PHOENIX, AZ– The Dallas Wings faced the Mercury for the first time this season, taking their fifth win of the season, defeating Phoenix in triple overtime with a 117-111 final.
Odyssey Sims sealed the win when she sank two free throws, after a foul was called on DeWanna Bonner, with 15.5 seconds left to solidify the win.
Skylar Diggins led the team for the night scoring a season high of 27 points. The all-star guard hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the Wings within seven early in the fourth quarter, to help the team come back. In the fourth quarter alone, she scored 12 points, the most points scored by a Wings player in the final quarter.
Karima Christmas, Plenette Pierson and Odyssey Sims all scored 18 points for the night to help the Wings win. Sims, scored 10 of her 18 points in overtime action. Glory Johnson also scored double figures, tying a season high of15 points.
Four Mercury players fouled out of the game in overtime play. DeWanna Bonner led the night for Phoenix, scoring 28 points.
The Wings will return home for a three game home stand, as they welcome the Phoenix Mercury this coming Tuesday, the Stan Antonio Stars on June 23 and the Indiana Fever, June 25. Tickets are still available for purchase at www.dallaswingsbasketball.com.
Dallas Wings Post Game Notes
-Tonight’s game was the first triple overtime contest for the Wings.
-The Wings have now won two straight games
-Skylar Diggins hit a season high scoring 27 points. It is the most points scored by a Dallas Wing this season.
-Diggins scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, the most points scored by a Wings player in the final quarter
-Plenette Pierson reached a season high with 18 points
-Three Wings scored 18 points (Pierson, Christmas and Sims) for the first time this season.
-The Wings recorded their biggest comeback of the season coming back from being down by 17 points.
-Courtney Paris recorded 11 rebounds for the night. It is the third straight game she has hit double boards.
-Glory Johnson tied a season high in points, scoring 15 for the night and recorded a season high in rebounds with 10. It was also Johnson’s first double-double for the season.
WINGS HEAD COACH FRED WILLIAMS
(On what he told the team when the Mercury led by 17 in the third quarter…)
“Keep playing hard, make our own breaks, we’ve got to have defensive stops in order to get there and I just felt that a few our players just buckled-down and played some hard defense for us. I thought Skylar helped us on the backside of our defense, and Karima Christmas helped us too so that was the message in the locker-room. And in the huddle it was keep pushing, keep plugging, a lot of things fell our way.”
WINGS FORWARD KARIMA CHRISTMAS
(On how the Wings were able to earn a win tonight…)
“I think everybody is just playing with heart. This team, it speaks to what we can do together as a team, we’re never going to quit. We were down and we’re always going to keep trying to fight back. I was really proud of the team tonight, just pushing through. We had three overtimes and even Phoenix, they just came off of anther game last night. So both teams had heart but we just fought to the end and tried to come out with the win in the end.
WINGS GUARD SKYLAR DIGGINS
(On how they will prepare for the Mercury again on Tuesday…)
“I think the great thing about it is we’re going home and we have a tough atmosphere we’ve created with our fans, College Park Center at UTA. So I think that we’re excited about getting back home and being able to play there. For us it’s just about executing. We’re going to go back and look at film and see if we need to make any adjustments defensively. But I think when we just focus on what we need to do, this is the outcome. They’ve got all-stars, champions, everybody is a champion on that squad, they’ve got so many seasoned vets on that team so we’re just happy we were able to get a win considering our struggle in a six-game skid, we were able to now get two in a row. So, at home for three more games in a row so we’ll take our chances.”