Dallas Wings (3-7) vs. Seattle Storm (4-7)
Date: Thursday, June 16th
Time: 7:30 PM (CDT)
Site: College Park Center
Television: Fox Sports Southwest
Probable Starters
Wings: Karima Christmas, Glory Johnson, Courtney Paris, Odyssey Sims, Skylar Diggins
Storm: Alysha Clark, Breanna Stewart, Crystal Langhorne, Jewell Loyd, Sue Bird
Storylines
The Wings and Storm square off for the first time this season on Thursday night. Dallas comes into the game looking to squash a six-game losing streak, while Seattle wraps up a four-game road trip. Last season, Dallas (as the Tulsa Shock) went 3-1 vs. Seattle with a 2-0 record at home.
Dallas hit a league-high 15 3-pointers in its previous game at New York on Tuesday. The Wings were one 3-pointer short of setting an all-time WNBA record. Karima Christmas set a new career high, hitting four from deep, while Odyssey Sims tied her career high with five from behind the arc.
Sims is one 3-pointer away from matching her 2015 season total. Sims is 17-50 this season from behind the arc, already an improvement from 18-87 season last year. The third-year guard already stands at seventh on the franchise list of career 3-pointers made with 85.
Skylar Diggins made her first start of the season at New York. With the return of Diggins from injury and forward Glory Johnson from suspension, the Wings have used five different starting lineups in their last five games. Tuesday night also marked the return of Theresa Plaisance from an ankle injury. It was the first game this season that all 12 players were available to play.
What the Wings are saying about Thursday’s game…
Head Coach Fred Williams- “It’s one possession at a time. We just have to go out and play with the same enthusiasm and poise we’ve had in the last few games. Now that we have a full roster, we’re getting closer to our mark.”
Assistant Coach Ed Baldwin- “Seattle has got one of the best players in the league in Breanna Stewart. She is probably the preseason rookie of the year. Their first round pick last year, Jewell Loyd, was rookie of the year last year. They’ve got two of the best veterans in Sue Bird and Crystal Langhorne. We’ve got our work cut out for us because they are very athletic. They are very interchangeable. We’ll just have to do our best to control those four people.”
Forward Glory Johnson- “Seattle is a very versatile team. They have some guards that are great scorers and two post players that are very dominant. I think this will be a game of who wants it the most and who battles the most. I think we can run on them. We just need to contest their shots and make sure they are taking very difficult shots if they get them off.”
Forward Jordan Hooper- “Seattle is very long and athletic. We have to keep doing our same things, but better. We have to play defense a lot better. That’s a major key for us turning this around. They are very athletic and a very good team coming in here. They are going to be prepared.”