas the go-ahead by two points with 4:20 remaining.

Dantas responded to Sheldon’s effort, resulting in the game’s seventh tie. Missed free throws and fouls by Dallas, along with Mitchell, Clark and Hull’s contributions, put Indiana back in the driver’s seat.

In the final 2:20 of the game, Sheldon exemplified Dallas’ ‘refuse to lose’ nature, scrambling to steal the ball from Clark. McCowan drew a foul on Boston four seconds later, making one of her two free throws to make it a 92-91 game, still within reach for the Wings.

Inside the game’s final 118 seconds, Mitchell scored the dagger that essentially clinched the win for Indiana with Sabally tallying Dallas’ final points of the game. On the final play, Clark stole the ball from McCowan with 12 seconds left as Indiana defeated Dallas, 100-93.

Despite losing in a close, heartbreaking manner in a game within reach against Indiana, Sabally and Sheldon considered the positives for the Wings.

Satou Sabally (No. 0) of the Dallas Wings continued her incredible scoring barrage with 25 points on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“We stayed together as a team,” Sabally said. “I think that really that was really pointed out to me we kept huddling, we kept communicating and talking.

“And I mean, kudos to Indy. They had a great game and they matched us really well. But yeah, we stayed together and that is our identity. And we’ll move forward to the next game.”

Likewise, Sheldon recognized how important it was for her teammates to support each other in a rare game that sometimes resembled an away matchup.

“Yeah, I agree. I think in an environment like that, it’s a hostile environment,” Sheldon observed. “I think the most important thing is us being there for each other. And we were throughout the whole game. And obviously you know, we want the win and this one hurts. But I think like you talked about the positives, that’s definitely something positive we can take away.”

Wings head coach Latricia Trammell recognized her team’s individual and overall milestones in an incredible, hard-fought battle against their Eastern Conference foes.

“Just playing every possession and fighting to win,” Trammell said. “Arike tied the WNBA record for made threes, six 30 point game of the year. Tea [McCowan], even though she’s sick, throwing up on the side, but four straight double digit rebounding game, which was good.

“Team season high made threes, scored 90 plus points for the fourth straight game, fewer turnovers than opponent for the seventh time. And then Tash [Howard] had a season high nine assists. So we’re going to build on this going into on Tuesday’s game. Very proud of them.”

In the past few games, Sevgi Uzun found herself playing in the “1” after coming off the bench with plentiful minutes. On Sunday afternoon, Sheldon’s defensive prowess and playmaking against Clark was not lost upon Trammell’s mindset with her team’s rotations considering the pair’s formidable history.

“It’s the first thing when I walked into the locker room I said because Caitlin is good, I think we all know that,” Trammell said. “And she had two back-to-back threes. Just unreal there in the fourth quarter. But Jacy went against Caitlin, knows her game better than anyone, went against her in college for four years.

“And so I think Jacy’s intensity, knowing Caitlin’s game extremely well, I thought she did a good job.”

For the player affectionately called the Wings’ ‘Energizer Bunny,’ Sheldon offered her insights on what it took to guard against Clark.

Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings consistently guarded Caitlin Clark (No. 22) of the Indiana Fever reminiscent of their Big 10 matchups. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“Yeah, she a really good player,” Sheldon shared. “Everybody sees it. I think you just look forward to those matchups when you’re a competitor. But she can really pass. She can pass the crap out of the ball. And that’s what makes her so hard to guard. Honestly, you kind of got to pick your battles and choose. But I think obviously, like you guys said, she’s a great player.”

Along with picking the right battles to fight, it was about identifying the opportunities to close out a game even against a tough team like Indiana as Sabally pointed out.

“I don’t have a down feeling at all,” Sabally said with brimming confidence. “Honestly, I feel like I’m already thinking about the next game and what we could have done better, especially closing out the game and finishing out the game.

“It’s about details we didn’t execute in the end and it’s the WNBA. Like we’re going to get punished if we don’t do that. So for the next game, just playing 40 minutes and not 37. That’s all I’m thinking about right now.”

Sheldon echoed those sentiments from Sabally while recognizing how her team can set the tempo ahead of their games against the Washington Mystics on Tuesday evening and the Atlanta Dream on Friday evening, two teams ranked ahead of Dallas in the WNBA standings.

“I’d feel better if we came out with a win,” Sheldon said. “I’m really proud of how we stayed together and just getting more comfortable playing with these girls. And they make it easy. I think they they build my confidence more than anyone.

“So I think getting really comfortable within the offense and defense and continuing to make them better, not only myself and honestly, whenever I’m out there, I just want to give it my all, play as hard as I can. And that’s where my focus is at. I think we could have taken took control at the end there [and] control the pace. And I think that’s what we’ll do moving forward these next two games.”

Even with Ognbowale tying the WNBA record for three-pointers made in a single game, Trammell observed her star player’s desire and will to win above accolades.

Satou Sabally (No. 0) of the Dallas Wings, guarding Kelsey Mitchell (No. 0) of the Indiana Fever, recognized the significance of Sunday’s game amidst the throngs of Caitlin Clark fans at College Park Center. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

“That’s one thing about Arike. She’s never going to be satisfied,” Trammell said. “And she’s like these two next to me and everyone else in the locker room who wanted to win. That’s the ultimate goal. She’s probably not even worried about that. She did an amazing job but she’s not satisfied. But we’re proud of that. That’s a big record.”

Ahead of the Wings’ critical game against the Mystics on Tuesday evening, Sabally recognized the magnitude and circumstances of playing in front of the College Park Center faithful particularly with Clark’s legions of fans disbursed around the arena.

“When I was driving to the game today, obviously, it’s annoying because there were way too many Caitlin fans,” Sabally quipped. “Kudos because it’s amazing to see so many people in women’s basketball jerseys. It’s amazing to see the excitement and the the joy that comes out of that.

“So although I feel like our Dallas fans could have done better, I had mixed feelings seeing all the Caitlin jerseys in our home, but it’s an amazing sign for women’s basketball and it’s just great how how far we’ve come.”

The Rundown

Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings scrambles for the rock against Damris Dantas (No. 12) of the Indiana Fever. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Indiana Fever: By the Numbers

Caitlin Clark (No. 22) of the Indiana Fever battled Jacy Sheldon (No. 4) of the Dallas Wings to earn her 12th double-double of her rookie WNBA season. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Dallas Wings: By the Numbers

Natasha Howard (No. 6) of the Dallas Wings earned 18 points and nearly garnered a double-double against the Indiana Fever. (Photo: Dylan Nadwodny | The Podium Finish)

Playoff Picture

Although the Dallas Wings fall to 9-23, the team remains two games behind the eighth place Chicago Sky (11-21). Indiana improves to 17-16, taking sole possession of sixth place in the WNBA standings.

The Sky lost to the Minnesota Lynx (24-9), 79-74. Meanwhile, the ninth place Atlanta Dream (11-21) soundly defeated the Los Angeles Sparks (7-25), 80-62, on Sunday, Sept. 1. Meanwhile, the 10th place Washington Mystics lost to the Connecticut Sun (24-8), 96-85, on Saturday, Aug. 31.

Presently, Washington has the tiebreaker over Dallas for 10th place due to their two victories on June 22 and June 23.

Coming Up Next

Dallas prepares to battle Ariel Atkins and the Mystics at College Park Center for the fifth and final game of their homestand on Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. CT on Bally Sports Southwest Extra within the viewing area while available to stream on WNBA League Pass.

Earlier in the season, the Mystics hosted the Wings in back-to-back games in Washington, besting Dallas 97-69 on June 22 and 92-84 on June 23.