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Phoenix Mercury Prevail Over Dallas Wings in 100-84 Win

Dallas Wings

Arike Ogunbowale (No. 24) of the Dallas Wings soars to new heights in her second double-double of the season despite losing to the Phoenix Mercury at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

PHOENIX — Despite a strong start for the Dallas Wings with Natasha Howard, Odyssey Sims and Arike Ognubowale‘s stellar offensive contributions, a shorthanded Phoenix Mercury, led by Kahleah Copper and Brittney Griner, secured a 100-84 win on Wednesday afternoon.

In the opening quarter, Phoenix got off to a 5-0 start in the opening 62 seconds with Copper and Rebecca Allen setting the pace. Howard responded with Dallas’ first four points of the game while Ogunbowale, Howard, Sims, Teaira McCowan and Kalani Brown contributed to the Wings’ 29 first quarter points to the Mercury’s 21.

Going into the second frame, Dallas continued their scoring flurry from Howard, McCowan, Ogunbowale, Sims, Brown and Monique Billings. On Phoenix’s end, Copper and Griner’s scoring efforts were strengthened by Allen, Sophie Cunningham, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Natasha Cloud, outscoring the Wings, 28-17.

With Phoenix leading Dallas, 49-46, the Wings kept even with the Mercury in the opening 59 seconds of the third quarter. Copper went on a scoring tear while Allen, Cloud, Griner, Cunningham, Herbert Harrigan extended Phoenix’s lead over Dallas from three to 14 points.

Jacy Sheldon, Sims, Howard and McCowan tallied the Wings’ 20 points in the third quarter as the Mercury closed the lanes for any quality open looks. Griner and Herbert Harrigan’s defensive presence stymied the Wings’ potent offense in the second half, limiting Dallas to 38 total points while the Mercury rocketed to 51 points.

Dallas Wings

Odyssey Sims (No. 2) of the Dallas Wings scored 19 points against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

Phoenix did not let off the throttle in the fourth quarter with nine unanswered points in the opening 2 minutes and 49 seconds. Monique Billings, one of Dallas’ key contributors from the bench, responded for the Wings with a couple of driving layups while McCowan, Ogunbowale, Howard and Sims closed the gap from 14 to 12 points in the final 1:48 of the fourth quarter.

That was as close as the margin would get as Griner and Cloud padded Phoenix’s lead, defeating Dallas by 16 points.

It has been a challenging stretch for the Wings with injuries to two key players, namely Satou Sabally and Maddy Siegrist, with both expected to return following the Paris Olympic break. For now, Howard, a three-time WNBA champion, considered how she and her teammates must persevere as a team for the bright, sunnier days awaiting them once the Wings are back at full strength.

“We’ve got to stick together,” Howard said. “Just stay together. Don’t get too high. Don’t get too low. Just stay positive. We know it’s rough right now. But at the end of the day, we just gotta stay together and just weather the storm.

“We’re in a storm right now, but we’re going to get out of this storm. But our focus is on who we have right now and trying to get these two wins while we playing at home this weekend and next week.”

The Rundown
Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Dallas Wings 29 17 20 18 84
Phoenix Mercury 21 28 31 20 100
Playoff Picture

Following their 100-84 loss the Phoenix Mercury, Dallas trailed the eighth place Indiana Fever by four full games on Wednesday as the Fever fell to the Washington Mystics, 89-84, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dallas Wings: By the Numbers
Dallas Wings

Teaira McCowan (No. 15) of the Dallas Wings tallied 15 points against the Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday, July 10, 2024, at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo: Dallas Wings Basketball)

Dallas Wings
Starters Minutes FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF Plus/Minus PTS
Natasha Howard (F) 32 7-10 0-0 5-8 1 4 5 2 1 1 3 3 -2 19
Teaira McCowan (C) 28 7-10 0-0 1-2 4 6 10 1 1 0 3 3 -3 15
Odyssey Sims (G) 37 6-11 5-6 2-3 0 2 2 4 1 0 3 3 -14 19
Arike Ogunbowale (G) 38 4-14 2-8 2-8 0 2 2 13 1 0 0 4 -16 13
Jacy Sheldon (G) 29 1-4 0-2 0-2 2 0 2 1 0 0 1 1 -16 4
Bench Minutes FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF Plus/Minus PTS
Monique Billings (F) 14 4-6 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 1 -6 8
Kalani Brown (C) 11 3-4 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 3 -13 6
Stephanie Soares (C) 2 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lou Lopez Senechal (G) 4 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 -5 0
Sevgi Uzun (G) 5 0-3 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 -5 0
Satou Sabally (F) DNP – Shoulder
Maddy Siegrist (F) DNP – Finger Injury
Jaelyn Brown (G) DNP – Illness
Phoenix Mercury: By the Numbers
Phoenix Mercury
Starters Minutes FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/- PTS
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan (F) 25 5-8 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 2 0 4 5 12
Brittney Griner (C) 31 9-15 2-2 3-3 2 2 4 4 3 2 1 2 9 23
Natasha Cloud (G) 35 4-7 2-5 4-4 3 3 6 6 1 0 6 4 6 14
Kahleah Copper (G) 34 12-19 1-4 7-9 1 4 5 4 0 0 3 4 15 32
Rebecca Allen (G) 21 3-6 1-3 1-1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 2 9 8
Bench Minutes FG 3PT FT OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK TO PF +/ PTS
Natasha Mack (F) 10 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 3 0 1 0 1 7 4
Liz Dixon (F) 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Sophie Cunningham (G) 29 1-3 1-2 4-5 0 3 3 4 1 0 1 3 13 7
Sug Sutton (G) 12 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 14 0
Diana Taurasi (G) DNP – Left Leg Injury
Charsma Osbourne (G) DNP – Left Leg Injury
Coming Up Next

The Dallas Wings (5-18) prepare for a showdown against the Los Angeles Sparks (5-17) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas. In their most recent matchup on June 7, the Sparks defeated the Wings, 81-72.

Rob Tiongson is a sports writer and editor originally from the Boston area and resides in the Austin, Texas, area. Tiongson has covered motorsports series like NASCAR and INDYCAR since 2008 and NHRA since 2013. Most recently, Tiongson is covering professional basketball, mainly the WNBA, and women's college basketball. While writing and editing for The Podium Finish, Tiongson currently seeks for a long-term sportswriting and sports content creating career. Tiongson enjoys editing and writing articles and features, as well as photography. Moreover, he enjoys time with his family and friends, traveling, cooking, working out and being a fun uncle or "funcle" to his nephew, niece and cat. Tiongson is an alum of Southern New Hampshire University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and St. Bonaventure University's renowned Jandoli School of Communication with a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism.

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