The Dallas Wings will look to build on their recent home-court success when they host the slumping Phoenix Mercury on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
The teams have already played twice this season, with Dallas winning both — by 10 points in Phoenix on May 19 and 93-88 at home on June 17.
The Wings (9-9) head into Saturday’s game having won three of their past four outings, including a dominating 94-68 victory at home over the Indiana Fever on Thursday. Arike Ogunbowale racked up 24 points and hit six of her nine 3-point attempts in the win, with Isabelle Harrison adding 16 points and Teaira McCowan tallying 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Wings.
Dallas tied its highest point total in a game this season and earned its third consecutive victory at home after beginning the campaign 1-5 on its home floor.
The Wings never trailed in the win over Indiana and were able to keep their foot on the accelerator after a first quarter that saw them ahead by as many as 19 points and score a season-best 34 points.
“We had a really good first quarter and were able to continue to build on that throughout,” said Ogunbowale, who scored 13 of her points in that opening period. “We kept our intensity the whole game and that’s something we have been working on.”
The Mercury (6-12) return to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to play for the second time in a nine-day span and after a 100-88 loss at the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday. Phoenix dropped both games in a two-game mini-series with the Lynx and have lost three in a row and four of its past five contests.
Tina Charles led Phoenix with 26 points while Diana Taurasi added 23, Skylar Diggins-Smith had 14 and Shey Peddy racked up 12 in the loss. The Mercury led in the first quarter but then surrendered a 10-0 run and never were in front again.
“Every day, there’s something new,” Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard said. “There’s been a lot of things that have been going on within our team (and) without our team. It’s about stabilizing the ship.”
–Field Level Media